Into the shadow of the Mountains of the Sun

With a couple of days to get used to the new environment and climate, we ventured out into the true wildness of Oman. We drove up into the mountains, heading off road for the last dozen kilometres, which Thierry really enjoyed as the driver and I must say we also enjoyed, though some of the bumps left something to be desired. We headed for what is called the Grand Canyon of Oman, Wadi an Nakhur, which sits in the shadow of Jabel Shams, the tallest mountain in Oman at just over 3000 metres.

We parked in what can only loosely be described as a village, since it was really just four or five huts clung to the side of the mountain, with a few begging children, one languid goat, that we could see and two dogs that barked at us until we disappeared below the crest of the hill and onto the path.

The path was littered with rocks, and dodging the occasional thorn tree, we made our way the half kilometre to a small open air hut perched well above the canyon floor for a very picturesque lunch.

Continuing along the path that is hewn from the canyon side for close to three kilometres, we reached the ruins of an old abandoned village.

It is almost incomprehensible to imagine people finding, building and then living in such a remote location. It sits not only all the way at the base of the horseshoe shaped canyon, but is situated two thirds of the way up the canyon wall, right on the edge of a 500 metre drop to a ledge and then another few hundred metres drop from there to the wadi floor below! They created terraced agriculture sections large enough to feed themselves and with the water cascading over the canyon rim, they had enough food and water to keep them out of harm’s way, which was why they lived in such a unique location to begin with. Amazing what humans have done in an effort to survive; though I have never seen them, this reminded me of pictures of the Ansazi villages in New Mexico set high up in cliff faces.

The weather was phenomenal and with drops of 1000 to 1500 metres to the canyon bottom, it was a truly magnificent view, especially from the edge of the pool set just above the village. The pictures only give an idea but just don't do it justice.

The hike was fairly basic though on our return we had a long slow incline to scale, with the last few hundred metres being up an uneven `staircase’ of rocks set into the path. Thankfully our return journey was in the shade of the canyon rim and therefore we didn’t overheat, though the thinner air up there definitely tested our lungs. It was a really good day, even if the driving there and back was fairly extensive for only a few hours walking. Regardless it wet our whistle for other adventures over the next couple of weeks!