Seeking a bird's eye view (Oman 2/7)

After discovering the city of Muscat (and reading the local news over breakfast, cf. picture), we headed south towards the mountains. The drive led us to several villages in the valley: Bahla, its traditional souq and its fort, the lovely Jabrin Castle (a fort used as a residence by an Imam), Al Hamra and its 400-year-old mud houses, Misfat and its falaj running through the green banana and dates plantations.

In the afternoon we drove upwards, reaching an altitude of over 2000 metres on Jebel Shams, Oman's highest mountain (3075 metres). We parked in front of a lovely view towards the Wadi Ghul, otherwise known as the Grand Canyon of Arabia, and just spent the night there, with the only company of a dozen goats. The sunrise woke us up on the following day, warming up the chilly morning as we just sat and stared at the scenery.

Shocking news to start the day with

Bahla souq: the cattle is chained to this tree to be auctioned.
It is said that people thought that the tree was inhabited by a jinn (spirit) and were afraid the jinn would fly off with the cattle; therefore they decided to tie down the tree with chains.

Bahla souq

Old mud walls in Bahla

Girl hiding behind a carved door

Jabrin Castle (built 1675)

Jabrin Castle - carved vaults

Jabrin Castle

Jabrin Castle: Whispering Room, where fresh air runs through the windows throughout the room, which remains surprinsingly cool in spite of the high outside temperature  

Al Hamra: 2-storey mud brick house

Al Hamra: some of the oldest preserved homes in Oman

Misfat

Misfat's falaj system
The falaj channels allow the water to be diverted into drinking wells, then into mosque washing areas and eventually to the plantations.

Misfat's plantations

On our way to Jebel Shams

Wadi Ghul: the Grand Canyon of Arabia

Sweet discovery during the evening walk

Off the track

Sunrise around 6 a.m.

Good morning sunshine

In good company!
By the way... did you know they are insomniac? Believe me it's scary to hear them run around making noises in the middle of the night!

On our way back to the valley

Sheeps

The village of Wadi Ghul, at the entrance of the canyon