Job’s Tomb
I picked up a rental car from Avis at the airport last night … it was the first time I had driven a left-hand drive and on the right side of the road.
John, April and I set off to Job’s tomb about half hour’s drive from Salalah. Job is a prophet to Jews, Christians and Muslims. It was a very peaceful site (at least until two busloads of tourists arrived). He must have been quite tall judging from the proportions of his tomb!
We then drove west in the direction of the Yemeni border, first stopping at Mughsail blowholes for coffee.
Text continues after this gallery.
-
- Job’s tomb.
-
- Job’s tomb.
-
- Looking from the blowholes at Mughsail.
-
- Flamingoes near Mughsail.
-
- Camels near Mughsail.
Spare Tyre Panic
During the stop, I remembered that I had wanted to check the spare tyre in the rental car … but hadn’t done it. I opened the boot and was met with a tyre that appeared off the rim. John took a look and agreed that we had a problem.
We drove to the local petrol station … the man didn’t speak English and I said in Arabic “I have a problem” and beckoned him to the boot. Upon showing him the tyre, I realised that the rim was on the wheel indeed and it was only the decorative hubcap that was off! He said in Arabic “No problem!” I quickly thanked him in embarrassment and drove off!
The lesson here is that panic and preconception can lead one to jump onto the wrong conclusion! In this case, we both fell into this trap. It could have been worse … imagine if we had a flat tyre and rang for help … only to realise when help arrived that the spare was OK!
You’d have a panic if you saw this right?
Sarfait Road and Shaat
We continued on the road west (which leads to Sarfait on the Yemeni border). This took us through a real feat of engineering … the road was carved into the cliff face and zig-zagged up 400m within 5km, with eight hairpins at gradients of 10-12 percent. It was built at a cost of US$120 million.
There was a military checkpoint where we had to show our passports … locals say that many visitors get put off by this and don’t venture beyond.
Our destination was Shaat where the most amazing cliffs were to be found … the sheer drop was about 1000m to the sea!
It would be another 80km to Yemen but having been there five times there wasn’t a necessity to head that way. We headed back to Salalah driving past some very tempting beaches. We didn’t stop for a swim as I’m flying to Muscat tonight with my bags checked all the way to Chennai. I didn’t want to have wet clothes in my pack for some 28 hours.
Text continues after this gallery.
-
- Zigzags on the Sarfait Road.
-
- Zigzags on the Sarfait Road.
-
- Shaat is halfway between Sarfait and Salalah.
-
- Cliff at Shaat, some 1000m above the sea.
-
- Cliff at Shaat, some 1000m above the sea.
-
- Cliff at Shaat, some 1000m above the sea.
-
- Cliff at Shaat, some 1000m above the sea.
-
- View from a high point in the Sarfait Road, heading back towards Mughsail and Salalah.
After dinner at the Oasis (the club for Salalah Port staff, plus invited members) Steve dropped me off at the airport for my flight to Muscat at 2150 with Oman Air, arriving there rather late at 2325.