Oman, on the bottom end of Arabia...

We were docked at the port of Salalah, which is the capital of the province of Dhofar. Muscat is the capital of Oman which is a Sultanate, [remember our other Sultan in Brunei?] Same sort of thing except this guy has had money a bit longer.



The town of Salalah is subject to the monsoons in late June to early September. Visitors flock to the place to enjoy the monsoons and escape the sweltering heat that envelops the rest of the region. Salalah is known as the perfume capital of Arabia, and scents and frankincense can be purchased in the bazaars that abound here. Obviously it is an Islamic nation and dress codes are in order except in private hotel complexes. Moe forgot to bring a head scarf when visiting Job's Tomb today but she did have a napkin from the ship so, there you go! The roads and infrastructure are in excellent condition but it always seems to look half deserted.







Salalah boasts a palace that is reputed to have been the Queen of Sheba's and is the resting place of the biblical prophet Job. It is also the alleged resting place of Nabi Imran, father of the Virgin Mary. But you probably knew all that stuff anyhow.

The weather is  oppressive, [hot], and the place is basically a strip of buildings, resorts, hotels, palaces and government buildings that stretch along the beautiful sands of the Arabian Sea. Just in case you missed that geography lesson years ago, Oman is at the very bottom right of the Arabian Peninsula, just to the right of that 'horn' on the right side of Africa. We sail from there through the Gulf of Aden into the Red Sea and turn right, [north] heading to Suez. Got it?





Oman is an oil-rich country and the population is not poverty stricken, far from it. Here at least some of your petro-money is filtering down to the locals. The Sultan of course lives in the lap of luxury. Besides having a personal yacht, he also has a somewhat elaborate 'second boat' to carry his staff including his pipe band when he goes touring about. I am not sure if that is his yacht in the picture or not, looks a bit tiny for the Sultan of Oman, don't you think.

There are many people on board that have been here before and have been ripped off by over-zealous taxi drivers before and never got off the ship.
 
My finger on the globe is a bit too far to the left, move it over a few inches to the right and you've got it, Salalah. That picture by the way was taken two years ago, all the other pictures are Moe's because guess what? We did not get off the ship today! We took a day off.

We sailed at 6.00 PM for Egypt. Three days at sea first though.