We visited Salalah in Oman for a few days over the Christmas break. Since I am feeling too lazy to write a proper account of our travels, here is a lightweight substitute in form of random collected facts:
December may be the peak tourist season for pretty much every place in the northern hemisphere. But it is off season for Salalah. Go figure.
Reason is something called 'Khareef'- the monsoon season (surprise, surprise) which graces Salalah with rainfall from July-September, turning Salalah green. If you've lived in this part of the world long enough, you'll know what a big deal natural green is over here.
The headdress of Omani men is different from the head dress of Emirati Arabs. Instead of being long and flowing, it is short and tightly wrapped around the head.
The traditional dress of Omani women is different from the unicolour/black of Emirati Arab women. It is coloured, patterned and flowing, reminiscent of African traditional dresses.
Salalah has fancy lamp posts in some parts- made of black metal with Arabic designs, very art deco in look, reminiscent of Paris.
All buildings and structures in Salalah are white in colour, or off-white or beige in colour. No other colours. The architecture is Islamic. All houses have multiple identical, symmetric windows.
Salalah resembles Goa a lot- has a similar laid-back, old world feel to it, minus the Portugese architecture and influence (and alcohol).
The hills around Salalah are green is season, brown in off-season and at places, have swathes of underlying white rock (limestone) exposed, as if a giant hand with sharp claws has ripped away the brown cover.
The caves are natural formations, formed at the base of hill, where the sea has hollowed out the earth. Think of a giant ice cream scoop scooping out the earth to leave a concave space.
The famous blowholes ( holes in the rocky seashore from which water rushes up, like a fountain or geyser) are active only in Khareef season.
The contrast of the emerald green waters against the brown or white hills is what makes Salalah so captivating.
One of the prophets from old Testament of Bible, namely Job, is buried in Salalah. He goes by the name Nabi in this region. He was apparently twelve feet tall, so his tomb is extra large in size.
Camels graze on the countryside, even on the hill slopes, much the way cow or sheep would graze in other parts of the world.
The camels are of different shades of colour- some very dark brown, some medium brown, some very light brown. How does that work out, I wonder?
The camels look wild, but are actually owned by the people who live in the hills- the Jebelis.
For all its talk of being a tourist trap in season, the infrastructure for tourism is poorly developed. The beaches have no restaurants or beach beds. Water sports are done only by hotels.
There are a few potholes on the roads. Makes Indians feel comfortable immediately.
There are scarecrows on the road where construction is going on. These are dressed as construction workers and put there to warn people of the construction going on. Definitely a first for me.
Some portions of the beach town of Mirbat are absolutely deserted. It looks like a ghost town but there are cars parked in front of some of the houses!
The souk is full of frankincense and little else. Some clothes and knick knacks. But mainly frankincense. No spices.
Our bill for the taxi hired for four days was more than our return airfare from Dubai- Salalah.
While it was pretty and relaxing, we doubt we will want to come back again.
