Natural Crafts Nizwa And The Western Hajar

It is one of the prettiest places in the Akhdar jebel, not too crowded so far. Staircases have been installed, to the left and right of the car park. Preferably take the ones on the right, they lead to the bottom of the wadi, incredibly green and lush. Walk in the wadi for a hundred meters: on either side of the dry river bed grow multiple fruit trees or not, protected by dry stone walls. Climb a few big stone steps on the right to reach the lower part of the first village; particularly scenic, the latter is literally hung on the mountain walls, a landscape that is well worth a photo. The hamlet is no longer inhabited and its houses, although fairly well preserved, are not very stable. It is pleasant to walk around and enjoy the coolness of the old walls, but beware of the risk of landslides. The walk continues down the wadi for about 200 meters until you reach a preserved mosque, but forbidden to tourists. 50 meters after the mosque, climb the steps of the stone staircase on the right to reach a second abandoned village, also perched high up, and from which the view of the first hamlet is worth the detour. At the top and at the back of the few houses and alleys, the view plunges on a second river bed, as if parallel to the first one and planted with as many crops. The walk is preferable at the end of the day when the evening light iridesces the ochre of the old facades. Return to the parking lot by the same way.

It is a very nice walk, easy, although you have to go down and up, and of real diversity in the heart of a landscape of mountains with rough and arid walls and gorges that make you dizzy, but which the human presence has tamed and made much softer. On the rocky hillsides, picturesque villages, typical alleys, miniature mosques, orchards, gardens, trees that crumble under the fruit, bushes that smell of flowers... and, omnipresent, the aflaj: a guarantee of freshness and zenitude, the soft crystalline sound of rustling water. We start from the first village (Al Aqur) and walk to the fourth (Sayq) following the markings, three coloured stripes - circuit W18b. It is also possible to start from any of the 4 hamlets to shorten the walk, as all of them are accessible by an asphalt road. The signposting starts to the left of the Al Aqur car park at the level of a lane that you follow to the end (signs on the posts). You then follow the falaj down to the terraced fields. Beautiful panoramas open out over the surrounding mountains, sometimes hidden by the greenery, until you reach the second village of Al Ayn, where signs are a little too rare for a while. In order not to lose your way, turn left in the hamlet and cross a semblance of a gallery. Walk up to a small mosque with a blue dome, pass to the right of it and go down into the wadi. On the left is a small pool of green water: ideal for a cool break. A few meters before, on the other side of the river bed, big stone steps go up to the third village (Ash Shirayjah), again well signposted. Then you have to follow the road for about 600 meters, before you find yourself back on a path to Sayq. Count about 3 hours round trip (8 km in total), but do not hesitate to make some diversions to go deeper into the streets of the hamlets to capture some scenes of life ... Also go down along the terraced fields to the edge of the canyon for the panorama; or excavate the pebbles to unearth marine fossils, very numerous in the area and over 270 million years old. A word of advice for the ladies: do not go to the mosque and walk with your shoulders and knees covered, out of respect for the local, rural and traditional populations. Tank tops and shorts should be avoided, even in the hot season.

There are several hiking trails in Jebel Shams. But one of the easiest and most beautiful is the one leading to the abandoned village of Sap Bani Khamis (or As Sab). To reach the start of the walk, follow the main track to the village of Al Khitaym: a former hamlet transformed into accommodation for travellers, where goats outnumber men. From here, head for the edge of the ravine to spot the markings: one trail, W6a, heads off to the right towards Wadi Ghul, in the valley, a several-hour walk with a 1,150-meter vertical drop - from 1,900 to 750 meters above sea level. The other path, the W6, marked like the previous one by three yellow/white/red stripes, leads off to the left and skirts the grand canyon for four kilometers: an incredible old mule track, as if suspended above the void, and yet wide enough not to be vertiginous! To the left are the sheer cliff faces, which make you wonder, whenever a panoramic view allows, how and where they can accommodate a trail. To the right, a deep gash reveals the valley floor and a few villages.

There are few, if any, trees to shade the path. Unless you set off early, you'll have to accept that you'll have to hike in the middle of the heat, amidst the rocks. However, this disadvantage is offset by the gentle gradient and good signposting. After an hour and 15 minutes' walk through an XXL landscape, we reach the abandoned hamlet of Sap Bani Khamis: an impressive group of houses clinging to a rocky overhang just a few metres from the void. These are quite well preserved and were probably abandoned only some forty years ago, in favor of slightly less hostile terrain on the plateau. They were built around 400 years ago, using only locally sourced materials: olive and acacia wood, dry stone. The choice of location, almost unthinkable for us Westerners, was justified by isolation (the best protection against enemies) and the proximity of a water source located on the upper plateau and accessible fairly quickly on foot via a steep fault. Fifteen families lived there, mainly raising livestock (goats, sheep, donkeys) and farming (watermelons, onions, chili, tomatoes, wheat...), as evidenced by the presence of terraced farming areas.