Off-the-Beaten-Path in Salalah, Oman

The enchanting city of Salalah on the turquoise waters of the Arabian Sea in the Dhofar region of Oman

Travelers interested in visiting the Gulf region typically head to glamorous Dubai, with its skyscrapers, high-end malls, and endless beaches. Just next door, though, is Oman, a country with less glitz but more authenticity. Oman is popular, Dubai’s quiet little sister. Its sedate atmosphere extends throughout the country all the way into its southernmost reaches, known as the Dhofar Governorate. Here in the Dhofar region stands the little-known yet captivating city of Salalah. This enchanting off-the-beaten-path destination is home to frankincense, camels, ancient history, and turquoise seas. Salalah and its environs are a popular vacation destination for the people of the Middle East. Yet most of the rest of the world has never heard of Salalah or the Dhofar region.

A lone frankincense tree standing in the middle of the Dhofari desert

In Salalah

Frankincense is the heartbeat of Salalah. The ancient trade of this rare spice is what helped build and populate the city. The Museum of the Frankincense Land, Salalah’s only museum, offers an exploration of the country’s history and its ancient frankincense enterprise

Sultan Qaboos Mosque, the largest mosque in Salalah, Oman
Nighttime in an alleyway lined with shops at Al Haffa Souq

The beautiful white and gold Sultan Qaboos Mosque is the largest mosque in Salalah and is not to be confused with the even larger Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque in the capital city of Muscat. Like other mosques in the wealthy Gulf region, Salalah’s is opulent and majestic yet sedate and elegant.

Like virtually every Middle Eastern city, Salalah has souqs. While these outdoor marketplaces are often loud and chaotic, due to cultural variations in the Gulf region, the souqs are typically quiet and subdued. At Al Husn Souq, also known as Al Haffa Souq, you can quietly shop for scarves, perfumes, frankincense, and other souvenirs. Other shopping areas in Salalah provide insight into local life. At Salalah Gardens Mall, check out the local fashion while also people watching. Central Market is livelier but less upscale. Here you’ll find locally sourced produce, sweets, and frankincense along with butchers cutting a variety of fish and meat.

A man in a little room in Salalah cooking the famous Omani halwa
Just a few of the thousands of frankincense burners for sale in Salalah
One of many shops in Salalah selling halwa for Eid al Fitr

One of Salalah’s local claims to fame is its halwa. This dark, jelly-like dessert is enjoyed during Eid al-Fitr, the holiday that occurs after Ramadan. In a little building hidden behind a shop in Salalah, my guide Faisal and I watched as a solitary man sat on the floor busily cooking halwa for the holiday. The Omani halwa made in Salalah is so popular that people come from all around the region to buy it.

Khareef Season

The khareef season is the most distinctive time of year in the Dhofar region of Oman. During this season, monsoon rains transform the dry Dhofari desert into an emerald rainforest. Stunning greenery, waterfalls, and relatively cool temperatures make this season the most popular for tourism to Salalah.

Oman is one of only two countries in the Middle East that have khareefs. Yemen, just across the border, also experiences these annual monsoons, though theirs tend to involve harsher weather and are less predictable in timing. Salalah’s khareef is mild, consisting of fog, drizzle, and light rain amounting to four to five inches throughout the season. Its intensity varies from year to year, with some years bringing more water and greenery and some years less water and greenery. The khareef season lasts from approximately mid-June to early September. Visiting Salalah and the Dhofar region during this season is one of the most singular experiences you can have in the Middle East.

he khareef season brings lots of water and greenery to the Dhofar region

In the Dhofar Region

The Dhofar region surrounding Salalah is a desert wilderness packed with natural wonders. The mountainous Jebel Samhan Nature Reserve offers dramatic sweeping views of the valley below. Jebel means mountain, and this mountain’s peak of almost 7,000 feet is the region’s highest point. Nearby, you’ll find Mughsail, a white sand beach on turquoise waters nestled in the mountains alongside Marneef Cave. Outside this cave are three blowholes. Shafts in the cave naturally force seawater upwards to the surface, where it then gushes like geysers through the blowholes.

Frankincense trees dot the landscape of the Dhofar region. Because this region is one of the few in which frankincense trees grow and because it lies east of Israel, it is believed that the three wise men who came from the east bearing gold, frankincense, and myrrh for baby Jesus may have lived in Salalah.

The Middle East is filled with religious sites, and the Dhofar region is no exception. Job, the man about whom the Book of Job in the Bible is written, is buried just outside Salalah. He is considered a prophet in Islam, so his grave is well-kept and a place of importance for the local people as well as tourists. Like many people who lived millennia ago, Job is believed to have been a giant. His grave is approximately 13 feet long.

Resin seeping out of a frankincense tree after slicing off a bit of the bark.

Camels are all over the place in and around Salalah. One day with Faisal, while driving on a desert road, hundreds of camels suddenly appeared before us, lurching down the road, herded by a handful of men.

I thought this was the single most amazing sight I had ever seen in my life. Faisal, who’s spent his entire life in Salalah, was annoyed because we had to pull over and wait for the camels to pass. Apparently, people who’ve grown up surrounded by millions of camels are not exactly delighted to see even more.

While seeing a massive herd of camels is not a guaranteed experience here, defying gravity is. To have this very unique adventure, you must visit the Anti-Gravity Point. On this desolate winding mountain road just outside Salalah, gravity is, or at least appears to be, reversed. Here you will find that moving downhill is hard while moving uphill is easy.

On a hilltop, Faisal placed his car in neutral, and we began rolling. But not down. Instead, the car was pulled slowly up. Going back downhill, however, he had to press on the accelerator as if going uphill. This mysterious experience fit in perfectly with the intrigue of this destination. While most of the world has never heard of Salalah or its surrounding region, this off-the-beaten-path location is one of the most remarkable destinations in the Middle East.