Sabina Lohr visited Salalah, Oman, just after monsoon season. While there, she got a unique taste of the region.
In Salalah, Oman, the annual khareef, or monsoon season, brings cool relief from the oppressive summertime temperatures felt throughout the rest of the country. Each year, many Middle Easterners travel to this town of 180,000 in the Dhofar region of Oman, on the Arabian Sea northeast of Yemen, from late June through September, when its desert skies fill with a drizzle that turns its brown landscape a temporary green. But after the khareef, during the autumn and winter, when the skies dry out and temperatures hover in the low- to mid-eighties, this little part of the earth becomes an ideal escape for Westerners craving a wintertime respite.
For my first visit to Salalah I wait until just after the end of the monsoon season, arriving in late September to find rolling hills blooming with grass, flowers, and foliage. The desert, starkly beautiful itself, is still visible through the greenery. My guide, Ali Amer Al-Mashani, leads me to a roadside stand where strips of camel meat hang to dry before being wrapped in foil and cooked over coals (above). I eat some, tangy and delicious. We make our way to another stand where we buy coconuts, drink the fresh milk inside and peel and eat the soft, wet and sweet coconut meat.
In Salalah, Oman, the annual khareef, or monsoon season, brings cool relief from the oppressive summertime temperatures felt throughout the rest of the country. Each year, many Middle Easterners travel to this town of 180,000 in the Dhofar region of Oman, on the Arabian Sea northeast of Yemen, from late June through September, when its desert skies fill with a drizzle that turns its brown landscape a temporary green. But after the khareef, during the autumn and winter, when the skies dry out and temperatures hover in the low- to mid-eighties, this little part of the earth becomes an ideal escape for Westerners craving a wintertime respite.For my first visit to Salalah I wait until just after the end of the monsoon season, arriving in late September to find rolling hills blooming with grass, flowers, and foliage. The desert, starkly beautiful itself, is still visible through the greenery. My guide, Ali Amer Al-Mashani, leads me to a roadside stand where strips of camel meat hang to dry before being wrapped in foil and cooked over coals (above). I eat some, tangy and delicious. We make our way to another stand where we buy coconuts, drink the fresh milk inside and peel and eat the soft, wet and sweet coconut meat.
Frankincense trees (right), not
found in many parts of the world, are abundant in Salalah. We stop at
a field full of these short trees with thin branches. With a knife, Ali
slices a piece of bark off of one, and we watch the trunk's thick white
resin seep out. Later, walking through Salalah's small outdoor
marketplace, I buy some of this resin, dried, cut into chips, and ready
to be burned as incense. Ali tells me if I steep it in hot water, I
can drink it as tea. Then he hands me a piece to chew, explaining its
digestive and anti-inflammatory health benefits.I visit the area's must-sees, like the grave of Job from the Old Testament, and the blowholes at Mughsayl Beach. We drive to a place not on the typical tourist trail--an area of roadway in Salalah where gravity is said to be absent. Ali puts the car in neutral on a hill, and we begin rolling--not downhill, though. Instead, the car is pulled uphill. This spot exemplifies Salalah for me--unique, little-known, and thoroughly intriguing.
Photos: Sabina Lohr
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AWESOME! Great job, Sabina! Such an interesting place. Lack of gravity? That's incredibly cool.
Sabina, GREAT ARTICLE and PHOTOS. Keepum coming !!!
Sabina - Very interesting article!
This is truly amazing! I love you style of writing and how you capture not only the events, but the essence and feel behind them until you can almost feel like you are there standing beside you! Thank you and congratulations!
camel meat and coconut - sounds good!
I feel as though a piece of me is there.
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