The Dhow's Hold

In the city of Sur, on the eastern coast of Oman, there is a factory where men - mostly from Kerala, India - build traditional dhows by hand. Each craft takes months to make and sells for hundreds of thousands of dollars. On a scorching hot day in August, I climbed down into the hold of a nearly completed dhow to escape from the sun for a few minutes. The dappled sunlight slipping through the cracks in the deck mesmerized me.