Planning our trip to Oman from Dubai we
couldn’t decide what we wanted to do.
We thought we would do a few day trips to visit a wadi, the beach and
maybe a city tour – that would be about it. Not realizing (till we arrived) that the country has a
history of forts. At first we were
reluctant to visit any after seeing so many in India but then decided it would
be offensive not to acknowledge the history of a country so yesterday we asked
Salim to drive us to Nakhal Fort, an hour’s drive from Muscat. It is a 17th century fort
and one of 16 maintained by the Ministry of Tourism.
It was definitely worth the visit.
After the fort Salim suggests visiting the
natural springs of Nakhal and the hot springs of Al Kasfah, at Al
Rustaq in another village not far.
The hot springs were 46 degrees
centigrade. The outside
temperature was 36 so we weren’t planning to go in, therapeutic or not. Not that I was allowed, being a
lady and all. Bathing was for men
only. Remember what country we’re
in.
Returning to Muscat we stopped at a roadside
fruit stall for watermelons this time and once again Salim was keen to share
his purchase. This time we
definitely declined the offer. The
cucumbers are still in the mini bar fridge – there is no way a watermelon is
going to fit in. The stall owner (Ute
owner) gave us a huge chunk of watermelon to eat. Watermelon boy (Jim) was in heaven.
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| Nakhal Fort - entrance |
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| An artistic shot |
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| From the top of the fort |
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| Natural springs being cleaned - notice the umbrella sun shades |
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| Natural springs downstream |
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| The hot springs - I only put my foot in |
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| Locals sharing a watermelon |
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| The watermelon stall or ute |
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