Salalah Part 2 - In Town

We stayed 5 nights in Salalah's Arabian Sea Villas.  

Breakfast consisted of eggs, toast, dates, local papaya or bananas and mango juice. 

Mosque surrounded by fruit tree plantations.

 

Fruit stands selling bananas, papayas, and coconuts.

Old house and doorway.  Many Omanis still live in small village houses.

 

Modern meets traditional - love the goats!

The Dhofar region of Oman borders Yemen.  Here we are eating chicken, fish and lamb with rice at a traditional-style Yemeni restaurant.  There is an open seating area for men, and then there are curtained rooms like these where families can eat in privacy (helpful if you are a woman who wears a veil).

David ate with his hands.  I was glad I'd packed some plastic spoons in the diaper bag.

 

Shopping for frankincense at the souq.  Frankincense is placed on a piece of hot charcoal and the smoke fills the air with its scent. 

 

Frankincense (back row and front left) is typically burned, but can also be used in perfumes or as medicine.  

The larger, more opaque pieces are more highly valued.  

 

Traditional incense burner

Leather shops selling shoes and... bandoliers?

I've never seen an Omani wearing one of these, but we are quite close to Yemen...

 

Ethan snacking on corn, surrounded by Omani kids.  

Vendors often sell cups of hot corn, seasoned with lemon or chili powder. 

 

We had to stop for camels at this roundabout more than once.  

There must have been 60 of them with a young camel herder leading them across the street.

 

Nice park and playground -- more green grass than we'd seen in awhile.

Ethan and Claire played with these kids while David chatted with their dad on a nearby park bench (just what his father would have been doing, I'm sure).

 

TYPICAL RESTAURANT SCENE

Indian cooks and waiters are luring 1-yr-old Claire with ketchup packets.  

She was pretty much adored wherever we went.