Thursday, April 6th, 2023 Queen Victoria, Salalah, Oman
Updated: Jul 4, 2023
Over the past 2 days the Queen Victoria has steamed back through the Straits of Hormuz before turning south-west to parallel the coast of Oman. This morning we docked in Salalah, the second largest city in the Kingdom of Oman – on our previous visit to this country we stopped at Muscat, the capital and largest city. Our research indicated that there was not much near the port, or indeed within the city of Salalah – it left us wondering why Cunard had selected this as a destination, there was not even a shuttle bus into the city, and we’d uncovered several nightmarish taxi driver stories. The “Highlights of Salalah and Tea at the Rotana Hotel” ships shore excursion turned out to be OK. The bus took us through the city of Salalah; mostly low-rise buildings with lots of spaces between structures, wide streets, and mosques – it’s quite a large city. The Grand Mosque, our first stop, was actually quite small compared to the massive and spectacular mosque in Muscat – it was also closed to visitors; we took pictures, the heat was oppressive. On the outskirts of the city we stopped at one of the royal palaces, there are several in Muscat – again it was closed for visitors, so just a quick photo stop. Lunch was served at the Rotana Hotel, situated on the coast along with several other resorts. The Rotana consists of a small central building and many villas spread over a large area along a riverbank and down to the beach. We were supposed to be served lunch on the terrace but, due to Ramadan, the location was changed to the ballroom. Our group was shown into the small ballroom, and we were sat at large round tables, no food was in sight – but after about 10 minutes a waiter appeared and served everyone a small glass of warm fruit juice. Another 10 minutes went by, and everyone was becoming a bit restless wondering if there would be any food – no one from the hotel had explained anything to us. Eventually a staff member asked one of our group why we were not eating; a small door at the back of the ballroom led to another room laid out with a large buffet! The food was great. After lunch I wandered through the villas and down to the beach; the Rotana is a fantastic resort with the most wonderful white beach, even a small surf school. Our final stop was in the foothills overlooking Salalah, on the way we passed camels by the roadside, and more could be seen out in the desert – the camels are basically like “Arab cows”, providing meat and milk, but also for some a means of transport. Many mini-mansion sized houses could be seen on our way to the hills, most in fairly large compounds; our guide explained that it is very common for three generations to live in the same house – it’s expected that the younger generation look after the old. Ain Razat is a kind of oasis in the foothills; water springs from the hillside and feed a small stream, teaming with fish. We spotted some camels on a hillside and hiked over to get some pictures; as there was no shade, we did not stay long and retreated back to the main area of the oasis which had a few trees. Despite the heat, this was a beautiful spot – and quite popular. Back on the bus the guide told us this was not the hot season!
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