This past weekend was... indescribable. I don't think I've ever had a better weekend in my life. (Props to STEEFE for planning everything and giving us wonderful company ;))
I mentioned in my last post we were going to the smaller city of Salalah in the Dhofar region, close to Yemen. When we got off the plane it wasn't THAT much cooler than Muscat, but I could tell that the air was a lot more humid and it smelled cleaner. We got on the bus with our tour guide, Salam, and our driver, Ahmed, and went to a museum about frankincense, which is a huge export of Salalah. Frankincense is everywhere in Salalah and it smells awesome. I also learned much more about Sultan Qaboos and am now even more convinced that he really is what people say he is-- a great leader. He brought this country up from the ashes. In the museum there was a picture of Muscat forty years ago (before Sultan Qaboos took power from his psychotic father by shooting him in the foot... and yes I'm serious about that) and then a current picture of Muscat hanging right next to it. I couldn't believe both pictures were of the same place; old Muscat was almost completely barren; new Muscat was this booming metropolis. I have never seen so much construction in one city in my entire life.
AND THEN WE GOT COCONUTS.
Then we went to a festival and saw a bunch of women in full hijaab and abaya with their faces covered. Some people call them ninjas, because you can only see their eyes, but the women in Salalah are a lot more conservative than the women in the capital. HOWEVER, don't start thinking that they don't try to look nice because their body is covered literally from head to toe. They put on layers of eye makeup and white powder around their eyes, and coordinate all of their accessories exactly so their shoes match their purse which matches their abaya detailing which matches their nails which matches whatever else they happen to be wearing; it's great. I also got approached by a couple of young Dhofari women who spoke pretty good English and they were really curious about why we were at the festival (because they don't see foreigners that often). Omanis are some of the most polite and sociable people I've ever encountered.
The next day we went to this archaeological ruins site and met up with our new tour guide, Ya'rob, a twenty-six year old Dhofari. The ruins were cool. Ya'rob said that legend has it those ruins are the place where all the witches in the world meet every Thursday night. We had a picnic lunch on the beach, we explored an old village near Salalah. That night we had a picnic off the side of the highway in a desert, which is a totally normal thing for Omanis. Salam, Ya'rob, and Ahmed were there, and after we were done eating some curry and bread (winning!) they cleared everything off the blankets/mats and started dancing. I have never seen a young Dhofari man belly dance so well. And I'll leave it at that. In short, that was the best dinner on this trip yet.
The next day Ya'rob was not able to hang out with us, and we all missed him dearly, but we got yet another tour guide also named Salam. He was pretty cool too. We visited Job's Tomb (I'm skeptical of its genuineness, but it was still really cool) in the mountains. It was all misty and I couldn't see more than twenty feet in front of me. I was reminded of the last scenes in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, actually, because it was so surreal with the fog and greenery. Oh yeah, our tire blew out, so we were stranded in the middle of the desert for about an hour. Thankfully, Salam and Ahmed were there to save the day! We also went to the most beautiful beach ever and went to the Salalah souq. Everyone was staring at us, as usual, but as I bargained with the shopkeepers I felt more and more empowered. You can call Stephanie and I professional souq-ers now.
I was sad to leave Salalah--the people were amazing and the atmosphere was peaceful. However, today we signed the "language pledge", which means we're only allowed to speak Arabic to each other now. So, at this point, we're not saying a whole lot. People laugh at us when we try to communicate with them because we sound mentally challenged, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel!
I mentioned in my last post we were going to the smaller city of Salalah in the Dhofar region, close to Yemen. When we got off the plane it wasn't THAT much cooler than Muscat, but I could tell that the air was a lot more humid and it smelled cleaner. We got on the bus with our tour guide, Salam, and our driver, Ahmed, and went to a museum about frankincense, which is a huge export of Salalah. Frankincense is everywhere in Salalah and it smells awesome. I also learned much more about Sultan Qaboos and am now even more convinced that he really is what people say he is-- a great leader. He brought this country up from the ashes. In the museum there was a picture of Muscat forty years ago (before Sultan Qaboos took power from his psychotic father by shooting him in the foot... and yes I'm serious about that) and then a current picture of Muscat hanging right next to it. I couldn't believe both pictures were of the same place; old Muscat was almost completely barren; new Muscat was this booming metropolis. I have never seen so much construction in one city in my entire life.
AND THEN WE GOT COCONUTS.
Then we went to a festival and saw a bunch of women in full hijaab and abaya with their faces covered. Some people call them ninjas, because you can only see their eyes, but the women in Salalah are a lot more conservative than the women in the capital. HOWEVER, don't start thinking that they don't try to look nice because their body is covered literally from head to toe. They put on layers of eye makeup and white powder around their eyes, and coordinate all of their accessories exactly so their shoes match their purse which matches their abaya detailing which matches their nails which matches whatever else they happen to be wearing; it's great. I also got approached by a couple of young Dhofari women who spoke pretty good English and they were really curious about why we were at the festival (because they don't see foreigners that often). Omanis are some of the most polite and sociable people I've ever encountered.
The next day we went to this archaeological ruins site and met up with our new tour guide, Ya'rob, a twenty-six year old Dhofari. The ruins were cool. Ya'rob said that legend has it those ruins are the place where all the witches in the world meet every Thursday night. We had a picnic lunch on the beach, we explored an old village near Salalah. That night we had a picnic off the side of the highway in a desert, which is a totally normal thing for Omanis. Salam, Ya'rob, and Ahmed were there, and after we were done eating some curry and bread (winning!) they cleared everything off the blankets/mats and started dancing. I have never seen a young Dhofari man belly dance so well. And I'll leave it at that. In short, that was the best dinner on this trip yet.
The next day Ya'rob was not able to hang out with us, and we all missed him dearly, but we got yet another tour guide also named Salam. He was pretty cool too. We visited Job's Tomb (I'm skeptical of its genuineness, but it was still really cool) in the mountains. It was all misty and I couldn't see more than twenty feet in front of me. I was reminded of the last scenes in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, actually, because it was so surreal with the fog and greenery. Oh yeah, our tire blew out, so we were stranded in the middle of the desert for about an hour. Thankfully, Salam and Ahmed were there to save the day! We also went to the most beautiful beach ever and went to the Salalah souq. Everyone was staring at us, as usual, but as I bargained with the shopkeepers I felt more and more empowered. You can call Stephanie and I professional souq-ers now.
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| Dinner by the highway! Photo cred to Steph |
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| Gorgeous, right? T.I.O. (This Is Oman)! Photo cred to Steph |
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| Site of Job's Tomb, plus a guy in a dishdasha! Photo cred to Steph |
I was sad to leave Salalah--the people were amazing and the atmosphere was peaceful. However, today we signed the "language pledge", which means we're only allowed to speak Arabic to each other now. So, at this point, we're not saying a whole lot. People laugh at us when we try to communicate with them because we sound mentally challenged, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel!
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