Salalah, Oman

We were told that the town of Salalah was about 30 minutes from the pier and that a taxi would cost $40 to $50 each way. Sounded like it was going to be an expensive day. Once we got off the shuttle that took us from the ship to the gate of the port, we asked around if anyone would like to share a cab. Our plans were to go into town for the morning, come back to the ship around noon, grab our snorkel gear and spend the rest of the day at a resort hotel. No one wanted the same itinerary as we did but there were a couple of guys that just wanted to go to the market. We ended up giving them a lift just to the market and having the taxi on our own. The guys were part of the navigation crew on the ship. They never offered to pay for their portion of the trip which we both found a bit odd, but oh well. They were nice guys. Our driver had told us that he would drive us until 4:00 for $100. 

The market in Salalah was nothing like the one in Muskat. It was very small and seemed to have the same things in every store, frankincense, pashminas and perfume. We walked down to the beach from there. There was a lot of construction going on. They had torn down a lot of homes to build a resort hotel which I had suspected and our driver later confirmed. On one side of the beach was the wall of the royal palace. There was a fence on the beach so we could see their private beach and buildings. The compound must have stretched on for a mile. 

Since the ship was still on red alert after 3 weeks, the shore advisor had started making a handout for doing each port on our own. The library was closed so the reference books were not available to do the research ourselves. I had the sheet which named all the major sites in the area. We asked to go to the Museum of Frankincense World next. It was quite a nice museum with a lot of artifacts dating back thousands of years. Another section had a lot of model ships, Mel especially enjoyed that part. They also had a nice gift shop. I picked up a couple of things giving the shop keeper US$. She did some calculations then called another woman in. They did some calculations together then said come to me and went into a different store. They again did some calculations then she said come again and I followed her back into her store. She finally handed me an additional candle. I guess I had given her too much. It is interesting when you don't understand each other's language. 

The museum was built on the grounds of a huge ruins. They had golf carts to take you around. At one time there had been as many as 50 mosques in this area, some of them still had a bit of wall and pillars. It was very close to the ocean. And quite interesting. When we went back to the taxi I told our driver that we would like to go to several other spots. He said it would be an extra 75 km or so, so more money. He wanted $60. I offered $40 as it was not even noon and there were other places to see. We settled on $50. We had thought we had him for the day for $100. Guess we were wrong. 

Our next stop was in the town of Taqa. There was a small fort there which had been nicely renovated. They even had cushions and things hanging on the walls so you could see how they lived when it was in use. The stones were very uneven, I tripped 4 times! I never trip, so that was an experience. We headed from there to Khor Rori which is an inlet with fresh water. It is preserved for migratory birds. On top of the hill there was a large ruins. All the other tourists were going thru the ruins, I headed straight down the hill to the water. We could see some large birds. At first we thought they were swans then realized they were flamingos! They only had a bit of pink on their wings. Guess the food around here was not. rich  in whatever it is that turns them pink. There was a nice bench by the water so while Mel sat there I headed toward the marsh area. As I approached, the birds took off so I was able to get a couple of pictures of them in flight. Then I saw a camel grazing in the reed filled shallow water. I got a lot closer to take pictures then saw the other camel. It was nice just running into them lke that. There are no wild camels left in the world but these guys were pretty much on their own at that time. We walked back up the hill to go thru the ruins. It was extremely hot without a cloud in the sky. I was hoping that I had put on enough sun screen. (I had, no pink skin anywhere later in the day.) There was a small museum down the opposite hill from the marsh. It didn't have much to look at. There was a photograph of a heard of camels and I thought that would be fun to see. There was a short film running but that room was full so we moved on. 

We headed inland, up and over a hill to a wadi or oasis. Once we were down the other side of the hill, there were camels everywhere, I got my wish. We had to stop the car a couple of times for them to pass by in front of us. We reached the river. Unfortunately it was a water recreation area with kayaks and boats to rent. There were 4 guys in kayaks making a lot of noise. It kind of took away from the atmosphere. I walked into the water which felt very refreshing. At that moment 4 camels decided they wanted to be on the other side of the river and walked right by me. That was fun. Up the hill a bit there was an enclosure made with stacks of branches under a high overhang. It was a camel corral complete with sacks of grain. We came down from there to find our driver. He was praying, facing Mecca. We did not interrupt him, these people are very devote. On the way back we asked him if he owned any camels. He said 40! That was surprising. Then he said his family also owns 100 cows. They must be a well to do family. He himself was married with 2 little boys. He asked if we had ever tried camel meat. We said no but would like to. At the top of the hill we'd gone over was a small building. There was a tent with a couple of plastic tables and chairs set up outside. We stopped at the "restaurant". The building just had a window where you ordered. I asked for 2 cold waters and told our driver that I would pay him in US funds if he would please pay for our meal. He brought a plate of thick tortilla like bread and another with the camel meat. It looked like dark chocolate covered with powdered sugar. The "sugar" was actually camel lard. Yum, NOT!!!! We both tried it more out of politeness than curiosity at that point. It was like grease covered jerky, very tough, not at all good. I ate 3 small pieces and gobbled down the bread. That was really good. We left more than half the camel. At least we can say we have tried it. Others on the ship had tried it also. The response to it was always "tough". 

We drove back toward the ship. Our driver had told us there is a beach close to the pier so we had him take us there. It was a beautiful, small cove beach. Again I wish we'd had our suits on. The water was crystal clear and clean. We just stayed long enough for me to pick up some shells. I asked our driver how much for the lunch. He said free. That was nice. Especially since it had been so awful. We ended up giving him the $160 he had asked for as it had been a very nice day and we had seen a lot. As nice as it is to save some $$ it is also nice to leave the country with the people we associated with also happy with the experience. 

The beach was walking distance from the shuttle stop so we contemplated going back for a swim but by now it was after 3. The last shuttle to bring us back to the ship was at 4 so we decided against it. It was probably our last opportunity to swim during this voyage. Oh well, seeing the sights seemed a lot more important. 

I am sure that everyone has seen what is happening in Yemen on the news. If you know your geography, you know that going thru the Gulf of Aden to get to the Red Sea will take us between Yemen and Somalia, 2 countries we don't want to mess with right now. There are narrow straights which have Yemen on one side, near where the Saudis are targeting. Everyone has been talking about it for days, even speculating that we might have to go around Africa rather than risk going thru that area. Yesterday evening our Capt came on to fill us in in what is happening. He said that Carnival's security, parent company of HAL, is full of former military, CIA and FBI. They are keeping a constant watch on the situation and are seeing ships pass thru as normal, no reason to not go ahead with our itinerary. The Capt did say that we will be cruising at about 17 knots. When we reach the straights, around 11:30 tomorrow morning, we will speed it up to 23 knots to get this baby moving, his words. So we are not in danger but he is going to get the hell out of there as fast as possible. About 21,000 ships pass thru the Suez Canal every year so having that area compromised would have a huge financial significance. I have a feeling there will be about 800 pair of eyes looking out to sea at 11:30 in the morning, I know I will! Other ships that have passed in the last several days have reported no sightings of war ships. They are staying close to shore to keep anyone thinking about doing a misdeed away from the shipping lanes. We have faith in our Capt to do what is safe but will be happy when we reach the Mediterranian.