Salalah, Oman

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 90^th 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.