Dhofar

The southern governorate of Oman receives the Indian Ocean monsoon from June to September, transforming brown hillsides into lush green meadows in a phenomenon unique on the Arabian Peninsula — locally called the khareef. Salalah, the regional capital, sits at the centre of this dramatic seasonal transformation and the Dhofar mountains rise steeply behind the coastal plain to mist-covered plateaux grazed by cattle and camels. The region was historically the world's primary source of frankincense, and ancient harvesting sites remain scattered across the interior.