Weekend in Nizwa - Misfat al Abriyeen, Tanuf, Wadi Tanuf, Qiyut

Nizwa is an ancient city in the north of Oman, less than 2 hours drive from Muscat. It is one of the oldest cities of Oman and it was once the center of trade, religion, education and art - actually it was the capital in the 6-7th centuries. It is as at the crossroad between Muscat and the interior so it maintained its strategic position throughout the centuries.

We only had 2 days / 1 night and it was certainly not enough. The town itself is very special: new builts are next to the ruined old mud-brick houses. Most of them are left behind but locals started to realize the potential and slowly started to renovate them and turn them into restaurants and hotels. We stayed in one of these, the Antique Inn. It was a remarkable experience as the room itself was kept as it looked like in the past - the thick mud walls with small windows keep the warm outside. It just has a calming atmosphere.

On Friday we met one of Finn's colleagues Hamed, an Omani originally from Nizwa, visiting his family. He showed us around: we went to see Tanuf, the remains of an old town which was bombed by the British in the early 50s. It is next to a Wadi, Wadi Tanuf - we did not drive into, just walked around the entrance area which has a beautiful old falaj (ancient watering system) running through. It was full of locals picnicking. From here we went to see some smaller wadis with pool (more picnickers) and to Al Hata cave which was unfortunately closed. Last stop was Misfat al Abriyeen, a cute mountain village/oasis - no cars allowed, locals are farming and still used today the old falaj system. In the evening we took a short stroll in the town center and had a fantastic dinner delivered by Hamed - Omani hospitality is indeed exceptional !

Next day we went back to Wadi Tanuf and the wadi was amazing! The track ends before the village of Al Far and it was too hot to hike so we turned around. Since we had time, we drove to Qiyut - a steep ascend from the plains below with spectacular views. From the Blacktop (black rock formations) we could overlook the whole valley.  

We will be back, there is so much to see and this time we missed the famous Friday market - one of the last authentic markets in Oman, where Bedouins come to trade animals and other things. I read that here the men who are responsible for shopping - and indeed in the souq selling fruit and vegetables we have not seen a single lady. I do like this place :).

Locations: they are all marked in Google maps and easily accessible. For Qiyut we followed the Oman Off-road book, route 12 - the starting point is at 23.0314,57.4217 and Qiyut is at 23.1471,57.4624.

Nizwa

Antique Inn, our hotel in Nizwa

Misfat al Abriyeen, the picturesque mountain village

Alma had some fun with the camera :)

Old Tanuf and Wadi Tanuf

The mud-brick houses are not preserved and when comparing to older photos it is clear they are diminishing.

Drive to Qiyut

View from the Blacktop, a limestone formation.