We weren’t supposed to be here!
This port call was to replace our cancelled port of Aqaba, Jordan so I had done no research prior to arriving and had no preconceived ideas but in the end, I was pleasantly surprised. Upon entering the port area, we encountered a breakwater that was 1.5 kilometers long. In my memory, this is one of the largest working port areas that we have been to. Not only were they dealing with unloading numerous container ships, but this was an active port for the export of oil and gas as well as limestone. Their oil and gas products are exported to China.
Salalah was part of the empire once ruled by the Queen of Sheba. It appears likely that the city served as a center of trade during the age of Soloman. Biblically, the frankincense presented as a gift to the baby Jesus likely came from the Salalah/Dhofar area. The frankincense groves here date back to antiquity and are part of the UNESCO Frankincense Route.
It was interesting to watch the busy port activities from our starboard side balcony. The captain said that at this port they don’t rely on tying the ship to the pier. Because of the monsoons they get here and the way ships shift against the mooring lines in a monsoon, they have developed a pneumatic mooring system that keeps the ship against the dock with the use of strong magnets.
We enjoyed the company of Cyndi and Pat who were on our excursion today. Today we were to see a frankincense tree, visit the beach and see the blowholes, visit the tomb of the prophet Job, the Sultan’s palace, and to visit the souk (market). We were told that our upper arms, midriff, and ankles had to be covered, and at the tomb of Job the women had to wear a head covering. So here we were in long pants with shirts on and the temperature approaching 90 degrees by the end of the tour. Thank goodness the AC on the bus worked well.
We started out about 8:30 in the morning and got back to the ship about 1:30. Our first stop was about an hour’s drive away and ended up being in a pull-off area on the side of the road with a very rocky, uneven path to an extremely pitiful looking frankincense tree. We found out the that trees are protected by the government but apparently this one was exempt! The tree is slit open and the sap that flows out is allowed to harden on the tree for a few weeks before the crystal-like substance is harvested. The value of frankincense has dramatically decreased. At one time it cost as much as gold (maybe a marketing ploy for our future souk visit) but can now be bought for mere dollars. Although it was a very valuable gift from the three Kings to baby Jesus along with gold and myrrh.
After the frankincense photo stop, we made our way to the beach to see the blowholes. The blowholes only really work at high tide, although one did provide a little bit of spray. Unlike the blowholes we viewed in Hawaii which were in the open, these were covered by a grate and on an area that we could walk right up to but run the risk of getting wet although they were mostly pushing out air. The area along the coast was beautiful. There were fish traps in the water and a fisherman sitting on the rocky ledge. He proudly showed off his impressive catch.
Camels seemed to be the theme of the day. It seemed like they were everywhere – in the country and in the city. Our guide told us that the camels get really attached to their owners and although allowed to roam free to feed, they are very smart and know their way home. He told the story of a camel that had been sold to people in neighboring Saudi Arabia. That camel eventually found his way back home to his original owners in Oman! Camels sell for about $3000 each. They are milked twice a day and besides milk, they also provide meat and ghee. Although we looked for somewhere to eat while at the souk, we were unsuccessful. Patrick has promised to try a camel burger when he returns here on the world cruise and let us know what we missed.
Within the past couple of weeks there had been a storm that was predicted to hit Oman but instead it went further south and hit Yemen. Oman did benefit from a little bit of drizzle which greened up the countryside. I was surprised but not only the mountains but how green everything was.
We learned that there is equality for women in Oman, that when women marry, they keep their maiden names (given name, father’s name, grandfather’s name, family name), dowries are still paid to the bride’s family and most women marry within their “tribe” and it is not uncommon to marry their first cousins. Men are allowed to have up to 4 wives. Military service is required of males and females but if we were told length of service, I don’t recall.
At 23 years of age, males and females petition the government and they are given 600 sq meters of land to build on. If they are from the region close to Salalah, that is where they are given land, if from the north or west, they are given land close to where they live. They are required to build a wall around their land. It can take a couple of years before they are notified of the location of their plot.
I did look Research that I did before we took this tour said the Job is believed to be buried in a number of different locations, although the first writing about Job in the Old Testament states that Job was from the area around Salalah.
Next, we visited to tomb of Job, the prophet from the Old Testament. It seems, at first glance, unlikely that this location in Oman, which is more than a thousand miles away from the Holy Land, is the burial place of the prophet. However, further historical and geographical investigation seems to support Oman as a logical location. Several thousand years of tradition says that Job was a native of southeastern Arabia and no other place claims the Biblical prophet as its own. References in the Book of Job refer to Chaldeans and Sabeans, tribes from northwestern Arabia and Yemen, which seems to place Job’s homeland in Oman. The story of Job could have easily migrated north to Ur by sea which it reached Abraham and became part of the oral tradition. Other possible burial sites include Israel, Syria, Lebanon and Turkey but the location in Oman is the most believable site.
The tomb is located on a hill known as Jabal Al Qar and is north of Salalah. The tomb is located in a small building with a dome over the grave. There is a rectangular opening in the floor, not much more than a mound of dirt covered by a cloth with unmarked headstones at each end.
Our next stop was a photo op at one of the Sultan’s palaces, this one located in Salalah. The current sultan is Haitham bin Tariq Al Said who was named successor to the previous sultan who ruled for 50 years and died childless (power passes through male line – so much for improved women’s rights). Oman is an absolute monarchy and is the oldest continuously independent state in the Arab world.
How do you end a great tour day? With shopping, of course! We are on a cruise ship after all. It seems that shopping is ALWAYS required. We left a few dollars with a local merchant and hunted, unsuccessfully, for some camel meat burgers to try. But the vendors were only selling frankincense, perfumes, Arab clothing and headdresses. We couldn’t even find a soda to drink!
Final word … I was impressed by how clean this country was, especially in contrast to all the trash on the sides of the road that we saw in Egypt.