Buzzing Around The World With Fellette & Doug

Salalah, Oman...

This blog was supposed to read Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. But some several months ago there was a bombing or something in Sharm so Holland America in their wisdom changed the port to Salalah. It is a poor second choice. We have been to both before. Anyhow, we do not complain, we just enjoy what is dished out to us. In defence of Holland America, there is not really a lot to chose from in that area.

I am going to make a confession to you. This is the third time I have written a blog on Salalah in 12 hours. The first one was a rant about the taxi drivers here. The second was a bit calmer but I was still annoyed. So after a good nights sleep, some of my anger has gone away and I think I can put a positive spin on what was not our greatest day so far.

It started out fine, I received an e-mail from a friend in Britain who was involved in building a ship for the Sultan of Oman. He made several trips here and actually sent me pictures of where the Dhow was built and of the Dhow itself. They did not build the Dhow, but did work on it. The ship they built was constructed in Germany to carry not the Sultan, but his entourage, [including his pipe band etc.], when the Sultan goes visiting!

Please help support this lifestyle by buying more petrol/gas for your vehicles folks. Oman is a country of 2,000,000 souls, it is known as "an oil rich" country. What we have seen of it attests to the presence of money in the roads, hospital, schools and the generally modern, yet Arabic appearance of the place. We saw no signs of poverty.

The Palace, [he has at least two because he spends more time in Muscat, up north than in Salalah], is gorgeous, at least if the doors and walls surrounding it are any indication.


At one time the Sultans Empire went as far as Mombassa and I think Zanzibar. The buildings in Salalah are what I think the run down building in Mombassa and Zanzibar used to look like. The minaret of his Mosque looks beautiful, it is inside the palace enclosure.

Our day began with a shuttle to the port gates, about a mile from the ship. There is no passenger terminal here and we docked at a container terminal. At the gates we walked out to be met by very conservative cab drivers in flowing white robes and skull caps. There is a posted sign showing cab rates to various points. They are shown in Rials, the local currency. A rial is worth 2.63 US$. Suddenly we are in a land where we are subject to a currency inversion, the dollar is no longer king. The Rial is king!

We thought we had negotiated a price for the four of us to a specific spot on the map for a specific amount. We toured a bit, [mistake], and we lingered a bit, [mistake], and when it came time for our man, I will call him Abdul, to drop us off at the beach, suddenly we were in a different world regarding money! There was no point in arguing further, we settled and took stock of our remaining cash. Fortunately I had my Visa!

Of course we are guests in his country and he is a Muslim, we have been told to be polite, and respect their customs. [I even asked my lovely wife to change her blouse earlier lest she should display a wrist!] And of course we are aware of the sensitivity between the US and Muslim countries.

On our tour, we went to the souq, [market],

where the main products seems to be frankincense, incense, perfumes and skull caps!

By the time we were finished at the market we had been dabbed so many times with perfumes and oils I smelt like a Eunuch. I don't want to even think about Eunuchs!

We didn't feel comfortable in taking pictures because it is considered an insult to photograph a women wearing a Burka. Many of the stalls had women vendors in them and I didn't want to risk a scene, heaven forbid! We did have conversations with the women, it is really amazing how the eyes speak. The majority of the women are covered head to foot in a black cloth that literally covers everything except a small slit that enables their eyes and eyebrows to be seen. Most paint their eyes black. When they smile, even though you cannot see their mouth you can see it in their eyes. It was nice to see that.

I really wonder how the local men feel when they see western women with so much skin exposed, even though most dressed conservatively. At the beach and Hotel, all that goes out the window and there is so much flesh exposed you would think you were in Las Vegas. Apparently right now a plane load of Swedes comes in each week for a beach vacation on the beautiful white sands of the Arabian Sea. It really was a wonderful setting.



At the hotel we had cooling drinks and a modest lunch, but between the four of us we only had cab money to get to the ship, so the old Visa was put to use. Keep buying that gasoline folks, it is good for the Oman economy!

One of the more disappointing happenings of the day was how in the heck can a group of four adults, with combined life experiences of over 250 years, end up with sunburns. I thought I was in the shade, ocean, or pool most of the day. Apparently not. Oh well, we will be able to sleep on our back by the time we get to Rome!

If Oman, or at least Salalah is to have happy tourists here, they have to clean up the taxi operators. Virtually every person that I have heard from had some sort of bad feeling left as a result of these men. One lady told me she did not buy one single thing ashore as a result of this legalized theft that the cabbies practice. Maybe the Sultan can look into it.

At least that's the way our day went in Salalah.

posted by Doug and Fellette @ 6:04 AM