Salalah-The Arabian Jewel
Salalah is the third-largest city in the Sultanate of Oman, and the largest city in the Dhofar Province.
Salalah, Oman Saturday March 28, 2015
Stand in the grass beside the sun baked road when a heard of camels moves down the Dofar region and you can feel their hoof beats in the soles of your feet. Watch blowholes on the beach, and you take a deep breath and the muscles in your neck loosens. Getting into Salalah, we have to passed virtually traffic-free roads, dotted with olive groves and frankincense trees, while the residents hold close to their tradition.
The highway coursed through dense frankincense forest, and past stone houses that looked like they were giant sand castles.
For generations, Omanis have been drawn to its charm with an emerald oasis amidst the sand dunes. It has leafy boulevards, with black and gold lamps, traditional Islamic but elegant low building lined the boulevards. Many of the buildings have intricate railings and balconies.
Of course, there are the fragrant groves of frankincense trees. Getting closer to the frankincense grove makes us understand why Salalah is called the Arabia's Perfume capital.
Salalah is famous for a few things. There's the Frankincense train and the there's the Palace of Queen Sheba.
Khawar camel breed of Dhofar region Salalah, Oman is one of the best milk breeds in the world.
At the compact and walkable, Souk, there were streams of people pouring in and out of chaotic warren of stalls. It was already crowded when we arrived at 10:00 a.m. It is place that is redolent of fish smell and where my daughter would resist being dragged by myself.
We steadily passed sellers of fish, bread, dates and nuts and fruit, souvenirs and astonishing array of secondhand coins, daggers. Huge carpets hung from the walls down to the floor and the rest are piled one on top of the other. Everything has it own craftsmanship and colors. From the Souk we moved on to visit the Palace of Sheba. This is on the Frankincense trade routes. The Queen of Sheba was also one of the people who controlled the ancient Frankincense routes. In the biblical account of the reign of King Solomon, she visited his court at the head of a camel caravan bearing gold, jewels, and spices.
In Khor Rori, Oman, there are the ruins of what many claim to be the Palace of the Queen of Sheba. The ancient town of Khor Rori is now mostly in ruins with most of its once great structures reduced to rubble, with just their foundations intact.
After about several miles, the fortified Palace of Sheba, a UNESCO World Heritage site, rises above the surroundings plains. Its walls reflects the sun in a blaze of white. It is worth staying and checking what's inside. We walked up the formidable ramparts to the palace's keep.
First excavated in 1952 by the famous Wendell Phillips, the ruins that are claimed to be the Palace of the Queen of Sheba are located on top of a hill about 200m higher than the rest of the village of Khor Rori. The palace, of which only remain the foundations and a few pillars and structures, is claimed to be the oldest palace in Oman, and is widely regarded as being one of the most known structures of Oman, but ironically, one about which there is so much debate.
Frankincense.
From Khor Rori, a series of roads cuts a scenic swath through fields of flowers. It offers natural beauty of striking scenery in an untamed environment. After an hour brings us to the Wadi with its tranquil waters. Flowing mineral spring water made this a very popular tourist spot.
The Wadi is a popular tourist attraction and often crowded on the weekends.
As we enter the park, the Wadi was surrounded by walls of palms and flowers in vivid red and rusty golds. We entered the most fascinating stretch of our tour. The Wadi was an absolute jewel of a day trip. With year-round water, bright blue -green pools, massive waterfalls, epic wild camping spots and loads of camels, this wadi was our favourite. Soon we were standing along a spring water as green as emerald. The vistas were unmatched and the landscape totally unique. In this Arabian setting, we almost expect Omar Al Sharif to step out and invite us.
As we left, the only sounds are the birds fluttering through the wadi and the bleating of the lambs. After an hours driving and and down steep hill sand winding road, we finally got back to the port.
It is easy to get an overdose of Omani hospitality because there's so much pleasantness. Arabian Jewel pretty much sums up Salalah as does Muscat. Salalah is truly like nothing else.
