The H3rmits Blog

Tag: Oman

  • Misfat Al Abriyeen, Bahla Fort and Al Hamra Village

    Oman is full of ancient cultural and historical sites to see. For this weekend, we went on a trip to Nizwa to meet a friend and to explore some of the interesting sites around the city. We have been to Nizwa three years ago where we explored Nizwa Fort and Nizwa Souq. This time, we went to the outskirts of the city and we visited Bahla Fort, Al Hamra Village and Misfat Al Abriyeen.

    Early Morning Trip to Nizwa

    It’s a cool morning when we left our hometown of Ibra. We went northward via Route 23  where we bought our breakfast of sandwiches, kubos, and tea. We exited the highway and took Route 17 that took us to Izki via Route 17 and then we took Route 15 to meet our friend Grace who happened to be living near this beautiful and holy Sultan Qaboos Mosque in Nizwa.

    Photo of Sultan Qaboos Mosque in Nizwa
    Sultan Qaboos Mosque in Nizwa

    After meeting with Grace, whom we met for the first time, we went on our way to our first destination: Bahla Fort.

    Bahla Fort

    To reach the fort, we went thru this elegant gate to the city of Bahla.

    Picture of the entrance gate to Bahla

    A few minutes more and we reached Bahla Fort. We headed to the entrance after parking the car to explore this historic fort. The fort is included in the UNESCO’s heritage list in 1987. It is believed to be built around the 12th and 15th century by the Banu Nabhan tribe.

    Picture of the top of Bahla FortAfter having our fill of taking in the relaxing and calming spirit of the Fort, we took our brunch in a restaurant nearby and then we searched the way to another famous tourist spot: Al Hamra Village.

    You can view the video of our tour of Bahla Fort in YouTube on this link.

    Al Hamra Village

    From the restored fortress of Bahla, we went to the almost untouched Al Hamra village. The  site is composed of abandoned old houses believed to be built about 500 years ago. There is no entrance gate so anyone can come and explore as desired. A word of caution: the buildings are so old and may possibly collapse so please explore carefully.

    Photo of old mud buildings from Al Hamra Village

    The buildings in Al Hamra, some of which were built up to four storeys are made of mudbricks, and dates trees and fronds. It is believed to have been built following the old style of houses from Yemen. The village is built by the Al Abri tribe.

    Photo of a four-story old mud building in Al Hamra Village

    At the foot of the old village, you can see the route of the falaj (irrigation channel) where crystal clears waters flow to give life to the plants and the farms nearby.

    Another notable thing in the village is the alley ways which is made of smooth solid rock. Our theory is the whole village is built on a single slab of rock.

    People can also check out Bait Al Safah which has exhibits that portray the old way of living in Oman.

    Photo of a girl posing inside Bait Al Safah, a museum inside Al Hamra Village

    You can view the video of our tour of Bahla Fort in YouTube on this link.

    Misfta Al Abriyeen

    Moving further north, we arrived at our final stop for the day: Misfat Al Abriyeen. Located 1000m above sea level, the village is another famous tourist attraction in Oman. The entrance to the village by itself is simply amazing. There is this breath taking rock formation.

    Photo of rock boulders from Misfat Al Abriyeen

    And then there is this house that is literally built on a rock.

    Photo of a house built on top of a rock boulder

    Roaming around the alleyways, you can find old buildings and you can also see a part of the falaj that is literally roaring with the abundance of water. This falaj is the reason why the place is so green and that the farms are thriving.

    Photo of banana trees with fruit

    On one end of the village is a deep gorge where you can see a huge solid part of the bedrock that might have risen to the surface a long time ago.

    Photo of a rocky cliff

    There is also a museum, which is unfortunately closed during our time of visit. It could have been better for us to see the relics that they may have inside.

    Photo of ruins of old building from Al Hamra Village

    Before heading out of the village, you may check out the shop near the entrance where they sell various items from souvenir bags, hats, as well as honey and frankincense.

    You can view the video of our tour of Bahla Fort in YouTube on this link.

    All Things Come to an End. Even the Good Ones…

    We ended our trip in Nizwa by taking Grace back to her home. We, The Nomads as we are, however did not go home but we went to Muscat for some other business. The trip and adventure to Nizwa and those three tourist spots are great. We definitely plan on coming back for more.

  • Utoy’s Qalhat Beach Party and Fishing Fun

    For the past 4 years, Utoy celebrated his birthdays at our homes in Ibra. “Homes”, because we have been moving from one house to another since we arrived here in Oman. For this year though, Utoy requested to have his birthday celebration on the beach. And so who are we to deny his request? Here is our story:

    Preparations

    • September 5 – videoke session at Tim and Paula’s. Tribe members are requested to reserve October 3-5 for Utoy’s birthday celebration.
    • September 12 – we headed to a travel and adventure shop in Safalat to buy some camping gears: CR tent, cooking wind screen, LED lamp, kahwa maker. On the way home, we made plans to test these gears in the wild the next day.
    • September 13 – slight problem when Mommy Nomad noticed that it is a Friday, Friday the 13th. After a minor level of debate, we decided to put this issue to a vote. Utoy and I voted “GO” and Mommy Nomad voted for “NO GO”. So, off to the shores of Oman we went. We headed right to Al Shaomookh Guest House, the place where we intend to hold Utoy’s birthday celebration. There is nobody in the office so we called the owner. He came by and because we were previous customers, we were able to reserve the place at a very reasonable price. After closing the reservation deal, we went to do some rock fishing and Utoy got his first hook up using a lure – a grouper. We take this as a sign of good things to come.
    • October 1 – final planning for the trip held at The Runway. This is where we planned about the schedule of arrivals as well as the food that will be sponsored by each of our friends.

    Day Zero

    The Solanos and The Nomads decided to act as the advanced party for this trip. We left Ibra around 3:30 pm and headed south to Sur. The Solanos had to buy something from City Center Sur so it’s just us, The Nomads who went straight to Qalhat. But not to the Al Shaomookh Guest House. We camped on the beach right down in front of the guest house. Our reservation will start the next day.

    We had grilled fish and chicken adobo for the night. The kids went playing in the sand under the light of the stars. Utoy trid to fish using fresh bait but there is no strike. The fishes might be asleep.

    The Solanos pitched their tent where they slept and The Nomads slept with Alex.

    Day One

    I got up at about 5:00am and I roused Utoy too. We fixed our gear and I headed to the shore. Utoy got left near the camp site while he is still fixing his gear. With my red head lure on the line, I caught one trevally on my first cast. I called out to the birthday boy, but I guess he is still sleepy. I hooked another trevaly and then Utoy came. But I guess, by that time, the school of fish went away. A few more casts later, I caught one lizard fish. Sorry for Utoy, he caught nothing.

    A few meters away from us, I saw one local hauling a big catch. His rod is bent and I saw him having a hard time reeling the fish in. He got one big spotted trevaly. I came to him and checked his fishing gear. I also asked for his Instagram account because I saw him posting his catch. He is using metal jigs. I went back to our spot and cast a few more but there was no bite anymore.

    Then the local then came to me, his name is Issa. He gave me one fishing lure as a gift and he even gave me some tips on how to fish. I also met his brother, Ahmed, who also gave me a lure, snaps, and even his catch for the day: 3 queens fishes and one black spotted snapper. My friend, Wally, was proven right once again; the Omanis and really friendly Arabs.

    We had our breakfast of hotdogs and eggs. After about half an hour of rest I went back fishing. This time, I used metal jigs. While going to my fishing spot I came across a tourist from Sweden who is also fishing. I caught one fish on my first cast. I saw the guy run and got his gears. He came back to me and he asked for advice on which among the gears can he use to catch fish too. There is nothing good in his gear so I just gave him one lure.

    In about ten minutes for this session, I hooked four fishes. The sun is starting to impose his power on me so I decided to take a rest and just prepare and wait for our guest house to become available.

    At about 11:00am, the owner informed me that the resort is ready so we packed our things and checked in to our comfortable guest house.

    The other guest came just shortly after we checked in: Sir Darwin, Sir Erick, Sir Rudy, Mam Nancy and Mam Dolor.

    Tim, Paula, Chennie, Art and Emil came later.

    Narz, Sir Balai and Mam Elsie also came and the entourage is complete. We are ready to celebrate Utoy’s 11th birthday — the way he wants it.

    After having our lunch, we went fishing again. We are now a full crew of fishermen. David got his first chance to join the fishing expedition.

    We went to a new spot by this time and so it took us some time before we were able to find a good spot. At the end of the session, I hooked five groupers and freed a couple of small trevaly. Sir Erick got a big one. And Narz got one too.

    Utoy and David have no luck, though. The others who will not be named didn’t have their luck either.

    The dinner and birthday party is a feast.

     

    Mam Nancy sponsored this cool sailfish cake.

    The Nomads sponsored only the rice. Everything else is prepared with love by our guests.

    Shisha, chitchat, story-telling, a homily delivered by Father Donie and a lot of funny, corny, and all kinds of stories shared before we called it a night… or morning since it is 3:00am.

    Day Two

    My alarm is set to go off at 5:00am but I woke up at 5:10am so I hurriedly went out to check if the guys have gone fishing. I saw the fishing rods still lying around which means we are not late for the party yet. Sir Balai and Narz are still in the kitchen, laying out the finishing touches for our favorite breakfast – cold cuts sandwiches. I woke Utoy up, gave him some sandwich and we headed to the shore to start our fishing session.

    Today is Utoy’s real birthday, October 5 and as a birthday courtesy, I allowed him to be the first to pick the lure from our collection. He chose the pink metal jig that I used the day before.

    The fishes started to strike early. All of us fishermen who are awake catched some. The ones who are sleeping will not be named. But best of all, the fishing gods gifted Utoy with his own catch: one trevaly and two black spotted snapper. Sir Balai, Narz and myself caught a combination of trevaly, queen fishes, and snappers. It was really a productive fishing session.

    After catching his third fish, Utoy got his lure snagged on a rock. We are very lucky though that my new friend, Issa is just nearby. When he saw us in that situation, he came and offered to save Utoy’s lure by diving for it. He is a professional diver, I believe and so he managed to save the lure. Another gift for the birthday boy.

    We went back to the guest house after the session and grabbed a bite of the sandwiches. And then we went fishing for one last time before we call it a day and retreat to the mountains.

    While on the site, a sandstorm hit our area and the seas went rough. Sir Erick hooked one, Sir Balai also got one. But the birthday boy proved he is the man of the day. He got not one… not two… but three!!! Narz and I got nothing but dust.

    The weather did not improve so we headed back to the resort early. Art prepared our early lunch before we broke camp. Just before 12:00nn, we left the city of Qalhat. The mission of giving Utoy the birthday celebration that he wished for, accomplished.

    The day did not end there, though. That night, we cooked and feasted on some of the fish that we caught on our usual meeting place – The Runway. Fresh fish, starlight, cool weather, nice friends. What a way to celebrate the eleventh birthday of the youngest member of The Nomads.

  • Ras Al Madrakah Camping and Surf Fishing Adventure

    We took our longest road trip ever to reach one of the famous camping and fishing areas here in Oman. They call this place Ras Al Madrakah.

    It is a long weekend here in Oman in celebration of the 46th National Day and of course we took this as an opportunity to explore yet another interesting place here in the Middle East. Together with our group, The Fishermen and The Mermaids as we call it, we searched the internet for places to go. The name of our group tells something about itself. Our core values are fishing and swimming.

    After hours of deliberation, we were able to have a short list of places for consideration: Al Sifah, Qantab, and Ras Al Madrakah. Most of us favored Ras Al Madrakah and so after persuading those who were against it, we got down to hatching a master plan for the trip.

    The Plan

    Kickoff is at 0600H from Ibra. We will go through the wilayat of Sinaw and head south to our destination.

    We will have our breakfast along the way and then we will have our lunch in Ras Al Madrakah. Google Maps said that travel time is a little less than five hours so we will arrive at the beach at about 1200H.

    Fishing and swimming will commence after lunch. Our ice boxes are on standby. Since we know that Ras Al Madrakah is a fishing village, we know that ice will be available to preserve our catch.

    We will have dinner once the sun sets and the fishermen will go fishing again and the mermaids will chat endlessly into the night.

    On the next day, we will take our breakfast and then fish and swim again. We will leave the area after our lunch and then head back home to Ibra.

    The Reality

    We missed our kickoff time by about half an hour. Five minutes into our trip, we made a wrong turn. However, all is well and fine. We finally found our way and so our journey to Ras Al Madrakah officially started.

    We had our breakfast at Lulu Hypermarket in Sinaw but not before doing a little shopping inside.

    Stopover at Lulu Hypermarket in Sinaw

    Google Maps is good enough to know that we are in Oman but it failed to consider that we are not Omanis. Maybe it made a mistake of calculating our travel time and used the Omani average driving speed of 160km per hour. And so by 1200H, supposedly our lunch time at Ras Al Madrakah Beach, we were still on the road.

    We reached Duqum at around 1300H and we stopped by a Shell station to refill our tanks. The staff there told us that we are not so far from our destination. We are almost there as a matter of fact. We just have to drive for another 90km. And with that piece of information we decided to take lunch there at the station.

    It took us another hour after taking off from Shell Duqum before we finally saw a signboard that points to Ras Al Madrakah Beach. At around 1430H, we set foot on the white sandy beach of Ras Al Madrakah. Let us call this Ras Al Madrakah Beach 1.

    ras-al-madrakah-beach-1
    Ras Al Madrakah Beach 1

    There is a slight problem by the way. This is not the exact place that we saw in YouTube and so we decided to look for that spot. We were able to locate that place, let us call it Ras Al Madrakah Beach 2, in just a matter of minutes. And so everything is back in order.

    By 1500H, we started pitching our tents on the soft sands of the beach. There are other campers who came ahead of us but the beach is not so crowded so we were able to choose a nice spot.

    Beach camping at Ras Al Madrakah Oman
    Tents up… preparing for the big catch

    Fishing started immediately after we finished setting the tents up. The sea is not that smooth and we had to stand of the rocks to be able to cast our lines. We fished and fished until dark and so when the night came in, one of our ice boxes is filled with four pieces of fish :). We cooked them right away so we can enjoy its freshness.

    A sumptuous dinner followed under the star lights and LED lights as well. By 2200H, we started to feel the fatigue of the day’s ride and we drifted into sleep.

    I got up by 0500H and saw Sir Darwin already on the beach. By 0530H, all the fishermen are up. We cast our lines and almost at the same time as the dawn approaches, the fishes started to tackle our lines. All of us fishermen enjoyed the catch. Even our Utoy who is nursing a slight fever got his own too.

    Utoy and his first catch.
    Utoy and his first catch.

    The mermaids prepared our breakfast so we stopped fishing for a while to feast on boiled eggs, coffee and cheese-honey-stuffed bread. We fished again and again but with more fish comes the problem with ice. So we went to the village searching for ice. Along the way, we met one expat who is friendly but cannot speak much English and we don’t know the Arabic word for ice. Luckily we have some cubes left in our box so we showed it to the guy. He gestured us toward the direction of the building where we bought ice for our fishes.

    But We Were Still a Bit Disappointed

    Yes, we caught a lot of fish but not the ones that we expected, at least in size. One of the main reasons we came here is because of the YouTube videos that show large breams being caught from the shore of Ras Al Madrakah. This led us to make a decision to take a quick lunch, break camp, and head back to Ras Al Madrakah Beach 1 and try our luck there before finally driving home.

    Beach 1 is almost empty when we came which as a good thing. We cast our lines immediately but to no avail. Maybe it is because of the tide or maybe it is because of the season. Those huge breams that we are looking for are not there. We gave up after about an hour of fishing.

    The mermaids, however, were able to get some mussels from the rocks so we left Beach 1 not so empty handed at all.

    mussels-from-ras-al-madrakah-beach

    The Long Way Back Home

    A couple of minutes of rest and by 1500H hours we started the long drive going home. We made three stops along the way. Twice to refill our tanks. Once to take our dinner in Sinaw. For dinner, we had chicken and beef biryani from a local restaurant.

    We reached home just past midnight. Tired, happy and very much willing to go back.

  • The Nizwa Fort and Nizwa Souq Tour

    This weekend is a busy one for The Nomads.  Last Friday, together with our friend, Doctor Saji, we left our hometown of Ibra. We took our lunch and shopped in Muscat. At around 2:00pm, we were joined by Ma’am Fanny and her daughter Janjan. We checked in at Naseem Hotel in Muttrah. Did some window shopping and strolled along the Muttrah Corniche. Then, we left the Bay of Oman and travelled to the mountains to reach the town of Nizwa. And really, what a weekend it was.

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  • Dolphin Watching in Marina Bandar Al Rowdha

    After our visit at the majestic Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque, we proceeded to Marina Bandar Al Rowdha to experience the dolphin watching that is one among the many thrills being offered to the tourists who visit the marina.

    We made our booking a day earlier and for today we just met with our contact who assigned us to one boat. We are among the first ones to arrive so we have the freedom to choose our seat. The boat has a capacity of about 20 persons. We took the seats near the front so we can easily go to the area near the bow (the front of the boat) once we get the permission from the captain for good sight-seeing and selfie purposes, of course.

    From Marina Bandar Al Rowdha to the Blue Seas

    The sea is not new to us. I grew up in a house 10m away from the shore as well as my wife. Whenever we have an opportunity, we take our Utoy to the sea. But the feeling seems always the same. We do get this feeling of excitement everytime we sail the sea.

    Our captain told us to remain in our seats while we ride to the part of the sea where the dolphins can be found feeding and playing.

    As we approach the dolphin watching area we noticed some small boats that go around and throwing small fishes around probably to attract the dolphins.

    Then the Dolphins Started The Show…

    The boat captains communicate by radio to inform each others once a pod, or a group of dolphins have been sighted. After a few minutes of waiting, our captain took us to the area where the dolphins have been spotted. Words are not enough to describe the feeling of seeing those lovely creatures in their natural habital. So we made a video of the experience so that we can share it with you.

    As with all things, good or bad, everything has to end. We wrapped up our dolphin watching experience by taking selfies on the boat. We didn’t have the luck, however, to have a selfie with the dolphins by our side.

    The captain told us to go back to our seats so we can head back to Marina Bandar Al Rowdha.

    From Dolphin Watching to Sightseeing

    It might be our captain’s way of keeping us from having withdrawal syndrome, so he did not take the route straight back to the marina. He took us on a trip along the shores so we can admire the beauty of Oman’s bays and beaches.

    As we travel back to our starting point, we were greeted by views of beautiful bays and islets that adds to the beauty of the place. Our captain quizzed us on the rock formations that were moulded by the force of wind and water. Like children looking at the clouds, we saw images of an elephant, a cat, a human and others on the rocks that we passed by.

    Before we knew it, we are back to Marina Bandar Al Rowdha.

    Not Your Wake-Up-Like-This Photo

    Here we are as the trip ended. Just like we were still in a dream.

    the-nomads-marina-bandar-al-rowdha-dolphin-watching

    We loved the trip and the experience it is nice to see that those dolphins are being appreciated here instead of being hunted. People come to see them in their natural habitat and it is nice to see their population thrive.

    If you have any plans of taking this trip too, here are some tips for you:

    1. Book in advance to avoid disappointment, specially in the peak season. There are only two trips in a day because the Omanis understand that dolphins need rest too.
    2. Of the two trips, take the first one which goes out by 7:00am. Experts say that this is the time where the likelihood of seeing dolphins is the highest.
    3. Foods and drinks, as well as fruits are availalble in the boat. They sometimes forget to tell people but yes, you can get some for you.

    That’s it for our dolphin watching trip at Marina Bandar Al Rowdha. Have you been there too? Please share with us in the comments section.

  • Avenues Mall Muscat

    This is by far the biggest mall that we have visited in all of Muscat at least by size. Yesterday, we visited the newly opened Avenues Mall in Muscat. The mall is in the same location as the Lulu Hypermarket in Bawshar, just opposite the Muscat Grand Mall.

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  • Muttrah Souq and Muttrah Corniche

    Muttrah Souq is one of the most famous tourist attractions in Muscat. The place is a labyrinth of different shops that sells trinkets, perfumes, ornaments, jewelries, and a lot more. 

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  • Turtle Watching in Ras Al Jinz

    Our original plan was to rent a tent for our overnight stay, go turtle watching, get back to our tent, watch the stars and have fun until the morning comes. But some unexpected things happened and we were instead taken on a roller-coaster kind of trip.

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  • Bidiyah Museum

    It was the 28th of March and this date is special. We went for a dip in the water pools of Wadi Bani Khalid and then proceeded to Bidiyah which is famous for its sand dunes. Here is our story:

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