A New Part of Oman

This weekend, a number of us traveled to Southern Oman, to a city called Salalah. Two students visited a few weeks ago, and were raving about it, and throughout our trip, we've heard nothing but good things about the city. Located in the Dhofar region of Oman, Salalah is approximately 120 kilometers from the Yemen border (I believe). There is a slightly more conservative or traditional attitude of residents in Salalah and the Dhofar region, in addition to a slight difference in dialect spoken in the city compared to the Muscat Omani we have been learning. The current Sultan was born in Salalah actually, and before Sultan Qaboos, it was tradition for the Sultan to reside there. With all these things in mind, I went in with an open mind, not really knowing what to expect.

We decided to take the bus there and fly back to save money, though definitely not time. Our bus left late afternoon on Wednesday, and we arrived at a little after 7am I believe. The ride ended up being almost 14 hours. After walking the 2 kilometers to the hotel, we crashed exhausted and slept for a few hours before going out and exploring. And explore we did.

Salalah is very different from Muscat, that much we noticed the instant we got off the bus. First, and of course most importantly, the weather is so much more bearable. Being able to walk the 2-3 kilometers from the bus stop was so nice - yes, we started sweating about three-fourths of the way there because our bags were heavy, but it wasn't even close to the oppressing heat and humidity here in Muscat. We were able to walk around without dying of heat exhaustion, though the fact that we wished to walk seemed to confuse most Omanis; taxi driver after taxi driver pulled up along side us and asked us if we needed a ride, and were always in disbelief when we told them that we actually WANTED to walk.

The second thing we noticed as well, in particular when walking, is that the city is much smaller and more contained than Muscat. While most Omani coastal cities are built in similar fashion (aka a city in a long strip along the water), Muscat has developed a lot away from the coast line as well. This tread has yet to hit Salalah, and therefore walking to the beach or the souk was relatively doable.

Thirdly, there are not nearly as many expatriates here, or at least we didn't see nearly as many as in Muscat. I did notice a large number of Arabs from surrounding Gulf countries (a lot of Saudis and Emiratis in particular). The tourist resorts are on the far ends of the city, so many of the citizens are not as used to Westerners walking through the real Omani parts of the town. I noticed this particularly when we were walking by the popular fruit stands and through the traditional souk. Usually when we visit places like this in Muscat, first of all the prices are ridiculously high for us, and second, while some people stare, it's not incredibly uncomfortable (here, a little staring is to be expected, since we are foreigners and don't look Arab). In Salalah though, we got relatively equivalent prices to the Arabs shopping, but we got a LOT more attention - to the point of making me slightly uncomfortable. I realized as we walked through the souk that I have a strong sense of cultural appropriateness. The staring didn't make me uncomfortable for myself, I mostly felt aware that I was making others uncomfortable, especially other women. Yes I feel out of place here often, but in the Souk I just felt like I was disrespecting their daily lives by drawing so much attention - I know it's somewhat ridiculous, but it was still an interesting feeling.

It's amazing how much more into the culture you can perceive when you're not getting bused around from place to place only speaking English. Such a small group made it possible for us to engage with locals on a much more basic level, and we didn't look like a complete tourist group since there were so few of us. Salalah has really been the culmination of all the cultural experiences we have had here so far, and it makes me really think about what an amazing and diverse country Oman is.