Nizwa

Yesterday afternoon we visited Nizwa, one of the oldest cities in Oman, situated about 140km inland from Muscat. The city used to be a centre for trade, religion, art and education within Oman.

The road from Muscat took us in a pretty much straight line into Nizwa in around 1 hour 30. We drove past a number of smaller towns and villages en route and stopped for a quick break at Wadi Qurai. For anyone who doesn't know, a wadi is basically a river bed or valley that is dry most of the year except in the rainy season. Wadi's are often home to falaj systems. It was a shame we could not see the wadi full of water as I imagine it would be beautiful had it been.

Following our short stop off we continued to Nizwa. The city itself did not strike me as being that dissimilar to Muscat, just a little smaller and less to do! One of Nizwa's main attractions is its 17th Century fort. The fort was fascinating and is definitely worth a visit. It cost 500 bz per adult and has over 20 exhibits of Omani clothing, silver, food, historical facts etc., an old date store room, prison and lots of steps to the top of the fort where you can see for miles over Nizwa and beyond.

Incense burners.

View from on top of the fort. 

The area immediately surrounding the fort (behind the walls to the main entrance from the car park) was also interesting to look around. The older buildings and narrow roads are fascinating to wonder around and so different to back home. There is also a fish and veg souq held within the castle/fort grounds. At some 7,600sq m (I think!) in size, it is one of the largest however it wasn't open when we visited unfortunately!

xXx

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Good Friday

HAPPY EASTER from Oman. 

We spent the majority of Good Friday driving around exploring other parts of Muscat and following lunch at the PDO, headed south to the oldest part of the city, Muttrah, home to the Sultans Palace. I really love driving around this part of the city; Muttrah is adorned with ornately designed roundabouts, pretty gardens and beautiful buildings. I will try and take some photo's of this part of the city soon as it really is something else. I love how all the buildings are beautifully designed and still retain many traditional aspects of Omani culture. The domes, arches and Sultan's Palace seem to have been taken out of Aladdin :-) The roundabouts are really interesting and are decorated with, amongst other things, a boat, fish, and teapots. Additionally, Muttrah harbour is home to Sultan Qaboos' two, somewhat extravagant, boats and houses a Souk, a traditional Omani market.

We continued our journey south stopping off at the Marina some 10 minutes from Muttrah. In addition to boats, the Marina houses a bar, swimming pool and offers cruises and dolphin watching and as Friday is the equivalent of our Sunday in Oman, the place was teeming with people today. It was still nice to be able to see the boats and enjoy the stunning views.

After our brief stop at the Marina we headed to our furthest port of call, the Shangri-La's Barr Al Jissah Resort and Spa. Unfortunately we were only stopping to admire its beauty; the resort is huge and very luxurious and of course pricey! See: Shangri-La. I was lucky enough to go for dinner at the resorts Moroccan restaurant for Jane's birthday last year when Oli and I visited :-). I think there are four restaurants in total and the resort even has a "heritage village":

The drive to the Shangri-La is really pretty and surprisingly green. In fact what struck me the first time I came to Oman was the amount of greenery across Muscat. I found out that although Oman's climate is extremely dry, the country's ancient water irrigation system, falaj (or "aflaj") has enabled these plants and trees to be grown. Falaj are the main source of irrigation in Oman, other than wells; the system taps underground water which is then led by (around 11,000!) man-made channels to towns and villages.

Anyway, I had better be off! I hope everyone is enjoying the nice weather in the UK :-) and making the most of the long weekends!!

xXx

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