Salalah is situated about 1,000 km southwest of Muscat — about 11 hours by bus through barren wastes. Salalah, the only area in Oman where the monsoon rain falls, is fruitful. At its greenest time in the autumn, thousands of visitors come for the Khareef festival.

Before the advent of oil, Abu Dhabi was a small fishing village on an island. Now it is a large modern city with outstanding architecture; it is also the political and financial centre of the UAE.