By Bob Van Leer

(SALALAH, OMAN, Saturday, April 8, 2000) - We docked in this port city this morning after a day at sea in our journey from Muscat.

   Betty and I went into the city from the port to look around and do some shopping. Oman has only been open to tourists for seven years and is not as developed for the trade as some other countries.

   At the dock and on the drive to the city there is much new construction, new plantings along the road and generally large expenditures of oil money. In the old "souk", the Arab word for market area, shops are narrow and crowded with goods. This is the home of the frankincense and the shops are full of it. Frankincense is the dries pitch from a local tree. The way it is used is a small piece of charcoal is burning in a special ceramic dish. A small amount of crumbled frankincense is sprinkled on the charcoal and it smokes with a pleasant odor.

   Also available is its companion, myrrh, which appears to be a kind of stone. It is used in the same way as frankincense.

   Another common item is a different kind of cap the Omanis wear, something like a decorated fez but is folded in a ring around the crown and a peak left in the front.

   The heat in the city was so intense that we returned to the ship in mid-morning. The call at Salalah was short and we left at 4:00 p.m. For an 1842 nautical mile voyage to Aqaba, Jordan.