Salalah is the second largest city in the Sultanate of Oman, and the largest city in the Dhofar Province in the South of the country.
We flew their with Oman Air changing aircraft at Muscat
With a coastline almost exclusively on the Indian Ocean, Salalah is very different from the rest of Oman.
This must be put down to its climate and the Khareef (monsoon) that affects it allows the area to grow some vegetables and fruits like coconut.
As such it attracts lots of people from other parts of Oman and GCC during the Khareef, which starts from July to September.
Salalah was the traditional capital of Dhofar, which reached the peak of prosperity in the 13th century thanks to the incense trade. Later it decayed, and in the 19th century it was absorbed by the Sultanate of Muscat.
In 1932-1970 Salalah was the capital of the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman, under Said bin Taimur. After the latter’s death, his son Qaboos decided to move the capital of Oman to Muscat.
Salalah is the birthplace of the Sultan, Qaboos bin Said.
The Sultan traditionally lives in Salalah rather than in Muscat, the capital and largest city in Oman; Qaboos has bucked this trend, and has lived in Muscat since he ascended to the throne in 1970. He does, however, visit Salalah fairly regularly to meet with influential tribal and local leaders.