Time-travel in Oman

Oman has gone through tremendous development since the 1970s and the everyday architecture reflects perfectly this change curve. Humble mudbrick and stone dwellings first got upgraded to single-story villas and later to multi-story mansions. No doubt the modern houses offer more comfort - but the old ones have so much charm and character. I am also stunned every time by how good the climate in these old mudbrick houses is, even in their broken state. 

On my way from Sinaw (where I visited the Thursday camel market) back to Muscat I stopped at a few oases to explore these old settlements and found a few gems. 

I enjoyed all sites, but if I have to choose, these would be my top 3:

1. Al Mudaybi, because of the stunning doors
2. Al Khadra, because it is such a nice walk through the plantations
3. Sinaw ruins, because of the small ancient mosque

Scroll down for the map for location pins!

Sinaw

Sinaw has a few clusters of old houses, I explored two of them. Found a few nice doors and an arched courtyard but the most stunning find was the small old mosque. The cluster next to the big parking was less impressive and the mosque there, labeled as the old Sinaw mosque on Google Maps was closed. I found the settlement next door more interesting, and this is where I found this cute little mosque and an old house with beautiful doorframes.

I was driving to Lulu to have lunch when I noticed the old villas and nice metal doors - I stopped to walk around and I found myself in this complete neighborhood of old villas! It felt like being transported back in time to the 70-80s! 

 

Al Mudaybi

This town is a short drive away from Sinaw. The castle was closed, and I explored the old souq and the houses behind it, a mixture of lived-in houses with ruins. It took me 2 hours but eventually managed to find the most beautiful doors! The buildings around all looked abandoned, but it turned out one of the was not: I closed the door to make the photo, and a surprised and sleepy-looking man came out :). 

Al Qabil

A small oasis with ruins and a watch tower - unfortunately, the ruins are in very bad shape. I had a walk in the gardens and enjoyed the falaj.

Al Khadra

This was a super nice site.  There are three settlements close to each other with lush gardens in between with plenty of lovely details: doors, painted interiors, and ceilings. 

Al Qariyatain

There are more sites here as well, the one I visited is in the wadi bed and 4WD is needed to reach it. The ruins are melting away, but there are a few doors and pieces of old clay date vessels left.