No jetlag - true, but no sleep either, the flight leaves at 1 am Doha time and lands 2.5 hours later in the south of Oman.
The night flight is somewhat inconvenient, but direct. The airline suggested that I could upgrade my tickets to business class and that’s one occasion where I could have afforded to do that (over QAR 1000 for one way). But let’s save those riyals for Salalah adventures!
Passport, insurance and hotel confirmation was enough for me to get a free visa on arrival, valid for two weeks. Within half an hour I was at my resort. It was 5:30 am and long time to go until check-in time. Like a seasoned traveller that I am, I went to the beach to take a nap, woke up to this sunrise. No regrets!
Stay: The Anantara resort has best reviews and I heard some good personal experiences. It’s also the one on the more expensive end. I chose to stay here and it was just perfect- beach, lots of green spaces for walking and dolphin spotting area at the end of the beach.
History in a bottle
Salalah is the capital of Dhofar province, the most southern part of Oman. It was also capital of the country until 1970 when it was moved to Muscat. To this day, Salalah is famous for its ancient frankincense trade route that led from Dhofar all the way to Gaza and Damascus. Frankincense brought fortunes to the traders, it was of such value that one of the precious gifts the three kings gave to baby Jesus was indeed frankincense. The historical route is acknowledged internationally and the area where the trade started is named UNESCO World Heritage Site - the land of Frankincense.
These days frankincense is available in any market of the Middle East and in the form of Amouage, the famous Omani parfume brand that uses frankincense in its blends. In 1983, the Sultan of Oman himself initiated the creation of the parfume company, in order to preserve the traditions of parfume making. Nowadays the brand is well known worldwide and if you’re passing by a local that smells good, it’s quite possibly Amouage.
Nature calling
From beaches to mountains, seasonal waterfalls, desert trips and museums, there is plenty to do in Salalah. Tourists come to Salalah because of its incredible nature. I spotted crabs, camels, fish, different birds - all without leaving the resort. Dolphins can also be spotted from the coast. This Tripadvisor thread is a perfect sum up of the options what to do and see.
The city has several travel/adventure agencies that organize tours, hikes and city experiences. The Salalah Adventure Tours was very responsive online and has good social media presence.
Oman has a reputation for its friendliness and indeed, all the Omanis I met in the airport, at the customs and around Salalah were genuinely friendly and welcoming. Oman like other Middle Eastern countries is safe for travelling women. One can expect be welcomed and helped in need, like this woman traveller who drove along the coast of Oman from south to north and documented it in a photo diary (and possibly gave me some ideas for the next trip).
It’s definitely not a good bye.