I've been busier than a one-armed bricklayer in Baghdad recently (to quote the great man Kenny), but life has also taken me to Salalah quite a bit, and on my last trip I FINALLY managed to get a full weekend in to head out of town properly and explore the coast. Diving season hasn't yet started, so I'll have to report on the sea life at a later date, but for now let me introduce you to the coastline itself ...
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First we headed west, towards the Yemen border. Not far out of Salalah, the mountains that ring Salalah meet the sea, with amazing cliffs, rocks tumbling into the sea and some beautiful little hidden coves ...
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| Cliffs overhead |
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| A future camping spot, I think ... |
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| Rocky coastline |
At several points, the coast flattens out and leaves space for some really beautiful and blessedly quiet beaches ...
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| Vassia beach |
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| Crab hills and a happy pooch looking for dinner ... |
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| Colours and textures that dreams are made of ... |
On a different day, we headed east out of Salalah, which has a completely different coast - the hills are further back, the sea is smoother and shallower, and at this time of year the kelp and seaweed brings a completely different ecosystem and palate.
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| A lonely landscape between the beach and hills... |
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| ... but the sea brings colour and life |
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| A seashore resident |
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| Shells encrusted on the rocks |
But whichever kind of desolate stunning coastline you visit from Salalah, the end of the day brings the same rewards - a nice cold beer, sunset and smiles ...
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| Life is hard ... |
Wow isn't life amazing. I wish I could paralyse with a killer sound wave alone! The coastline looks lovely - I had no idea what to expect really but it really is beautiful. Looking forward to coming for a visit in 2013 in May/June sometime - we'll have our dive tickets by then too :-)
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