A dazzling sun rose over the valley of Al Hamra that found me sleeping on the lower slopes of Jebel Akhdar mountain. I crawled out of my tent and witnessed the advent of yet another beautiful day. I took my time to enjoy the grace and serenity of this unique Arabic scenery, and started packing. I just had come down from my trekking trip in Jebel Akhdar the previous evening. Now, Nizwa city was my next destination.
Nizwa is one of Oman’s most prominent cities. It served as the country’s capital city in the 6th and 7th centuries, during the birth of Islam. Thus it has a deep connection with the introduction of Islam in Oman, and it’s been a significant centre of Islamic learning throughout history. Later on, the city functioned as the capital of the revolted Imamate of Oman during the civil war against the aided by the British Sultan’s forces. In 1955 the Sultan’s control was restored over Nizwa. After 1970 the city began to modernize under the rule of Sultan Qaboos. Today it is an important centre of date cultivation, transport hub, and one of the most visited by tourists city in Oman.
So I shouldered my possessions and started on my way thither. I walked back to Misfat Al Abriyeen, had a cup of coffee, and took the road down to Al Hamra. 2-3 cars later, I got myself a ride. It was a tour guide with an Italian couple who dropped me off in Al Hamra downtown.
This time it proved harder to get another ride. I walked a good 4-5 km until a car finally pulled over. It was an elderly Italian couple bound for Bahla. They dropped me off at the roundabout where the road to Al Hamra converges with the main road. From there they headed west and I was left to find some means to continue east to Nizwa.
Being a little daunted from my previous ineffectual hitchhiking attempt, I decided to try out a public transport approach. I walked to some Pakistani workers who waited by the side of the road and took a shared taxi together with them. Soon after I was in Nizwa downtown.
I found it a very agreeable little town. I spent all the afternoon strolling around its picturesque lanes. There was a larger concentration of tourists and touristy stuff than I saw in any other place in Oman, but still very little in comparison with what a touristy place objectively is.
The highlight of this town definitely is the Nizwa Fort. This was built in the 17th century after the order of Sultan Bin Saif: the second ruler of the legendary Yaruba dynasty who turned Oman into a significant naval power that rivaled the Portuguese for supremacy in the Indian Ocean. Nowadays it operates as a museum and is the most visited national monument in the whole country. It is a pretty voluminous and impressive building from the outside. I’m quite sure the interior must also be interesting to see, though the 5-ryal ticket deterred me from doing so myself.
Other points of interest in Nizwa include the adjacent to the fort Sultan al Qaboos Mosque and a number of other historical mosques, some of which are believed to date back to the 7th century; and the Market of Nizwa (Nizwa Souq), where one can see collections of delicate, traditional artifacts or goats being put in auction. I also found it very interesting to walk around the abandoned neighborhood in the south of the fort. Its mud houses must have been left to rot completely unattended for many decades, if not centuries, and the area has acquired an air of charming decadence.
At about dusk, I’d had enough of Nizwa. It was time to look for a place to settle for the night. As on the next day, I would have to return to Muscat, and the buses depart from the adjoining to Nizwa Farq town, I decided to go and sleep in some place closer to it.
I got in a shared taxi which dropped me off right before Farq. There was a nice tall crag beside the road overlooking the town. It called for me. I climbed up and, luckily enough, I didn’t have much trouble to find a decently flat piece of ground to sleep on.
In spite of being so close to the road, I had a very sound sleep. Then I had my morning coffee attending the awakening of the town from my prominent position, while probably nobody was aware of my presence there.
I packed everything, climbed down, and started striding towards the bus station. Farq was just a casual, boring town – nothing notable I could mention about it. Nevertheless, I had a very pleasant morning stroll through it. Soon I reached the station and boarded the first bus to Muscat. The first round of my adventuring in Oman was finished. Now I had to rest for a few days before assuming the second round.
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