We (the driver and I) headed west out of Muscat towards a town called Seeb (for those of you who are following on a map). We stopped at the fish souq there as well, and we took a drive along the corniche and then we headed inland a bit, towards the mountains, for a stop at Nakhl (or Nakhal - I've seen it spelled both ways).
Nakhl is a very picturesque town nestled up again the Hajar Mountains and an incredibly dramatic fort! The fort was actually built on the foundations of a pre-Islamic structure and the views from the top are amazing - of the mountains and of the date plantations.
Beyond Nakhl there is a natural hot spring where water emerges from the wadi walls (the side of the mountains) and is then channelled into a falaj (an irrigation channel) for irrigation of the surrounding plantations. And when you see how extensive the plantations are it's amazing that the water could be channelled all that way. Apparently the water never stops flowing out of the wadi - even during times like now (Oman hasn't seen rain in 2 years).
Now I had been told that there isn't much "budget" accommodation in Oman - but where I'm staying tonight is definitely a bit of self-pampering. It's a 5-star "spa and resort" in the middle of the desert - so I actually found my bathing suit in the very bottom of my suitcase and relaxed by the pool for a little while tonight... in the shadiest spot I could find! And really, I spent nearly all my time in the pool, not beside it, because it was just too hot!
I'm coming for coffee.
ReplyDeleteAnd there's some very good coffee here too!
ReplyDelete