We slept well last night. The anchorage is calm. It was cool. Christi actually pulled out a blanket for the first time since getting to the tropics. Since it was cool, we could shut the windows and window covers, so it was dark and quiet. Ahhhh. If only every anchorage could be so nice.

The first chore of the day was to wash Kosmos. We know we said we were going to do it in Male. But, it rained hard every day, so we justified procrastination with the fact that at least Kosmos wasn’t getting any dirtier, and who knows, maybe the rain would make the job easier down the road. On passage, Kosmos got very salty from the head winds and seas. It isn’t supposed to rain in Oman for another 2 months, so there was no way we could procrastinate on washing her now. We scrubbed every inch of deck aboard and as much of the hull as we could reach. She is salt free and looking much better, but we definitely need to go back and do some spot treating, metal polishing, and window washing. All tasks for another day.

We headed into town at about 1330 (1:30 pm). The town of Salalah is about 20 kilometers from the Port of Salalah. The roads are wide and well maintained asphalt, surrounded by dry sand. The road signs are written in Arabic and English. We passed a power plant, a cement factory, a petro-chemical manufacturer, a pharmaceutical plant and some other industrial buildings, all spaced pretty far apart. We passed a Hilton, kind of all by itself with not much around on either side. As we got closer to town, we started to see strip malls and the occasional 6 or 8 or 10 story building.

Once we got to town, the buildings became much more densely packed. Salalah is definitely an urban sprawl, so dense is a relative term. The buildings have large lots and are not on top of one another. There are lots of vacant lots around, so there is plenty of room for further development. Salalah is the complete opposite of Male. The buildings range in size from 1 to 10 stories tall and almost all are flat roofed and very blocky. Many have traditional Arab style appointments, such as window frames with a point at the top.

While the landscape is predominantly sand, there are some attempts around town at greenery. A few roads are lined with trees, and occasionally you will see strips of grass. Each round about has a theme and is lavishly decorated, and many have fountains and grass. It feels a lot like the cities in the deserts of California, except with taller buildings.

There weren’t many cars on the road and only a couple people walking around. We realized almost all the stores were closed. We consulted Lonely Planet and found out that most stores close for an afternoon siesta at 1300 (1:00pm), reopening at 1600 (4:00pm). However, on Thursdays they generally close for the day at 1300. Thursday is like a Saturday for westerners. We also found out that restaurants close daily from 1400 1800, which is common in many countries we have visited. Our two main priorities were finding internet and food, but as we passed closed restaurant and internet cafes galore, we were losing hope.

We found what looked like a small mall and saw it was open. A mall should have both. Score! Inside, it turned out the small mall was really a very large department store, with a grocery store on the first floor. We got some snacks from the market’s bakery and wandered around the store for a while. It is well stocked and much the same as a department store at home. The grocery portion of it is also very nice.

With nothing open, we decided to head back to the boat. On the way back, we realized the Hilton would have a wi-fi connection, so we stopped in there to check email. We also found their dive shop and made plans to go diving. By the time we were ready to leave the Hilton, it was after 1800. Since we were much closer to the boat than town, we decided to go back to the Oasis Club for dinner rather than going all the way back to Salalah. [86]