Oman Off The Beaten Path Tips by Geoff_Wright

Tanuf Village

Tanuf was destroyed in the 1950's, by the British RAF, at the request of the Sultan of Muscat and Oman. At that time the tribesmen in the Tanuf region of the Jebel Akhdar mountains were in opposition to the Government of the day.

Tanuf

Tanuf, a ruined village in the Jebal Akdhar, near Nizwa (See my Travelogue for more info) There is now a mineral water bottling factory here.

The Wadi Sahtan

The Wadi Sahtan has some spectacular views. The picture here is of a damaged building beneath the towering Jabal Sham. Note the clouds over the top of the building. I wonder if by now it has been renovated, like so many of the wonderful old buildings? The slide is nearly 25 years old, but I well remember taking the picture

One of many memories that I have is of eating tinned peaches on a mountain! A group of about 4 of us regularly went out into the interior on Thursdays and Fridays. We would load up the LandRover and, armed only with an old map (which I still have!) would head out into the wilderness. One such time we were walking through some quite rough terrain, and realised that we were actually in someone's garden area! There were no buildings here, just two brothers living in a cave in the mountainside. Before we could depart from our intrusion onto their property, they came out and welcomed us, as is the custom, of course! After the usual 'Salaams' and so on, one brother went away, and returned with some dates on a silver platter. A discussion between the two of them resulted in the other brother going away, and returning with two tins of peaches, which were shared out amongst us all. We assumed that they had been saving these peaches for a special occasion, and our 'intrusion' was this special day. This was, and no doubt still is, a typical Omani 'welcome'

The interior regions of Oman

The interior regions of Oman are spectaculally beautiful. In the mid 70's there were almost no tarmac roads, and journies had to be by four wheel drive vehicles. Views, such as the one in the photo - of Wadi Sahtan somewhere near Rustaq - are a lifelong reminder of out of the way places that really shouldn't be missed

Local People

I couldn't resist placing this picture here. It is of a brightly clothed Omani woman who, I believe, was washing up some pots, although she could have been washing some vegetables or perhaps fruit. I wonder if there is now a piped supply of water in the village for this purpose? I've forgotten the location, but probably the Wadi Sahtan.

An old Portuguese cannon...

<font color=bule size=+1>An old Portuguese cannon stands guard in a village somewhere. What a strange combination - an ancient cannon and a modern Japanese motorcycle! We used to see many of these cannon in the old villges, and were told that some of them were actually fired , I believe at the end of Ramadan.</font>

A view from the top of Jabal...

<font color=blue size=+1>A view from the top of Jabal Qirmadhil (576 meters)looking east to the Wady Aday (the light patch towards the top of the photo). The rock slabs on the left have been uplifted to 90 degrees from their natural horizontal plane. The way back is down the dry wadi bed in the bottom right of the picture. When I view the slide of this shot the picture somehow seems to draw you towards the edge, just like on the clifftops on the coast! You really must click on this photo to view it properly. The Wadi Aday was just a graded dirt and gravel track in 1976, but I would think it is now a tarmac road!</font>