23rd FebruaryOnly 21 miles to go to the Port of Mina Raysut on the town of Salalah.
Very excited to see land after 9 days at sea. The shadows of the high
mountains are barely visible due to the haze. The trip has been fast, up
to the first week. 25- 30 knots of wind at an angle of 60 degrees . It was
miserable, not much sleep, shower or fancy cooking, we were reduced to the
basics of life on a boat, but Nomad Life coped well with the pounding. After that the wind died down and now the engine
has been on for 2 days. Miraculously the alternator started to work again
with no reason at all...
24th
February
The anchorage is in the middle of a busy commercial harbour,
with 25
cranes loading the cargo ships, boats coming in and out. There is a
German frigate docked opposite to us with 2 types of missile launchers,
helicopter and the lot. So we feel safe. Can't say the same for the next
trip. The piracy area starts here and goes until Aden. Although there is a
corridor set up for all the traffic and patrolled by Navy from different
countries, that hasn't stopped attacks. The reason is that the only action
taken by the Navy is to scare the pirates when a boat is in distress. The
pirates run off and once all is clear they come back and try again. We
don't know why more drastic measures have not been taken... In the
meantime as business is good, anybody with a power boat is becoming a pirate!
25th
February
Salalah is spread out on the foot of the Dhofar Mountain range,
very dry and dusty. Only 5% of the land is arable, so all food is imported
and very expensive, fuel is very cheap( 15p/ltr for petrol and 25p/ltr for
diesel). The supermarkets are well stocked, we are gorging
ourselves on humus, feta cheese, dates, pistachios... The Arabs are
quite friendly. When, at times, we were waiting around for one thing or
another, the Arabs brought out the chairs, teas and snacks and kept us
company. So the waiting around end up becoming having tea with friends! It
doesn't seems that the Arabs regard western woman the same way as they do
their own woman, despite that I find awkward dealing with them. There are
so many rules and you just don't know when, out of ignorance , offend
someone. The Omani women are very rarely seen in the streets, when
they do come out, it's fully covered with black burkas. For the tourists(
which are very few) is enough to wear long sleeves and trousers.
26th
February
Driving around is great, the roads are well maintained, empty
and wide. The views from Dhofar are amazing. In the rainy season (June to
August) this area
around Salalah becomes green. After the wadi we visited Al Baleed.
This archaeological site dates back to 11th century AD. It was a centre of
commerce and port, with 50 mosques, a sultan's palace, cemetery and spread
over 1km along the beach. The Frankincense Land Museum is in the same
grounds, there we found out a bit about Oman. The prosperity of the
country started with Sultan Qaboos, in 1970 . Now Oman is striving due
to oil and natural resources.
28th February
The Oasis bar was
packed with a familiar crowd: loud and boisterous, it must be Brits. It
really felt like being back in a UK pub. HMS Northumberland pulled in
today to fix
2 out of the 4 generators, amounting a bill of
a 2 million pounds, they are being flown from UK to Muscat then by road to
here. After that they are heading back home, resuming their
work with Combined Task Forces. Graham got chatting with one of the guys,
Tony, who invited us for a tour around and a few beers on board of the
naval ship.
01st
March
Tony is one of the 25 petty officers (he is the AWW, above water
weapons). We had
a tour around the deck, below, saw the helicopter (32 million pounds
worth), then took us to the petty officers mess. Things got a bit blurry
after that, we learned the hard way never to drink with the British Navy.
The drinks kept coming fast , at one point we had 4 beers in line in front
of us, they offered spirits and wine, which we refused wisely. We got completely
hammered before they even got drunk!!! Now they want to come on board
Nomad Life to see the contrast between a 140m ship and a 11m yacht!
02
March
A hard day with hangovers, did not manage to do a thing. at 5pm
Tony came to our boat with another Petty Officer, Simon and the drinking
resumed. Simon is married and was interesting hearing how marriage works
when your away for 6 months. Tony has been home for 4 weeks in 14 months.
Well it was payback time for us, we got Tony hammered and when I took him
back to his ship he fell out of the dinghy 3 times.
03rd
March
Last day in Salalah came with Northerly winds, creating a huge
sandstorm. The sun was obscured by the dust, we got covered in sand, even
breathing was difficult. Couldn't get a car hire, instead we had Mohamed
driving us around. He looks like Omar Sharif, wears the head turban and
the long white robe. After the food shopping he took us to a
traditional Omani restaurant. The restaurant had small rooms, instead of
doors there were curtains. Inside these rooms were no furniture, only
cushions. We took the shoes off and sat on the floor. The food, which was
rice and fish, came in one huge plate shared by three of us. Mohamed
showed us how to eat with our hands, mixing the curries with the rice,
pressed together, forming a ball. He picked the fish, taking the bones and
skin off then placed on our side of the plate. He even offered to feed us
with his own hands. Someone else touching our food was very off-putting.
Later we found out that this is a honor in the Arab culture. And the
most bizarre thing was that he refused money for the trip and his time.
"Next time", he said.
