Nizwa road trip

Back in September, Zach, Sara, and I took our first road trip in Oman to Nizwa. Nizwa is known for its fort and a happening goat market. We went on a Thursday and found out the goat market only happens on Fridays. We were however, able to see the fort and it was spectacular. It has been totally redone. The forts in Oman were usually built to protect a nearby water source. We went to the top and were able to see all over the city.

On our way out of town, we had our first camel sighting. It may become commonplace at sometime, but this was our first and we were really excited. We weren't sure how close you could get to them, so we kept our distance and took lots of pictures. Each camel had their front or back feet tied together and we guessed it was to keep them from running. Who knows.

Our next stop was at a nearby wadi. A wadi is the name given to anyplace where there is water. We new we were in the right place when we saw all the cars. Omanis and everyone else that lives here like to take a picnic and head to the wadi for the day. You see large families eating and playing in the water. Mostly just the guys playing in the water, but the ladies are close by eating and chatting. We walked around for a little while, but it was just too many people for us, so we left. On our way back to the highway, we ran across some abandoned mud brick houses that supposedly had been bombed during the last war in Oman back in the 7os, but not to sure if that was true. This last pictuture is of a date tree we saw on the trip. Oman is well known for it's dates and it is also one of it's biggest exports.

That's all for now, but check back next week as I am headed to Amman, Jordan for a conference and have made plans to go see Petra and float in the Dead Sea.