Nizwa area , making a complete circle of hitchhiking
On this day, I wanted to visit several fortresses and points of interest in the Nizwa area. I wanted to make a complete circle by hitchhiking. When you rely so much on luck with people to pick you up on the road, it is with a bit of Ice in the stomach when you get out in the morning. The full circle was about 100 kilometres and with at least five places of interest. I think during this day, I was in eight different cars.
Heading off on the high road
My hotel was close to the high road, so I could cross the road and start hitchhiking; the only problem was that the car could drive up to 120 kilometres an hour on this road. Therefore, it is pretty dangerous to try to stop cars there. The best thing was to stand by an exit/entrance to the road. The vehicles came slowly, and people stopped there more than once. The first stop was at Jabreen Castel, about thirty-eight kilometres from the hotel. I told the driver to drop me off at the exit, and I could walk the two last kilometres, but he drove me to the castle’s entrance.
First stop
Jabreen Castle is an impressive sight, one of Oman’s best-preserved castles. It was built in 1675 by Imam Bil-Arab Bin Sultan. Jabreen Castle was an important learning centre for astrology, medicine and Islamic law. The most exciting feature of this castle is the elaborately painted ceilings. Several rooms have ceiling timbers with the original floral motifs. You can see the windows from where women could look out, without being seen, in the courtyard.
Bahla Fort
My second stop was also a fort or castle. It was between nine and ten kilometres to get there so I could have walked, but I got a ride with a car very fast. Here, I had to walk the last few hundred metres, which allowed me to make a nice picture from a distance. Bahla is the country’s only UNESCO-listed fort, added in 1987.
The fort underwent massive restoration efforts and reopened in 2012. However, the complex lacks visitor information. No exhibits or brochures are available to learn more about this ample space or guide to provide further details, so people must go on a tour or explore independently.
The third stop
Tanuf is a village almost halfway between Nizwa and Bahla. It is probably most famous for the historical ruins of the village, Tanuf Ruins. It has a beautiful location against the backdrop of the mountains.
These ruins were a fully functional village, inhabited by the current residents of Tanuf village until the 1950s. Life was simpler back then, with very few current luxuries we are accustomed to, as was the case in Oman before the Renaissance in 1970. However, the village was damaged and subsequently abandoned during the wars in the 1950s, and the only thing remaining is the ruins you see today.
Falaj Daris
This is another UNESCO site in Oman. Falaj Daris is the largest falaj, or irrigation system, in Oman. It provides the surrounding countryside with much-needed water for farming. I also saw an excellent example of this in Rustaq. Falaj Daris was set in a lovely green park. This was on the outskirts of Nizwa, so I walked down to the centre, visited Nizwa Fort and had a nice dinner before I returned to the hotel.
It was dark when I came back after my full circle. My hotel was next to Sultan Qaboos Mosque, one of the four mosques bearing his name that I saw in Oman.
