Talk:Salalah

Stay safe

Never offer a ride to hitch-hikers on highways; expat or omani national. If possible, do not slow down if you see anyone approaching your car if you are outside the city.

Why? I think this is an overly-cautious statement. Hitchhiking is common in Oman, and hitchhikers, especially Omani nationals, will be grateful and friendly. What is the author's specific concern? 207.172.222.90 20:24, 20 November 2006 (EST)

After several trips to Oman I can easily attest that Omanis are the greatest people on Earth. One feels completely safe in Oman, and the precaution against offering rides to strangers is totally out of place.

Agreed. If there is any place in the world where it is safe to offer rides, it is Oman. 208.120.84.99 11:04, 14 September 2007 (EDT)

Friends, there must have been some incident due to which the author has suggested to be careful. Its the same in any other country.

Al Baleed Archaeology Blog

Here's this blog that could interest Wikivoyage readers. --Lo Ximiendo (talk) 05:08, 16 August 2013 (UTC)

To Guide

This article looks like a Guide to me. I think the only thing that's missing is a pagebanner. Anything else you can think of? Ikan Kekek (talk) 22:24, 16 February 2014 (UTC)

I think it needs a few more photos. Unfortunately the city itself is not that photogenic, but I'll see what I can dredge up from Commons and from my own library. –StellarD (talk) 07:06, 17 February 2014 (UTC)

Great! I haven't been to Oman, but based on the contents of the article, I'm wondering if a photo of a frankincense tree and the Gun Souq could be interesting, and maybe some nice incense burners on sale at the Haffa Souq. Ikan Kekek (talk) 07:55, 17 February 2014 (UTC)

This looks like a nice article to nominate for a feature. I suppose it'd be Off the Beaten Path, would you agree? Ikan Kekek (talk) 08:17, 24 October 2015 (UTC)

It's definitely off the beaten path, and an interesting destination. I'll support the nomination. –StellarD (talk) 09:03, 24 October 2015 (UTC)

Which months are the best to visit? Perhaps the cooler winter months of January and February (and perhaps December?) and the khareef months of July and August? Ikan Kekek (talk) 10:23, 24 October 2015 (UTC)

The annual Salalah Festival takes place in August during the khareef, which is considered to be high season. The shoulder periods of June and September are also good (I visited in September), and for birdwatchers and divers the winter months are optimal. I think Salalah could fill a number of empty time slots. –StellarD (talk) 23:47, 24 October 2015 (UTC)

OK, if I get to this tonight, I'll suggest December-February or June-September. If any of those months don't seem good to you, please edit the nomination. Ikan Kekek (talk) 05:27, 25 October 2015 (UTC)

Nomination at Wikivoyage:Destination of the month candidates#Salalah. Please make comments and edits as appropriate, and congratulations for creating such a good article! Ikan Kekek (talk) 05:33, 25 October 2015 (UTC)

Banner

Current banner

Alternative 1

Alternative 2

The current banner is rather problematic because it was enlarged from a much smaller image, which is never ideal and always results in a soft image with unsightly artifacts. I've come up with two possible alternatives, also not ideal, but at least a bit sharper and not too noisy. They are rather both rather dark, but to offset that we could replace the first photo in 'understand' with a brighter image. I'm not terribly attached to any of the three options, but would appreciate any comments. –StellarD (talk) 12:24, 10 August 2016 (UTC)

If the banner needs to be changed I would prefer Alternative 2. I don't have any problems with the current banner, though. ϒpsilon (talk) 14:13, 10 August 2016 (UTC)

The composition is better and more obviously urban in Alternative 1, but the picture is better in Alternative 2, so I'd go with that one. Ikan Kekek (talk) 06:34, 11 August 2016 (UTC)

Further improvements

One thing I notice is that it would be good to have some text in the "Climate" section. For example, it would be good to specifically note when the khareef takes place. It looks like July and August are the peak precipitation months, but April isn't far behind, and "Do/Diving" has a listing for a dive shop that mentions it's closed "during the khareef from the end of May until 1 October", so though September doesn't look like a high-precipitation month, perhaps the waters are still roiled by rip currents. "Sleep" says "During the annual khareef from July-September", so I guess those are the months, although April and May have a decent amount of precipitation, too. Do April and May represent a different season of moderate rain?

January looks like a pleasant dry month, on account of temperature.

I know that in the DOTM nomination thread, some months were cited as unpleasant on account of weather. Those months should be mentioned and characterized in prose.

In the "Get in/By boat" section, if anyone can rustle up the name of the operator in Muscat that will run a charter to Salalah, please add it.

For "Get around", is it really easy to find SUVs to rent, provided that you rent far enough in advance, or would it be wise to list car/SUV rental agencies with offices in town? Ikan Kekek (talk) 09:57, 8 September 2016 (UTC)

I see there was discussion in #To Guide about good months to visit. So July and August are the khareef, June and Sept. are the shoulder season, but what about the rest of the year? Ikan Kekek (talk) 10:00, 8 September 2016 (UTC)

Thank you for pointing that out – I completely overlooked it, and agree the climate section should be expanded. For diving and bird watching Salalah is best visited during the dry season. I'll add some prose to that section when I have a bit more time (sorry I won't be able to get to that today). –StellarD (talk) 10:35, 8 September 2016 (UTC)

No worries! Whenever you can do it, and thanks. Ikan Kekek (talk) 12:15, 8 September 2016 (UTC)