Oman Day 5:
It was New Year’s Day, and Jude and Georgie decided to visit a church. We found one nearby and managed to catch the last bits of the English service. It felt like a familiar way to begin the year, even while travelling. For the Salalah leg, I had rented a car again, this time a Nissan Sunny.
Salalah, the capital of Oman’s southern Dhofar region, feels different from the rest of the country. Greener, more laid back, and long been known for one thing above all else: frankincense.
That story begins at the Museum of the Land of Frankincense, which traces how this region supplied incense to Egypt, Rome, and Mesopotamia, along with the ancient caravan routes that connected this coast to the wider world. Long before oil, frankincense allowed Dhofar to flourish. Salalah grew around this trade, its fortunes tied to a resin once considered more valuable than gold.
From there, we walked through the ruins at Al Baleed Archaeological Park, once a thriving port exporting frankincense across the Indian Ocean and now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Being on the coast, seafood felt like the obvious choice. Lunch at a local place called LNG arrived as a giant seafood platter piled with a variety of fresh catch. By evening, I went for a swim at the beach attached to our resort.
Later, we visited the frankincense market at Haffa Souq. I bought some frankincense (obviously!), and a traditional burner, which I've been happily using ever since I returned to Mumbai. Salalah’s obsession with frankincense runs deep. You see it everywhere, even in ice cream flavours🍦.
#omantourism #omanitinerary
2 months ago
