Salalah
is the capital of the southern Omani province of Dhofar. It is also the second
largest city in Oman. It sits on the eastern part of the Arabian Peninsula and
is bordered by Yemen (formerly Aden), Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
While in the Royal Marines, John had served in Aden and was disappointed that
we couldn’t see land as we sailed by.
Salalah
sits on a narrow strip of coast on the Arabian Sea. Thanks to monsoon rains,
this area of Oman is much greener and filled with coconut and banana groves. It
is also famed for being a major source of frankincense.
About
20 miles outside of Salalah on a hill overlooking the Arabian Sea can be found
the tomb of Job, from the Old Testament, and of religious significance to
Christians, Jews, and Muslims.
The
day before we arrived, I experienced symptoms of dehydration, and since I
wanted to be in good shape for our visit to Petra, I decided to stay on the
ship and recover. Dehydration can sneak up on you quite quickly and leave you
feeling like a wilted plant. As I discovered, you need much greater levels of
fluid intake than you are normally accustomed to. Taking a few sips of water
while out on an extremely hot day touring in this area of the world isn’t
enough.
John
went into Salalah by taxi, took a quick tour, and came back with photos of some
interesting places. He said the main form of employment appeared to be driving
taxis. I was disappointed that I didn’t get to see the sights myself, so I
don’t have any commentary to include with the photos.
Royal
Palace
Mosque
Groves
of Trees
Market
Place Vendor
Beachfront
Near Souk
Sailing
away from Salalah, we looked out to see dolphins swimming along the side of the
ship. Some of them were quite large and able to jump high out of the water.
They were either coming to the surface to say hello or complaining that the
ship just sailed through their territory.
Today
was the Queen Elizabeth’s 90th birthday, and celebrations were held
throughout the ship to celebrate the occasion, which included a large cake and champagne
toasts on the deck. The captain said that birthday greetings had been sent to the
Queen on behalf of the passengers and crew, including a picture of the crew
assembled at the ship’s bow.
Birthday
Cake
Shipboard
Birthday Celebrations
For
the past several days, the Queen Mary 2 has been one day behind us, visiting
the ports we just left in Chennai and Cochin. Unfortunately, an outbreak of gastro-intestinal
illness occurred on the ship, and she was refused permission to enter Salalah.
Apparently, it depends on the numbers of passengers who are ill that determines
whether the ship will be granted permission to dock. We heard that the outbreak
on the QM2 was significant.
In
the distance, we could see a naval vessel. It was too far away to determine
which country it belonged to. However, whatever country the ship belonged to,
we were glad it was close by.
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