Jebel Akhdar to the city of Nizwa and Farq

A dazzling sun rose over the Al Hamra valley and found me sleeping on the lower slopes of Jebel Akhdar Mountain. The sun was setting when I crawled out of my tent. I took the time to enjoy the grace and serenity of this unique Arabian landscape and started packing my bags. I had just returned from my trek to Jebel Akhdar the night before. Now the city of Nizwa was my next destination.

Nizwa is one of the most important cities in Oman. It served as the country's capital in the 6th and 7th centuries, when Islam was born. Thus, it has a deep connection with the introduction of Islam to Oman and it has been an important center of Islamic learning throughout history. Later, the city served as the capital of Oman's rebellious Imamate during the civil war against the British sultan's forces. In 1955, the sultan's control of Nizwa was restored. After 1970, the city began to modernize under the rule of Sultan Qaboos. Today it is an important center for date cultivation, a transport hub and one of the most visited cities by tourists in Oman.

So I took my belongings off my shoulders and started my way. I went back to Misfat Al Abriyeen, had a cup of coffee and took the road to Al Hamra. 2-3 cars later, I got a lift. It was a tour guide with an Italian couple who dropped me off in the center of Al Hamra.

This time, it proved more difficult to get another ride. I walked a good 4-5 km until a car finally stopped. It was an old Italian couple who had left for Bahla. They drop me off at the roundabout where the Al Hamra road meets the main road. From there, they went west and I had to find a way to continue east to Nizwa.

Being a bit intimidated by my previous ineffective hitchhiking attempt, I decided to try a public transport approach. I walked up to some Pakistani workers waiting along the road and took a shared taxi with them. Shortly afterwards I was in the center of Nizwa.

I thought it was a very pleasant town. I spent the whole afternoon strolling through the picturesque streets. There was a greater concentration of tourists and touristy stuff than I've seen in any other place in Oman, but still very little compared to what a touristic place is objectively.

The highlight of this city is undoubtedly the Nizwa Fort. It was built in the 17th century by the order of Sultan Bin Saif, the second ruler of the legendary Yaruba dynasty that turned Oman into a great naval power vying with the Portuguese for supremacy in the Indian Ocean. Today it serves as a museum and is the most visited national monument in the whole country. It is quite a large and impressive building from the outside. I'm sure the interior must be interesting to see as well, though the 5 royal nut kept me from doing it myself.

Other attractions in Nizwa include the mosque next to the Sultan al-Qaboos fortress and a number of other historic mosques, some dating back to the 7th century; and the Nizwa Market (Souq de Nizwa), where one can see collections of delicate traditional items or auction goats. I also found it very interesting to walk through the deserted area south of the fortress. The mud houses must have been left completely unattended to rot for decades, if not centuries, and the area has acquired an air of charming decadence.

By dusk I had had enough of Nizwa. It was time to find a place to settle down for the night. Since I had to go back to Muscat the next day and the buses were leaving from the nearby town of Nizwa Farq, I decided to sleep somewhere closer.

I got into a shared taxi that dropped me right in front of Farq. There was a nice big rock next to the road that looked out over the city. He called me. I climbed up and luckily didn't have much trouble finding decent flat ground to sleep on.

I packed everything, got out and walked towards the bus station. Farq was just a laid-back, boring town - I can't say anything remarkable about that. Nevertheless, I had a very pleasant morning walk there. Soon I reached the station and took the first bus to Muscat. The first round of my Oman adventure was over. Now I had to rest for a few days before starting the second round.

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