Nakhal Fort & Muttrah Souk

Nakhal Fort – Friday 10th July 2009

About 70km from our villa and 100km from the centre of Muscat is the town of Nakhal. The name is derived from the Arabic word “nakheel” meaning date palm.
The old fort, set on a hill, dates back to when the Portuguese were in control of Oman and overlooks the largest date palm plantation in Oman.

Simon and I visited on a Friday afternoon when it was supposed to be closed but we were charged 1 Omani Rial (approx 1 pound 50p) for both of us and welcomed inside!

Apart from an Indian family, we were the only people there.

It was about 45 degrees and being outside climbing steps by the dozen really makes you feel the heat! Half an hour was as much as I could stand and we didn’t climb all the way up to the Watch Tower as I simply couldn’t face any more steps!

However, we plan to return lots of times in the future as it is a great place to explore and has some beautiful views from the top.

Some of the pictures that I will attach are from when Simon first visited the fort last year.

“The Tree of Life”

For Oman, the date palm is their tree of life. There are estimated to be over 8 million date palm trees in Oman (including two in our back garden!!).

Date palm trunks are used for everything, from beehive containers to structural roof supports. Waste wood is burned and the ash is used as fertiliser.

Palm fronds are used for making baskets and other woven goods as well as a roofing material called barasti.

Camel Sighting!!

I saw my first wild camels on the way home from Nakhal Fort. Unfortunately they were too far away from the road to take a photo. There was one standing up next to a tree and another laying down under the tree.

And not ten minutes later, whilst on the motorway, we saw more camels!! Four of them were on the grass verge of the motorway eating a tree!! Again, I wasn’t able to take a photo because we were going so quickly, being on the motorway.

Other animals seen here so far have included some wild dogs, kind of a cross between a greyhound and a dingo! Also some feral cats, which are very tiny with big ears.

They are very cute! I think they are very much like Egyptian cats (though not having been to Egypt I can’t be certain!).

There are lots of geckos here too! We have a pet gecko who used to live in our downstairs loo! Not actually in the loo though, just in the room! I think he’s recuperating and growing his new tail, as he only has a stump at the moment. We call him Stumpy! (Original, huh?!) Stumpy has a pal who lives under the fridge in the kitchen, which is where Stumpy now lives.

We also have Gigantor the gecko who lives in the air con unit in the kitchen. He must be able to squeeze through the gap that the air con unit must leave in the wall (the unit goes right through the wall from inside to outside) as we’ve seen him in the kitchen and outside on the wall next to the air con unit. He’s pretty big, about 4 or 5 inches long. Stumpy and his pal are quite tiny, about 2 – 2.5 inches long.

Since I wrote this blog in my notebook, I have seen a massive lizard, though I don’t think it is a gecko, in our front garden. I was watering the plants and grass and he ran across the wall from behind one flower bed to another. He is a dark colour, unlike the other geckos and was very big, I reckon about 12 inches in length!!

Muttrah Souk

In the evening of Friday 10th July, after we’d been to Nakhal Fort, we went to old Muscat, to the souk – Muttrak Souk, one of the most authentic souks in Arabia. We didn’t stay very long as it was just for a quick look around to give me a feel for the place, but it was very interesting. It was a particularly humid evening and the souk is kind of inside – it’s a maze of winding corridors lined with little shops and stalls and the roof is palm tree fronds, which helps to keep the heat, the noise and the smells (spices, frankinscense, etc) in!!

The stall and shop owners all stand outside their shop/stall and call to you, holding things up in front of you, right under your nose as you walk past. It is particularly bad if you are white, as they presume you are a tourist and want to buy one of everything! I felt quite guilty ignoring them, but meeting their eye, smiling or saying something was taken as invitation to show you more things, so it was better just to keep moving. A lot of the things they were selling are tourist tat, but there are some genuine Omani things there too. The souk is actually quite large and is split into sections, with each section selling a particular type of product, including textiles, houseware, spices, gold and silver.

Muttrah is the next bay along from Muscat, with old dhows (Omani wooden ships) in the harbour as well as the odd cruise ship and some very fancy motor boats! It’s really a very pretty place to visit and I’m looking forward to returning soon.

More blogs to follow, detailing trips to Jabrin Castle, originally built as a palace in the 1600s and a trip to Sun Mountain and Oman’s very own Grand Canyon....

Oh and I’ll be posting some pictures really soon too, so please bear with me!!