Jebel Shams and More

   Last weekend, from Friday morning to Saturday evening, the seven of us went on an excursion to the interior. We drove for about an hour and a half to Nizwa, our first stop. The first thing we noticed was the smell. The center area of town smells heavily of farm animals as a result of it being an extremely active animal trading post.

    Nizwa is one of the oldest cities in Oman, and was the capital of the country in the 6th and 7th centuries AD. The fort at Nizwa is over 450 years old, and the castle is over a thousand years old. We had a great time exploring it while trying not to bake alive in the over 110 degree heat. The first three pictures are taken from the top of the fort, and the last is near the entrance.

    After lunch we started our drive to Jebel Shams, the highest peak in the Arabian Peninsula. On the way we drove through several gorgeous towns, and took a few photo pit-stops. It rained!!! Rain is super rare here-- our chaperone from Amideast, Sarah, said the last time she thinks it rained was late March.

View from a photo pit-stop

   We stopped in a tiny village to walk around. The village was unimaginably beautiful. Located high on a mountain looking over a huge valley, the village is hundreds of years old and composed of ancient stone irrigation systems winding between tiny homes and abundant date trees and vines. I'll try to find some pictures! 

We then went to our 'camp' near the summit of Jebel Shams. After arriving and sitting down in on the patio-ish area, some Omani men working there immediatly brought us a huge bowl of fresh dates. They asked to take our picture (completely nicely), probably as seven American girls eating dates aren't a very common site there. Our guide then brought us a plethora of other Omani sweets. 

   As it was raining, we decided to move our hike to the next day. Also because of the rain, we were moved from 'tents' (a hotel room inside a giant materal tent) to small bungalow/hotel room things. 

   The next day we drove even further up the mountain. When we got out of the car, we were greeted by several Omani goats. They started following us, and one girl in my group decided to chase one around a rocky field, to our great  amusement.

   We then started our hike. I was blown away by the pure vastness of the mountains and canyons, and the feeling that we were the only people among them.

   After the walk we went to a traditional pottery workshop, where we were able to see the process from dirt to a beautiful vase. We then got to try our hand at making something using a pottery wheel! The elderly man who made most of the pottery was beautiful to watch--in a matter of seconds he was able to turn a misshapen lump of clay into a flawless vase. Although our attempts yielded products of a rather different nature, it was amazing being able to see first hand a craft the has been around hundreds of years.
   After rinsing the clay off our hands, we had another delicious lunch (in that area of Oman, aka not in Muscat, one can buy delicious and huge curries for the equivalent of $2--$3. Craving shawarma? 75 cents.)

   We then drove back to Amideast, stopping for a snack of Chai and Omani bread, cheese, and honey or Chips Oman (weirdly good). 

Sorry for the lack of posts! Will write about Ramadam soon. 

Love Izzy