Oman Photographs & Memories - The Edge of the Rub' al-Khali Travelogue

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Leaving Job's Tomb, we continued on through Jebel Qara until we reached the edge of the Rub' al-Khali, where the mountains meet the desert. The fog of the mountains dissipated quickly, but the road we traveled followed that border between mountain and desert. A slight shift of the road toward the mountains and we were cooler, back in the mist. An equally slight shift in the other direction and we were in the arid heat of the desert. And along the edge of the Rub' al-Khali, we found wadis, Bedouins, and frankincense.

A wadi is a river bed, usually dry, and our first encounter with one was Wadi Ayun. It was wide, deep, and rugged, and just ripe for exploration. We found seashells, fossils, bullet casings, and great places to just climb around. We drove our Land Cruisers to the edge of the wadi, but chose not to engage in what seems to be a favorite desert activity, wadi bashing...off road driving through the wadis. (The combination of wadi bashing and the Omani law against driving a dirty vehicle...you can be fined...has resulted in a booming car wash business.)

We also saw several Bedouin camps along the way. The name Bedouin conjures an almost romantic image of desert nomads, with an element of danger thrown in. What we saw certainly fit the image of desert nomads, tents and camels with few permanent structures. But along with the camels there were the pickup trucks, and occasionally you can even find a satellite dish.

A slight bend in the road toward the mountains, and we came upon a grove of frankincense trees. Most of the world's frankincense comes from this area of Oman. The trees are short, gnarly, and frankincense is actually the dried sap from these trees. A cut is made in the bark, and as the sap begins to run, it oozes out through the cut. The sap dries, and then is scrapped off into a bucket.

Frankincense is not burned like other incense. The resin is simply dropped onto a hot coal, where it burns / smolders, releasing its aroma. In a Muttrah souq, we bought a burner, charcoal, and frankincense. To burn frankincense, place one piece of charcoal in the burner. The charcoal, somewhat bowl shaped, is supposed to be "instant lighting." You light the bowl edge, and if lucky, the charcoal ignites across the surface. It usually takes me several matches. Sparks and bits of charcoal may fly out of the burner as the charcoal ignites. Place one or two pieces of frankincense on the charcoal, and it will begin to smoke / melt. If you put too much frankincense on at a time, it gets very smoky. The charcoal is good for about an hour, so you can add more frankincense as the pieces smolder away.

Just as any incense, frankincense is used to freshen the air. But it is used also used to freshen clothing, to repel pests, and for medicinal purposes. And in solid form it is used as medicine, and in food and drink. It has a very rich, evergreen-like scent. I have a small jar of it in my briefcase, and the most frequent comment about its scent is that it "smells like Christmas."

Turning back through the jebels to return to Salalah, our final stop of the day was at the Gardens of Ayn Razat. It is a park at the base of the jebels, on the side toward the ocean, filled with gardens, shallow caves, and our first look at a falaj (plural aflaj), the ancient system of channels that brought (and still brings) water from the mountains to the villages of Oman.

Click here to see all the pictures in the Edge of the Rub' al-Khali photo gallery.

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Salalah

Ubar and the Rub' al-Khali

The Edge of the Rub' al-Khali

Nizwa

Misfah