Goats, Forts, and Canyons!


“The Grand Canyon of the Middle East”

Whirlwind day of sightseeing!  Our guide picked us up at the hotel at 5am and drove us to the city of Nizwa 2 hours and over 100 miles away.  We arrived just in time for the cattle auction that apparently occurs every Friday.  Quite the event as you can see from the pics below. We didn’t stick around for too long but got to see the goats and sheep paraded around. 







We then explored the souqs (markets) next door and then the Nizwa Fort, a 17th century stronghold that housed the Omani leader at the time.  It is also the most visited monument in Oman.



Weapons, anyone?


The fort



From here, we drove another 1.5hrs to see Wadi Ghul Canyon, otherwise known aa Oman’s Grand Canyon or the “Grand Canyon of the Middle East.”  It is the second deepest canyon in the world next to the real Grand Canyon in Arizona.  It’s located in the Hajar Mountain Range next to the tallest peak in the Middle East, Jebel Shams (translated, means “mountain of the sun” as it is the first to get sunlight in the morning).  We had to travel along at least 10 miles of treacherous dirt mountain road, including steep inclines, hairpin turns, and NO guardrails separating our vehicle from the 500-1000ft drop!  The amazing view was worth it in the end and no photo can truly capture it.  As we travelled the 3 hours back to our hotel this afternoon, we realized we had driven halfway back to Dubai!  We had no sense of distance and probably would have passed on this once in a lifetime experience had we known the drive time.






Below is the ancient abandoned village of Wadi Ghul. Farming taking place in the foreground. Oman has found signs of human habitation dating back 125,000 years!


More pics of interesting landscape . . . 






Comments

  1. I think a goat would be a lovely addition to the Maine homestead....yours, not mine 😉

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It would eat all of the new grass. Very expensive goat!

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