DAY 90-SALALAH, OMAN

                   Gulf of Aden between Somalia and Yemen is the pirate area.

                               Our position today--Salalah

BACKGROUND INFO:
        Today we are visiting Salalah, the capital city of Oman’s Dhofar province.  It is located on the Arabian Sea in the southern corner of Oman 50 miles from the border with Yemen.  DO NOT want to go there.  With a population of nearly 200,000 it is the second largest city in the country of Oman. The port here is the largest on the Arabian Peninsula and is an important hub for container shipping connecting to Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.  It’s known also for its banana plantations, beaches, and sea life.  They also raise cattle and have coconut plantations.  Back from the 12th to 19th centuries it was important to the spice trade, especially incense (frankincense).  Even today it is also known as “the perfume capital of Arabia”.  Salalah is the only place in Oman where trees will grow because they do have a monsoon season.  As you will see in today's photos, it is very mountainous here.  They raise camels here for their milk and meat.
        When we stopped here in 2013 we took a 4 hour “Scenic Salalah” tour.  I will add the link to those photos also for you.  Today our tour is “Mughsail Beach & Job’s Tomb.

WHAT WE DID TODAY:

       Our tour today was "Mughsail Beach & Job's Tomb".  After getting up this morning Rebecca decided not to go.  I departed the ship at 8:45 for the 4 hour tour.  After exiting the port area we headed south through some hills for 30 minutes before arriving along the coast again at Mughsail Beach.  It was a two mile long beach with no one on it but at the south end of it was a very scenic area.  After a 30 minute photo stop we headed back towards town before turning west and going up in the mountains.  It was a very interesting and scenic drive in the desolate mountains.  We had to slow down a couple times as some camels were walking down the road.  We briefly stopped for some photos of one group.  We finally arrived at Job's Tomb where according to legend, the remains of the Old Testament prophet, Job can be found.  Our guide said there are also Job's Tombs in Syria and Jordan so don't guess they exactly know for sure where Job is.  The tomb was small but you had to remove your shoes and women had to have hair, arms, and knees covered.  I did not go in but just looked in.  Then back out of the mountains we headed.  Back to Salalah to visit the old Al Husn souq. It was a waste of 45 minutes for me.  I did not need any frankincense, perfume, or their traditional hats.
       After returning to the ship I immediately started uploading today's photos.  It was a very slow process!!!  I'm not sure what has happened to my Facebook account.  I can see everyone's posts but I cannot make a post, nor can I "like" or "comment" on anyone's post.  If any of you know what I need to do to get it back please send me an email.

Here is the link to today's photos.

https://goo.gl/photos/9ujX4mKKRkFCK33q9

       We will be sailing at 5:00 pm and will have 4 days at sea before we arrive in Aqaba, Jordan on the 11th.  Tonight and tomorrow will be a little tense as we will be sailing in the Gulf of Aden (pirate area).  By the way on our deck, further back in midship where the life boats are, they have some dummies set up along railing.  I will try to get a photo of one.  They were up last night but took them down prior to arriving in port here this morning.

Here is the link to the photos I took when here in 2013.  It is of "Salalah Highlights" tour and I think you will find them interesting.

https://goo.gl/photos/ihN374i4WH2g4stZ6