Bedouin market in Sinaw

Sinaw is located 200km south of Muscat, it is over 2 hours by car. The Bedouin animal market (camel and goats) is on Thursday at sunrise, which is around 5.30 in May. In short, it was an early start for me to get there on time.

The drive is straightforward and mostly on the highway. There is a covered souq area in the middle of the town and when I arrived around 6am there were already stalls, but they were mainly selling clothes and carpets. There were a few Bedouin ladies selling small things, I bought something from one of them hoping she would allow me to take a picture; surprisingly she said yes after she saw what I took. Inside the souq to my biggest surprise, there was a fish market. Fresh fish, all sorts, whole pieces, and cuts. It was a bit surreal, after all, Sinaw is 200km from the nearest sea. Barracuda, tuna, baby shark, and many more, types I have never seen in my life. The floor was covered in blood, everyone was cheerful, they were all chatting and laughing, it was fun to watch. But there were no camels or goats anywhere.

I tried to ask around - noone spoke English. Tried in Arabic saying goat, camel, and they were all pointing to the souq where there was none of them. I eventually gave up; I thought I would be driving a bit around and go and see the ruins in Sinaw. And lo and behold, after a few minutes of driving, I found myself in the middle of the animal market. The pickups were parked on both sides of the road, full of goats, and the camels were auctioned off a bit further away. There were many Bedouin ladies wearing the traditional mask, and men bartering or chatting away. The camel auction was clearly a men's affair, I was the only woman there. They did not object to me taking pictures, but they did make sure not to look in my direction either - everyone is with their backs towards me in the pictures :).

 Location: Sinaw
Location of souq: 22.4967, 58.0263
Where I eventually found the camel market: 22.4792, 58.0280