Sa-la-la-lah

Hey All

I feel like I’m always apologizing – this post has been half written for the past month! So finally here is the low down on our trip to the south of Oman, destination Salalah.

We were excited to be off in our new(ish) 4WD and to explore some more of Oman, tales of considerably cooler weather and green countryside were most appealing.

Packed and ready to go

Given that Salalah was 1,000kms from Muscat we planned to make use of our new camping equipment and spend the first night under the stars somewhere.

Striking Camp

Where's the playground?

Along the way we discovered the freedom of driving off road, basically whenever the fancy took us, just drive straight off the tar seal and head into whatever sand dunes or mountain lay ahead. We were always careful to keep sight of the road, and toilet stops were a non issue, just bring your own spade and paper :-) The kids had several turns each at driving. The only moment of concern was when we pulled off the road somewhere in the middle of the UNESCO World Heritage Oryx sanctuary to have morning tea, a police vehicle spotted us and came across to investigate. Worried that we weren’t supposed to stop there, I was all ready to break camp and take off, but they were only checking to see if we needed assistance :-)

Sand and more sand

Female Driver in Training

Salalah itself wasn’t quite what we expected, rather under developed, given that it is trying to establish itself as a tourist destination on the cruise liner circuit. I’m embarrassed to admit I spent three days hoping to find a Starbucks or similar there, but it was a good central base for the fun and interesting stuff found in the surrounding area. And we eventually got a coffee at the Hyatt. Temperatures were a couple of degrees cooler, and it was definitely green there, coming over the mountain range just before Salalah we spotted cows and fields, there was great excitement all round. You could easily mistake the landscape for somewhere in NZ, except for the fact there was the odd camel in amongst the cows.

Spot the animal with an identity crisis

Sights to be seen around Salalah – included the Prophet Job’s tomb, a trip up to the Yemen border post, blowholes at Mugsayl, the famous Frankincense trees, the purported remains of Queen of Sheba’s palace, and an ancient frankincense trading port. It was interesting to learn that centuries ago frankincense was as valuable as gold.

Frankincense burning lesson

In general it was just great to be driving around enjoying the countryside. We had a few anxious moments once when being pursued by a truck, it followed us and flashed its lights for several kilometres. Stories of car jackings in the area were racing in my mind when Mark finally pulled over to see what the driver wanted. It turned out to contain a cab load of children, we counted 8 and couldn’t see any big enough or old enough to be driving, who wanted money. They started off wanting 8 rials (about 32NZD) dropping rapidly to 2 rials (8NZD) before we drove off again leaving them empty handed… stingy kiwi tourists!!

Rolling green hills near Salalah

Although we failed to see any oryx whilst driving through the Oryx sanctuary (read more desert) we did spot plenty of other wild life during our trip: the biggest spider to date (viewed from the car in my case!) a chameleon calmly crossing the road, then changing colour (to avoid being stalked by Mark and Petra), and a (dead) scorpion that I met in some public toilets. We were also in awe of the many hundreds of camels we spotted sauntering along side (and in the middle of) the road. They seem to be the most contented unharrassed animals in the world, and know how to strike a pose without even trying :-)

Guess who gets right of way?

Now you see me....

Smile chaps!

After nearly a week in Salalah we decided to make the long journey home in one hit. Leaving at a respectable time in the morning and taking it in shifts to drive it took over 10 hours. The vastness and starkness of the desert was brought home to us when we decided around midday to keep an eye out for a tree to have lunch under, around 2pm we gave up and just ate in the shade of our car, and finally about 4pm, 200kms from Muscat we spotted some vegetation!

Lunch stop using portable shade

Nearly Home

Back in Muscat, daily life took over again and we are now counting down until the end of term next Tuesday. Promise another post before Christmas.

Bye for Now

Love Hayley

PS I have a job interview tomorrow… wish me luck!