Streets squares and districts to visit Salalah

Even if it is less frequented than in the past, even if it sometimes seems disused, even if there is talk of it closing (when?) to be replaced by a "new incense souk that would respect a traditional spirit in terms of architecture and layout", it is to this day and in our eyes one of the most hypnotizing souks of the sultanate: a place carrying the brewing, the historical roads, the trading traditions.... perhaps because the women (originally the only tenants of the place, which is no longer the case today) have here faces where faraway Africa mingles with Arabia, colorful outfits, poses that make each stall a painting in the Brueghel oriental version. It's not big, you can go around it quite quickly and yet, each time, you turn around and go back for hours on end as if that were the magic of the place: in its small size, the welcome of the shoppers, the ambient kindness, the authenticity of the scents and of the old days.

It is here that you will find the largest number of varieties of incense and perfumes in the country. The stalls, all similar, are glued together. The white incense is called hujari. It is the most expensive, but also the purest compared to the others, more colourful and much cheaper. Known throughout the world, it is used in the composition of many great perfumes, including Amouage, the olfactory claw of the Sultanate. Also to be found: perfume burners and some souvenirs (stoles, pashminas, wooden canes, etc.).