Oman (7): Misfat Al Abriyyin, Wadi Bani Awf and Nakhl

A Charming Village, 50 km Off-road and a Fort of Ancient Origin

Descent from the Jebel Shams

Oman

Having driven up to almost 3,000m yesterday afternoon, our first task after breakfast was drive back down from the sunlit, but distinctly chilly uplands into the warm embrace of the valley below.

Y followed the same (and only) road which sometimes lacks tarmac…

Descending the Jebel Shams

…even quite low down….

Descending the Jebel Shams

….back to Al Hamra, this time driving through the centre rather than seeking out the restored old houses in the backstreets.

Al Hamra

Our first stop would be at Misfat al Abriyyin, the village that can be seen lining the ridge above Al Hamra in the photo above. After that we would make our way back to Muscat, though not by quite as straight a line as the map suggests and with several stops on the way.

From the Jebel Shams are route back to Muscat was not quite as straight as the line on the map suggests

Misfat al Abriyyin

The houses on the ridge are large, new (or still under construction) and opulent, they were not our reason for visiting Misfat.

New builds on the ridge, Misfat al Abriyyin

It is the cluster of houses beyond the ridge, some well cared for, some crumbling…

The old lanes of Misfat al Abriyyin

…and the large well-irrigated cleft in the rocks that drags in the visitors.

Irrigated area, Misfat al Abriyyin

We wandered the narrow lanes between the buildings…

Misfat al Abriyyin

….and the paths between the palms…

Misfat al Abriyyin

….and the irrigation channels.

Misfat al Abriyyin

Some buildings are particularly impressive.

Some of Misfat al Abriyyin's less likely dwellings

As the National Day holiday extended until the holiday for The Prophet’s Birthday, holiday-making locals were arriving bearing picnic baskets.

Going for a picnic (no women required) Misfat al Abriyyin

Misfat is a lovely place even if the name sounds a bit iffy in English, but there is little to do once you have had a walk round so we moved on.

Wadi Bani Awf

After returning to Al Hamra we turned east, back into the mountains, heading for a pass that would take us to the coastal plain.

We followed a well-made road to the top of the pass at around 2000m where it ran out of tarmac...

The tarmac disappears at the top of the pass

….then stopped to have a look.

We'll have a look once we've posed for a piccie

The 50km off-road route would take us down to and along Wadi Bani Awf until we emerged on the coastal plain at Al Awabi. From the top we could see a large part of the route, including the village of Bilad Sayt which would provide a surprise or two. The journey, which takes a couple of hours, is universally described as the most demanding off-road drive in Oman; four-wheel drive is essential, as is the knowledge of how to use it. Conditions were good, it had been dry for months, but I was happy that we had a driver of Y’s experience at the wheel.

The Wadi Bani Awf route can be traced from the village, bottom left, into the centre of the picture before disappearing behind the montains

From the start the route was challenging...

Starting down to Wadi Bani Awf

...but although some sections dropped sharply others were level.

Down to Wadi Bani Awf

The road would have been impassable after rain, but even under dry conditions the lightest touch on the brakes sent the car sliding over the loose surface. The Toyota Landcruiser, so sure-footed in the Wahiba Sands, was here outmanoeuvred by the mixed flocks of nimble sheep and goats who forage in this arid wasteland.

A mixed flock of sheep and goats find something to eat

The descent was never a white-knuckle ride, Y was too calm and competent for that, but it was an exhilarating drive through remarkable desert scenery.

Near the bottom, we saw water flowing from a cleft in the rocks….

Water running, well trickling, from a cleft in the rocks, Wadi Bani Awf

…and where there is water, there is vegetation and people.

Water in the desert, Wadi Bani Awf

Bilad Sayt, Youthful Enterprise and a Remarkable Football Pitch

Two young lads had set up an impromptu stall selling coffee and dates. Y decided to support the youthful entrepreneurs and spent a few hundred baisa (the Omani rial – worth roughly £2 – is divided into 1,000 baisa) on three coffees. I applauded their spirit, but would have preferred a hotter cup of coffee.

Coffee in the desert, Wadi Bani Awf

A couple of kilometres down the road we passed a football field. I did not believe my eyes, so Y stopped the car….

Y stopped the car and I walked back to have a look

….and I walked back and there, all alone in the desert on a rare patch of flat land really was an astro-turf football pitch. Y offered no explanation nor did he tell us it is called Audi Bilad Sayt Football Field. There is, of course, a reason for its existence and the clue is in the name; it was made by Audi for an advertisement. I do not normally link to adverts, but this 4 minute YouTube film explains all – though I doubt Audi actually ‘cares’ any more than any other major industrial concern.

The Audi Bilad Sayt Football Field

This part of the route runs alongside Snake Canyon a deep, narrow, sinuously twisting canyon that can be walked by the adventurous in 5 or 6 hours, though the ‘walk’ involves abseiling, 5m jumps into pools, some swimming and maybe a few of the snakes that gave the canyon its name.

The opening at the top of the Snake Canyon, a long twisting cleft in the desert

Our route twisted and turned along the valley sides…

Wadi Bani Awf

….but eventually the valley began to widen out and dwellings became more frequent.

The valley widens, Wadi Bani Awf

Finally we emerged alongside the Wadi that gave the route its name and reached Al Awabi, a small town where we stopped at an Indian restaurant for a late lunch of dahl, pickle, vegetable curry, chicken curry, rice, and the inevitable salad.

After lunch we drove on 40km to Nakhl (sometimes Nakhal).

Nakhl Fort

Nakhl Fort was built round an irregular shaped rock by the Sassanids rulers of Persia (ruled 224-651 CE) to protect their empire from marauding Arabs. It has undergone many changes since and most of today’s fort was built in Omani style in the 17th century when Nakhl was a stronghold of the Imams of Nizwa. The gateway and towers, though, date only from 1834.

Nakhl Fort

Despite all the changes, the influence of the irregular shaped rock still remains.

The irregular rock determines the shape of the battlements, Nakhl Fort

We have seen a number of Omani forts and the interiors are generally similar, the rooms furnished with carpets and cushions and, in this case, a peg to hang your rifle.

and a peg to hang yoyr rifle, Nakhl Fort

Nakhl has a rare example of a bed.

Bedroom, Nakhl Fort

…and a room with the ubiquitous studded chests, a mirror and, unusually, some pottery.

Room with studded chests, a mirror and pottery

One particular jug caught my eye.

Jug, Nakhl Fort

My grandmother had a large collection of Welsh lustre jugs, made, I believe, in the 19th century at Creigiau pottery north of Cardiff. When we cleared her house I went through the collection, discarded the many chipped jugs and kept the other three. They are, I have to admit, rather crude and worth little (you can get one on eBay for £5 or so) but I like them.

My Welsh lustre jugs

The similarity with the Nakhl jug is obvious; the flower decoration is identical in style, colour and technique, though theirs is a bit classier. So, how did a Welsh lustre jug end up in this corner of Arabia? I have no idea.

Outside, the battlements are more varied than most of its type,…

The battlements, Nakhl Fort

..the cannon must once have been threatening,…

Cannon, Nakhl Fort

…and there is a fine view over the town to the mountains beyond.

Nakhl and the moutains beyond from the battlements of the fort

Ain A'Thawwarah Hot Spring

We left the fort, and on the way out of Nakhl sat for a while in the only traffic jam we encountered in Oman. Unlike other Middle Eastern traffic jams we have experienced no one was leaning on their horn or attempting to prize open gaps in the traffic by inching forward into imaginary spaces; all was orderly and calm, as is the Omani way.

We eventually reached a crossroads beside a stream, the cause of the congestion.

All water is attractive in the desert, and this stream was full of children and surrounded by cars, some parked, many more touring around looking for somewhere to park. Suddenly a car pulled out in front of us, a parking space opened up and with deft alacrity Y put us in it. ‘Ain A‘Thawwarah,’ he said. He may have added that it was very popular in the holidays, but we could see that.

A stream full of children, Ain a'Thawwarah

We picked our way along a crowded walkway. On the far bank families had driven up the stream and chosen their picnic places. Many had finished eating and the men were packing away while the women supervised the children in the water.

Picnics and water play, Ain a'Thawwarah

We passed a water-seller dressed like those in Morocco, except sporting Oman’s national flag – I was unsure if we were still on the National Day Holiday or whether it was now the Prophet’s Birthday Holiday, but nobody really cared.

Y and a flag flying water seller, Ain a'Thawwarah

We finally reached the source of all the excitement, a warm spring gushing from a hole in the rock. The resulting pool was full of men, boys and young girls. In a few years the conventions of Omani life will cut these girls off from such freedoms; men may act like boys if they wish, and many here were, but women must never act like girls.

Ain a'Thawwarah hot spring

Back to Muscat and on to Salalah

The drive back to the big city was straightforward. Y suggested we have coffee before he dropped us at the airport for our internal flight south to Salalah, though a café round the back of a petrol station was not the finest setting for a farewell. We had a snack of thin, crisp Omani bread and melted cheese, which we enjoyed without knowing it would be the only dinner we would have that day.

Coffee, bread and melted cheese with Y

Our flight was delayed and we reached Salalah well after dark and transferred to our hotel in time to go to bed.

Oman, Kingdom in the Desert
Part 1: Muscat, an Unusual Capital
Part 2: Sur and Turtles
Part 3: Wadi Bani Khalid and the Wahiba Sands
Part 4: Ibra, Birkat al-Mawz and the Jebel Akhdar
Part 5: Nizwa
Part 6: Bahla, Jabreen, al Hamra and the Jebel Shams
Part 7: Misfat Al Abriyyin, Wadi Bani Awf and Nakhl
Part 8: Salalah and the South Coast
Part 9: Salalah, the City
Part 10:To the Edge of the Empty Quarter

The End