Our Oman Short Trip - Post 1

Hi there, we came back yesterday from our short trip around Oman. I have a filthy cold but such is life and no complaining (not in this post anyway ;-)

We did not go back to the U.A.E. even without T as the drive would have been too much. Instead we decided to spend a couple of days showing Mum some of Oman's amazing beauty. We went to Al Jabal al Akhdar (translation - The Green Mountain), Nizwa / Bahla / Jabrin Fort, and Al Hoota Caves. Too much for one post so I will split it up.

The first thing you need to know is that you need to be careful on the roads. I don't mean the crazies on the highway I mean these guys who seriously think they own the road and watch out if you think otherwise!
The oh so gorgeous donkeys
and the many hundreds of goats.


We headed up to Jabal Akdhar (a.k.a. The Sayq Plateau) which takes about 2 hours from Muscat to get to the top. This is the high country of Oman between 2000 and 2400m in elevation. The area was previously a military zone even though there are over 30 villages spread all around. Since 2005 you can drive up there without a permit but you must have a 4WD, and believe me you better have one with good brakes! We stayed the night at the Jabal Akdhar Hotel which is a small maybe 3 star hotel but I tell you the staff really try hard to please you and although it is fairly basic I would highly recommend staying the night so you can do plenty of exploring. Be warned it is COLD this time of year. They say the best time to visit is March or April when the roses and the fruit trees are in full bloom. We did not have a huge amount of time so we decided to do the beginning of the walk to Bani Habib Village. Here you can explore the ruins of the old village and its quaint mud houses.

First you have to walk down ALOT of stepsto get the wadi and then trek over LOTS of rocks to get to the village so wear comfortable shoes with good grip. Since I was there last the trees have made getting to the village a little harder if walk on the wall so we decided to go through the rocky wadi. Once we were there Mum and I stayed at the base and let Ali and the kids explore. Then we had to hike back up all those stairs (with some breaks along the way) HUFF PUFF - yes I am out of shape!

If you are fit the walk to the first village can take about 15 minutes but if you are out of shape or trekking with kids then double that LOL! Either way it is worth it. The pictures really don't do the place justice. (Click on the image for a clearer shot)
Lets just say we all slept well that night!