As Khareef settles Salalah is missing tourists

Amid perfect settling of Khareef (monsoon) season Salalah is missing the humdrum of tourists. Even though the onset of the monsoon is very late and Salalah is witnessing a below normal Khareef, the mountains have turned green. The only missing element this year is the arrival of tourists due to closure of entry points leading to Dhofar to help contain the spread of COVID-19. Had there been no pandemic, the scene would have been entirely different. Roads would have been jam-packed with vehicles and there would have been an atmosphere of fun everywhere. “I have never seen Salalah roads so empty during Khareef. Forget about normal, good or below normal Khareef, Salalah would always attract tourists during the season due to its charm and mood of nature which you find nowhere in the whole region,” said 80-year-old Mohammed who is born and brought up on Salalah and has seen many Khareefs in his life. “Even though there were not many vehicles before Oman emerging as a developed country, there were celebrations everywhere in Salalah. Local people would dance, sing, and cook traditional food to welcome the season. I have never seen such gloomy Khareef in my life,” he recounts. Mohamed agrees with the reason for having no tourists this season. “I know that a pandemic has gripped the whole world. It is better to be safe for the future than putting yourself in trouble deliberately by indulging in celebrations and gatherings.” Even local people from Salalah are not venturing out much this season respecting the government order to maintain social distancing by avoiding gatherings. “Under compulsion, on persistent request from my children, I took them out for a while. I had given them strict instructions that everyone has to be inside the car, as there should not be a plan for picnic etc. They agreed and we came back home within two hours,” said another citizen with a request not to mention his name. Even though local people are visiting some places, they are going only as a single-family unlike previous years when some of the mountains would become a meeting for families and extended families and a full-scale picnic would start early afternoon till evening. “Everyone is waiting for the pandemic to go. We are missing the nature and nature is missing us. No one in our generation witnessed such a situation when you have to stay at home even if nature is at its peak during the Khareef season,” said septuagenarian Ahmed who loves in Mirbat.   [gallery ids='627281']   Picture by Sarthak Shenoy