Saturday, we woke up and drove out to Khori Rori (Samaharan), a former trading port that dates back to the 3rd c BCE and was inhabited until the 8th c CE (at least). The site contains a record of Roman, pre-Islamic, and Islamic eras. It's a beautiful site, a fortification on an inlet with two headlands that shield it from the crashing Indian Ocean.
The view from the fortress looks south to the sea. As we drove out to the eastern headland, we passed a field of camels grazing.
We climbed up to the top of the headland, slipping and sliding in the deep sand and rocks, but the view from the top was incredible and worth every shifting step.
As we walked to the other end of the headland, we looked down on the camels.
We found a skull...not sure what it was?
After lunch, and a failed attempt to find Souq al-Haffa, we had a few hours left before our flight and drove west of Salalah to see al-Mughsayl Beach and Marneef Cave. On the way, we ran into some more traffic...
Al-Mughsayl Beach is absolutely gorgeous, a long stretch of land that gives way to the mountains and the jagged cliffs. We walked along the cliffs and the cave to visit the blowholes. The scenery was stunning.
As the waves crashed into the sea, you could hear a churning hollow sound as the water wound its way underneath the cliffs and came surging up through the blowholes. A group of kids was playing near the grates over the blowholes, daring each other, and ran away shrieking with laughter any time that the water came up.
Once back in Salalah, we returned our rental car and checked in for our flight. When our gate opened, we had a highly organized boarding process (see below). Essentially, they opened the doors of the airport, and we walked across the tarmac and up the steps into our plane. Very formal. Why is it that things are always more relaxed in the south, everywhere?
Salalah is incredibly beautiful - rolling mountains and cliffs that drop down into an azure sea. I am so grateful that we were able to go - the trip was an unfettered joy. I loved being outside and in gentler weather, eat and drink fresh tropical fruit, and having the freedom and mobility to visit ruins and trek around outside. It probably also helped that we were traveling in a mixed group, not just girls: our male classmates offered us entry into places that just girls would not have been able to comfortably access, and prevented any unwanted attention from men. It was the Oman I had hoped to visit: tropical - green and lush, comfortable, accessible, and thoroughly enjoyable.
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| A handy map |
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| Samaharan is on the spit of land in the middle of the inlet. |
After lunch, and a failed attempt to find Souq al-Haffa, we had a few hours left before our flight and drove west of Salalah to see al-Mughsayl Beach and Marneef Cave. On the way, we ran into some more traffic...
Once back in Salalah, we returned our rental car and checked in for our flight. When our gate opened, we had a highly organized boarding process (see below). Essentially, they opened the doors of the airport, and we walked across the tarmac and up the steps into our plane. Very formal. Why is it that things are always more relaxed in the south, everywhere?
Salalah is incredibly beautiful - rolling mountains and cliffs that drop down into an azure sea. I am so grateful that we were able to go - the trip was an unfettered joy. I loved being outside and in gentler weather, eat and drink fresh tropical fruit, and having the freedom and mobility to visit ruins and trek around outside. It probably also helped that we were traveling in a mixed group, not just girls: our male classmates offered us entry into places that just girls would not have been able to comfortably access, and prevented any unwanted attention from men. It was the Oman I had hoped to visit: tropical - green and lush, comfortable, accessible, and thoroughly enjoyable.
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