BE CONTENT WITH VIRTUAL VIEW OF KHAREEF THIS SEASON

SALALAH: This season the Khareef lovers have to be content with the online view of Salalah and its greenery. Already the pictures and videos of drizzling on the mountains and sporadic rains in some parts of the city are circulating on social media. People hardly have any option but to be content with what they have.

This is going to be the case with all, even for those who live in Salalah. By being in Salalah they can enjoy the weather, but they also do not have many options to go out, as the approach road to most of the important tourist sites have been closed to discourage people from going there in groups as a precautionary measure against the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Abdullah ba Omar, who commutes daily from Mirbat to Salalah for his office work, finds the current state of lockdown a right move to keep safe the country and its people from the deadly pandemic, which has claimed many lives in many parts of the world.

“There is no harm in being at home for one season to be able to see many more Khareefs in the future. Despite being from Dhofar I am keeping confined to my house after my office work and I call upon everyone to follow the rules. Don’t be overenthusiastic. This is not the right time for any misadventure,” he said. There are people from Muscat and other GCC countries who come every season to Salalah to beat the heat and be in the lap of nature.

“For them, it may be a matter of solace that the season is not as good as it used to be. Salalah city has hardly some rains the whole season. Of course, the temperature is far less than any place in the GCC, the essence of Khareef is missing due to below normal monsoon this year,” said Said al Sahri. Since Said has his house both in Salalah and one of the mountain villages, he keeps on taking beautiful pictures of greenery and scenery and posts them on social media for his near and dear ones to be happy and content.

“I want to make clear to everyone that it is important to be safe. I have seen some people picnicking hidden in some remote places. It is not at all advisable as any kind of gathering can be detrimental to the whole effort of the government to keep us safe from the disease,” he said.