Saturday, April 5, 2008

SALALAH, OMAN APRIL 3, 2008






























SALALAH, OMAN APRIL 3, 2008

The sultanate of Oman is the second largest country in the Arabian Gulf. With the accession of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos Bin Said to power in July 1970 after overthrowing his father and exiling him to England, new era was born, and in the past three decades, Oman’s economy has grown dramatically under the wise and able leadership of His Majesty. It is unfortunate that the Sultan never married and there are no heirs. We heard rumors of the Sultan’s sexual preferences.

Salalah is known as the “perfume capital of Arabia.” The city is a popular destination for tourism due to the natural attractions of the Qara Mountains and abundant stands of frankincense trees lining mountain wadi courses.

We visited the Frankincense Museum and the pictured tree with Judy and I is a rather scrawny affair. We then traveled to Job’s mosque and his mausoleum. Job is an Old Testament prophet and has been made key in the Masonic Orders “Job’s Daughters.” Here are some azaleas with Judy in front of the mosque and a shot of the tomb itself.

We passed a group (herd?) of camels hiding from the sun in the shade of a tree and eating the trade at the same time. After a short bus ride we passed Mirbat's beautiful beaches and arrived at Mughsail, famed for its blowholes and nearby groves of wild frankincense.

The final picture is of what this country actually is…a desert.