A whirlwind tour of Salalah, Oman - pt 2

There are many huge homes and complexes in Oman, along with lots and lots of sand. There is virtually no landscaping or trees planted around the monstrous houses and no greenery except for what has obviously been planted and kept irrigated. 

The most unusual thing we saw today, or what will stick in my memory, is how many camels just walk around without being contained in some way. I suppose it seems normal to the locals but we're just not used to seeing that. They walk along the beaches, along the highways and even ON the highways. There are cows on the loose as well (at times seen walking along the highway), but I’ve seriously never seen so many camels in my life! Because everything is flat and “wide open” you can see for miles, so it’s not like they're going to run out in front of you like a deer before you even see them. Some even lumber right into the middle of the highway, but thankfully they are easily spotted and drivers just slow or stop to avoid hitting them. 

 

camels and more camels

 

our driver offered them some bananas

you got any more of those?

too close (to me) for comfort!

Taqah is a small coastal town about a 30-40 minute drive away from Salalah. We were driven out to the 19^th Century Taqah Castle which now serves as a museum. The castle sits high on a hill and there were a ton of steep steps to get to the front, but thankfully we were able to drive up from the back side. Being a holiday, the museum was closed but walking around its grounds provided a beautiful view of the city below. There were unusual openings on the sides of the castle up high – we guessed they were for camels to drink from?! 

We were driven even higher still to see gorgeous views of the clear, turquoise water and rocky crags below.

 

note "camel height" water troughs protruding through walls

 

looking down from Taqah Castle

 

 

He also drove us out to the Sumhuran Archeological Park, one of the oldest settlements in Oman, dating back to the 4^th Century BC. It is a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. It was originally an important harbor for frankincense and is now considered a major breeding ground for birds. Being a holiday, the museum was closed but there was no time to wander around the ruins anyway.

 

Sumharam Archeological Park

 

Khor Rori (Sumharum) Archeological Park

gorgeous view of the river mouth that flows into the Arabian Sea

turquoise water with miles of beautiful (empty) beaches

From there we headed to Darbat waterfalls. I still can't get over the sight of camels walking along the side of the freeway, at times even stopping traffic in order to cross! I guess it doesn't seem to create too many problems because they can be easily seen on the flat landscape against their light colored surroundings.

 

an unusual site for these Texans

think we'll cross over now

we had to stop on the freeway to let them cross

 

At the falls, there were hundreds of young men playing in the clear, turquoise water below. It's easy to see why the falls would be a popular spot on a hot day! 

Darbat Waterfalls

Lastly, he took us to see (what Muslims believe to be) Job’s tomb. It was a beehive compared to every other place we visited. I’m not saying there was a huge crowd, but there were a fair number of visitors. Again, we had to remove our shoes before being guided through the room where they believe Job was buried.

Before entering the door, there is a well-like opening that supposedly has Job’s footprint in it. I have no idea where Job was really buried or why they’ve chosen this particular place but the footprint is much larger than a normal man’s foot and is shaped a little funny. Whatever.

 

visitors looking for Job's footprint

Job's footprint??

 

believed by Muslims to be Job's tomb

praying to Job?

It was a full and interesting day but we were pooped by the time we returned to the port. All together, we were sightseeing for 7 hours! We felt that we had hit most of the “high points” of Salalah. Additionally, we enjoyed getting to know the couples we were with a little better.