NizwaPersonal travel impressions in stories and pictures from Nizwa, Oman. Click on the pictures to enlarge, send as a free e-card, or download for personal use. You can locate Nizwa and navigate the world using Google Earth Show on map
N 22° 55.998
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At the time I visited Oman, it was quite unusual to do so. After a wadi tour not far from Muscat, I felt ready for a real adventure trip. So I decided to catch a local bus to Nizwa. After a very early departure, it left me on the market in Nizwa which was a sight in itself. All these men dressed in their long clothes, with their typical beards, haggling about a goat, trading vegetables and fruit, it was fascinating. The next destination would be the fortress on the edge of the desert.
According to official statistics, the desert makes up more than 80 percent of the Omani territory. Once you have passed the mountain range running parallel to the coast, this fact becomes clear before your eyes. As far as you can see, the desert stretches out to the horizon. Once more, it is clear why the desert is sometimes compared to the sea. Anyway, in all this dryness and endlessness, visiting a fortress is an unexpected thing to do. Actually, the fortress had a lot of Arab artefacts on display, and beautiful panoramas over the desert. Clearly, this was a strategic point to have such a stronghold.
While the bus leaves from Nizwa, I was now out of the village and had to hitchhike back. But this proved no problem at all. And once back in Nizwa the busride back to Muscat was an easy one, also because temperatures dropped back to humane temperatures. When I finally arrived back in the hotel, completely full with sand and sweat, and ready for a long night sleep, I found out that me and my colleagues had to be evacuated because of the instability in the Gulf region which would eventually lead to the Gulf War. So, within a few hours after arrival, I was on a plane to Bangkok. An unexpected end of a long day!