Things to see and do Taqah

The port and walled city of Sumhuram were founded in the 3rd century BC. In the stone, on the bronze, its occupants left moving traces of the extinct Sudarabic language, which is now extinct. Established to control the incense trade in Dhofar, the site is identified in the 1st century as the Moscha Limen of the Eritrean Sea Journey, where Indian sailors who brought cotton cloth, corn and oil in exchange for incense spent the winter, waiting for the favourable monsoon winds to return home. During the first and second centuries AD, the port was the heart of the merchant settlement on this coast, enriched by its close links with the powerful Shabwa of Hadramaut in Yemen. At that time, it was a small walled town, two metres wide, covering about 1 hectare on a natural eminence. The decline began in the first half of the 4th century and ended at the end of the century.

On the spot, one discovers foundations that were once supposed to support a palace protected by walls and decorated with grandiose staircases, and which undoubtedly housed large incense storage stores. Excavations have revealed coins with Alexander's profile, earthenware jars, conservation jars (some of them in Roman style), bronze objects and a large incense burner. The precious resinous gum was transported by nomadic caravans from the interior and was shipped to the Red Sea, the Mediterranean and India. In exchange, ships loaded with products from Asia docked.

One can move freely in these ruins rustled with all the noise of history, without forgetting, near the car park on the right, to also follow the path that leads to a small temple near the water - a construction quite recently identified without it being possible to know with certainty which cult was practised there.

Shaped and occupied for 800 years, the site overlooks the beautiful Rori Lagoon , separated from the sea by a sandbank during the dry season and submerged during the monsoon. One could not talk about Khor Rori without mentioning the dozens of camels that come here, attracted by its greenery and freshness, as well as the numerous birds. The lagoon is indeed a nature reserve which serves as a habitat for more than a hundred species of birds including pelicans, storks, spoonbills, pink flamingos, ibis, grebes, cormorants, etc.. Fed by the wadi Darbat, it is also home to several varieties of fish and plants.

After the heatstroke of the visit and the fifteen minutes that one will devote to the small museum located 300 meters from the site, it will be time to go to the sea. From the museum car park, take the track towards the mouth of the river. Depending on the capacity of your vehicle, you will approach more or less and finish on foot to reach one of the most beautiful beaches of the sultanate: 200 metres of virgin sand between the sandstone jaws that partially block the entrance to the lagoon. To your left, the rocky spur is called Al Hamr Al Sharqiya and archaeologists have found the remains of a 700-metre long defensive wall punctuated by towers facing the sea, testimony to a late occupation between the 8th and 10th centuries, at a time when the city of incense was long since abandoned. In the heart of this site inhabited by ghosts, you will take a masterful bath!

Built in the ^19th century as the residence of Sheikh Ali bin Timman Al Ma'ashani, this small fort surrounded by crenellations with triangular merlons, and featuring three square towers, gilds in the sun in its salmon-colored dress. Made of Taqah stone, limestone and coral, this is the southernmost publicly accessible Sultanian fortification in the country. In the 1930s, the fort began a peaceful career as an administrative headquarters under Sultan Taimur bin Faisal, housing the local "prefecture". This role came to an end in 1984. Restoration work was undertaken in 1992, and was all the more successful as the citadel had benefited from excellent maintenance.

From the terreplein in front of the entrance, note another more martial fort on the northern hilltop, 500 meters away, which is not open to visitors. Tip: climb up there a little later for the panoramic view over the palm grove. As we cross the threshold of the Taqah citadel, we discover, in a space much smaller than that of the country's other developed forts, a skilful spatialization around the courtyard, its palm tree and its badamier, then a sophisticated interlacing of staircases, passages and doors leading to several rooms... Furniture and fabrics have been replaced in each room, as if the wali still lived there, with his child in a curious mosquito-screened bed.

In one of the galleries, take the opportunity to learn about the exploits of French paleo-anthropologists, who discovered the remains of some surprising residents right here: monkeys. Yvonne Rebeyrol's account of these discoveries is provided by the Omani excavation management: "Six hundred teeth and a few bits of primate bone, several thousand teeth and also small fragments of bone from other mammals, the remains of turtles, crocodiles and sharks, thousands of limestone nummulite skeletons. Such is the 'harvest' of our fourth mission to the Sultanate of Oman, which took place from January 15 to February 15, 1992". The joy and pride of Herbert Thomas, palaeontologist (Collège de France), and Jack Roger, geologist (Bureau de recherches géologiques et minières) are a joy to behold. But the layman is both surprised and amazed when he is shown, carefully arranged in a transparent plastic box, tiny things 2 or 3 millimetres long, all of which are primate teeth found among kilos of fine sediment, and which remind us of the crucial role played by the Arab-African continent in the long history of this group.

Wadi Darbat is an immense green plateau located behind Taqah. It boasts Oman's largest permanent natural lake. This wadi winds its way through hills and high plateaus to flow into the Arabian Sea at Khawr Ruri. The water flows down from the mountains to the plains, forming splendid waterfalls that can reach several dozen metres in height. The Darbat, as everyone will tell you, is a classic for weekend outings in Dhofar, with its cool box and camping chairs. It's Dhofar's nugget! This wadi can be visited all year round, but is at its most beautiful between late June and early October, during the summer monsoon season. It's easy to see why this Helvetian-Omani landscape is so attractive to desert dwellers. Between December and April, the effect is less chlorophyllous, but during the dry season, the waters form interesting caverns to visit. The area is also very popular with the Jibbali (inhabitants of the nearby mountains), who come to take their herds of dromedaries out to feed. So be careful if you're driving! There are several observation points throughout the wadi. Boat and pedal-boat tours are also available. However, we strongly advise against swimming in the pools of Wadi Darbat, even if the temptation is great, as bilharzia-carrying worms have been discovered in the water.