Missives from Muscat: Day Trip to Nizwa & Misfat Al 'Abreyyin in Al-Dakhiliya Region

 We had to get up really early to go to Nizwa. It's about two hours away from Muscat, where we are based, but the animal souq ends around 9a and the fort is only open from 8-11a on Fridays (which are US Saturdays; weekends here are Fridays & Saturdays). So we all dutifully piled into the van (special people minibus?) and Ma'foud drove us through the mountains to Nizwa.

 These guys were all for sale. Unfortunately they were really the only ones left when we got there; due to the heat of the summer, sales apparently run earlier to conclude before the heat sets in. I asked my friend, "If you buy a cow, where does it go? How does it go home with you?" About five minutes later, we saw a cow in the back of a pickup. That's how.

After perusing the animal souq, we wandered around the rest of the souq. There are separate buildings for dates, vegetables, fish and pottery.

Open-air animal souq

Someone's purchase

Vegetable souq

Omani helawiyat, sweets made from dates (always dates!)

Anyone need a khanjar?

Frankincense for sale

Turns out frankincense is a resin or sap: to collect it, people make a slash in the tree trunk and come back in a few weeks to collect the hardened beads of frankincense sap.

Bling

Pottery from Bahla

I also purchased some cardamom pods (heel, plural hal in Arabic), which are delicious in tea. The shopkeeper thought I was pretty funny,  but humored my stammered measurements. 

Cardamom pods, bottom right

The spice souq (souq al baharat) had quite the array of offerings, and smelled heavenly.

Star anise! It looks so cool

General panacea from Saudi Arabia, apparently - cures paralysis and knee pain

Winding our way through the souq, we headed up to Nizwa Fort. It is the most visited of all Omani forts - in general, forts are a big deal here. The Omanis I've met are very proud of the country's lengthy history and the fact that they were not colonized.

Ladies room...

Men's room. Threw me off at first, until I got the khanjar.

Falaj measuring system: ancient irrigation canals distributed water evenly among the fields, using time allocations based on the solar system and the seasons of the year

I've notified Rob we'll be needing one of these

The fort's creators ingeniously removed random steps from the tower: as you climb up, these signs point you to where you're standing on glass, which then illuminates to reveal the massive hole beneath the glass that intruders would fall into.

View of Nizwa from the top of the fort

Dates dates dates

From the fort, we left for lunch in Nizwa. Then our fearless driver Ma'foud drove us up into the mountains, up this windy little road that was about 2/3 the width of our bus, to Misfat al-'Abreyyin.

So. Beautiful.

 View from the village into the valley

Here is the falaj! O famous falaj. These fantastic ancient systems carried water from the mountains, where it is channeled along the fields of the village. Falaj systems are built to have no more than a 2% grade over a kilometer - anything more than that, and the system risks flooding; anything less than that, the water stagnates. Little channels off the main falaj are blocked with rocks and fabric when it is not that field's turn to receive water (see above, from Nizwa fort, the drawing that shows how the system works).

This water is a gift from God (to keep our town prosperous), so please don't wash your clothes in it or defile it.

Some sweaty white lady next to the falaj

We trekked along to the source of the falaj, and then back to the village and visited the oasis. It was so incredibly beautiful, and lush! There was also a waterfall. Once back on the bus, we rehydrated and drove back to Muscat. It was such a wonderful day, and so lovely to see a bit of al-Dakhiliya region. This country has really exceptional natural beauty.

I get the whole oasis business now. They are a big deal, man.