day 83 – salalah, oman

please know that blog and phone calls may be spotty... there is scrambling from naval ships nearby interfering, but be glad, as they are keeping the pirates away!  sorry i couldn't call nino and brett, as phones are out... i'll try again tomorrow...

bins of frankincense at the old souk

so bob had a mandatory training this morning, and i had not been chosen to do a crew escort spot, so i went to the shore excursions folks to see if there was any room left on a tour… they had space on a half day trip called “leisurely salalah,” so i grabbed it…. the bonus aspect of waiting ‘til the last bus, is that the last one isn’t entirely full, so i didn’t have to sit next to anyone.  not only did i have room to put down my bag and water bottle, but, being morning and all, i didn’t feel all chatty, i just wanted to enjoy the scenery…

the port is quite industrial and huge here… we finally got through it and headed towards the mountains.  our first stop was the tomb of the prophet job.  i didn’t realize that besides the jewish and christain faiths, he was also a prophet in the muslim faith, and they maintain his tomb site and a mosque in the place where he retired and lived out his days after the many tribulations he suffered.  i had no idea!  what a cool thing to see…  we had to remove our shoes and cover our hair to go inside to see… they claim to have cast his actual footprint, and we saw it and it was huge!  not only that, so was his tomb, and one guide said that, indeed, he was a giant of a man, and, that in biblical times, there really were some very large individuals you could actually categorize as giants… i was dubious about the footprint, but the tomb site was cool, as was the area where he allegedly prayed every day that they had maintained… the flowers around the grounds and the birds were amazing… on the way there as well as on the grounds, there are camels everywhere.  i had never seen a camel except in the zoo… they are like cows here, they wander and graze all day and head back to their respective barns at night, and they all know where they live… many people here drink camel milk and they also eat camel meat, so they are very much like cattle here.  they do have some cows and sheep, too, but mosly camels.  they also race camels at tracks like horses, but no one is allowed to bet… the sultan does a drawing and gives money away to tickets drawn, but you are not allowed to bet on the races. 

termite mounds

beautiful flowers near job's tomb

yellow bird in center and hanging round nests of grass

job's giant tomb

job's place of prayer

if you look closely, she's wearing camel panties and smiling

hard to see, but this is job's enormo footprint, allegedly

fig tree

after job’s tomb, we went to the town of salalah, and parked next to the palace grounds where there is a souk (market) which has been there for hundreds of years.  oman was a hub of the frankincense trade and it is still a huge product here.  i got some sandalwood incense and a censer and a cheap, but pretty, caftan style dress which many women wear here (sans head gear… and no one called me a whore today, by the way!)

after a quick market stop, we drove out to the coast and through some interesting areas… we saw homes and stretches of desert… caves where the bedouins used to live, government housing that has been built for them so they don’t have to live in tents, though they still like to in some places… gorgeous white sand beaches, and there were places where they have great ocean blowholes when the tides in, but it wasn’t in while we were there… still beautiful!  and no one is on the beaches… maybe because they all have to wear clothes.  seems a waste of amazing beach!  on the way back, we stopped to see a lone frankincense tree and heard how the resin is collected.  we gradually made our way back to the ship and i met back up with bob for a late lunch and to tell him about the day.  had to write my port song and take a rest, then it was time for another evening!

deserted white sand beaches of oman

faces in cliffs by the sea

lone frankincense tree in the desert... very tim burton-y 

we were invited to join a nice couple of my piano bar regulars for dinner, and had the best time.  they spent several years living in saudi arabia, so have some interesting tales about their life living in this part of the world, and their table mates were very entertaining as well… too many anecdotes to relate here, but the dinner was quite good and the company was great.  we skipped dessert to go to work; bob always walks me to work and carries my gig bag o’ technology for me (laptop, ipad, mic, paper and pens)… what a guy!  my theme tonight was “soft rock.”  it wasn’t really landing until i let them choose the groups, and then we hit a nice stride (eagles, fleetwood mac, carly simon, paul mccartney…).  then, big surprise, after another hot and sunny day of activity everyone folded up fairly early…  that’s okay, i went down the hall to catch the end of bob’s set… i enjoy it more from just outside the club since there is a late night table of about 8-10 people in there every night ‘til the end who talk loudly and constantly, seemingly all at once… i don’t know how any of them can stand it… i can’t! 

we have to get ready now for four days at sea… wish us strength!  i love the sea days, some of our folks out here get a little antsy (cranky) after that 3^rd sea day… hope it goes smoothly!  ciao, me

port song for salalah, oman

to the tune of “a horse with no name”

on the first part of the journey, we went driving into the hills
there were plants and birds. and termite bumps; there were camels with single humps

the first place we went was the tomb of old job and we saw his footprint in the ground
they never told me though in sunday school he was a sasquatch,

15 foot tall from the ground 

i dreamed, I've been through the desert on a camel with no name,

it wore underwear not ‘cause it’s ashamed

but to protect her milk from being prematurely drained

so that at days end for the owner some would remain
sa, la, la la la la, sa la la, la, la
sa, la, la la la la, sa la la, la, la

after coming down out of the desert, in town the bus driver stopped

we pulled up right next to the palace gates, and we went to the old souk to shop

and we had 30 minutes to buy everything in it, and we turbo shopped til we dropped 

after buying some stuff we drove down to the sea, but the blowholes we couldn’t see

but there were beaches and birds with no one there to enjoy 
didn’t see no girls and boys
we drove into the desert to a frankincense tree all by itself there it grew

and we saw the milky sap that makes the incense i bought

and we took some pictures too

i dreamed, I've been through the desert on a camel with no name, 
and i wished mighty hard it would rain
i bought a fanta by the seashore with it’s arabic name

and though the can was all different the soda pop was the same  
sa, la, la la la la, sa la la, la, la
sa, la, la la la la, sa la la, la, la

i dreamed i’ve been through the desert on a camel with no name

i saw a bigfoot prophet’s remains

i bought some souvenir crap til my allowance was drained

and the day was real cool and i’m so glad i came to

sa, la, la la la la, sa la la, la, la
sa, la, la la la la, sa la la, la, la