Rains make Salalah abuzz

SALALAH, July 13  - It’s raining in Salalah and the news of it is spreading far and wide. It was a long wait for the people here to beat the continuous humidity, which was becoming unbearable and people were looking for some respite, which they were getting after a drive on the mountain villages of Itin and Taqah. Most parts of the Salalah City has been receiving light to moderate drizzling since Thursday night making climate cooler and pleasant. Though the intensity of rain is not high, some patches of water on the roadsides are indication of the fact that the drizzling is light but continuous.

The current weather here is making ground for the visitors to arrive from all corners, as most of the apartment caretakers and front desk hotel managers admitted to have been receiving continuous enquiries about the rates and weather in Salalah. The news of rain in Salalah seems to have spread all over as the city roads are witnessing movement of cars from GCC countries. Since the rain started on weekend, the local people are seen enjoying the opportunity because it is not too far when all the city roads would be flooded with vehicles from outside.

“Yes it is favourable now for us that the rain started during the weekend and we can explore here and there. As soon as the news of rain spreads through the social media, people from other cities of Oman and GCC countries would start pouring in and this is a kind of one-sided agreement from the people of Salalah to make way for the guests to enjoy because we are here all the time,” said Salalah resident Hasan al Khatiri. The moderate rain has brought the temperature down by about 2 degrees and feeling of freshness is there all over the city. Salalah is preparing for large scale footfall of tourists in coming days.

The temperature here is ranging between 31 and 27 degrees Celsius, while whole of the GCC is having very high temperatures between 40-48 degrees Celsius. Movement of cars can be seen towards east and west of Salalah, Wadi Darbat still being the most popular among the tourists due to constant flow of water on a stair like waterfall. At Wadi Darbat there are three locations to see — one is the wadi (canal) which is full of water and people are seen enjoying boating; the other one is the water fall area and the third is on the other side of mountain, at the bottom of it, where a long wadi has been formed post tropical cyclone Mekunu last year.

Rakhyout and Dalkhout have become spectacular with continuous drizzling and greenery building up all over the mountains, the impact of which would soon be on the plains as well. The residents of mountain villages of Itin, Qairun Hariti, Zeik, Hagif, Gadau, Titam, Al San, Madinat al Haq and Tawi Atir etc have already started bringing their camels on Salalah plains and keeping them inside the enclosures in Itin plain, Taqah and Mirbat. Many have moved their camels to Thamrait and its adjoining villages, where the impact of monsoon is not there and the climate is suitable for the camels.