Thursday, April 11: Before leaving Mario’s house in Izki this morning, he shows me a flower he discovered growing against the wall of his building, which is located in a hot and dry environment. We both marvel that such a pretty & delicate plant is able to thrive in such a barren place.

delicate flowers near Mario’s flat

beautiful delicacies
We then go to Muscat, where we spend a couple of hours showing my car to some Omanis. This detour turns out to be a big waste of time. By the time we grab some lunch and arrive in Awabi on the Rustaq loop, it is well after one o’clock.
This wadi used to have a 26 km unpaved road back to the lovely town of Al Alya, but in the last several years, the road has been paved. It’s a smooth and well-constructed road, so it’s now an easy drive. We drive through Wadi Bani Kharous, flanked by the steep limestone cliffs of Jebel al Jaru to the east, Jebel al Akdhar to the southeast, and Jebel Al Hijayr to the north.
Wadi Bani Kharous is surprisingly developed, unlike most wadis in Oman, with a string of seven villages forming an almost continuous settlement, according to The Rough Guide to Oman. There are more than 4,000 people living in Wadi Bani Kharous, compared with less than 500 in Wadi al Hijayr, according to Oman Off-Road. This wadi is geologically important because of its range of rock formations spanning over 500 million years, from the Cretaceous period to the Late Proterozoic era, according to The Rough Guide to Oman.
On the way to Al Alya, the village of approximately 1,000 people at the end of the wadi, we take a detour off the main road to explore Al Hijayr. At the end of this road, in Halhal, we come upon some Omani men congregating for a social hour. They offer us some bananas and oranges. Some allow us to take their pictures. Only one among them can speak a little English, so we exchange a few words with him.

some Omani men who offer us bananas and oranges in Halhal, near Al Hijayr

an amusing old man
In Al Alya, we find some Yemeni-style traditional houses, with their ornate upper rounded windows and castellated balconies.

Traditional house in Al Alya

arched windows

a view from the entrance
From the traditional houses, we can see a grand view of the mountains looking back from where we drove in. The wadi is especially pretty with its terraced plantations of date palms, grapevines, and mango, peach and almond trees.

Looking down Wadi Bani Kharous from Al Alya
We descend down some steps into the wadi, where we find some interesting plants, another traditional house, and a school bus.

flowers lining the steps into the wadi

another traditional house in Al Alya

School bus

pretty weeds in the wadi

the leaves of this spiked plant

more spiked balls

the same weed, flowering

terraces with date palms in Al Alya
We climb back out of the wadi and drive further down where we stop to take pictures of a pretty mosque. While there, three boys come out of their turquoise-gated house all dressed to play football.

a mosque in Al Alya

Some boys going out to play football

all dressed up and ready to play

the mosque in Al Alya
As we turn around and head out of Al Alya, we stop to explore the wadi near a picturesque white mosque situated in the midst of some thriving date palms.

another mosque amidst the date palms in Al Alya

the picturesque mosque

the mosque in the wadi

the mosque

the minaret
At the top of the hill above the mosque, we find a pretty little farm, but we don’t know for sure if we are welcome to explore too much, so we stay on the fringes and take some pictures.

plantations

plantations up the hill from the mosque
When we come back down the hill, we meet an Omani man who speaks a few words of English. These farms are his and he’s pleased that we like them. He invites us to come to his house for coffee. We sit on the porch with his mother and sister and two cousins, who are all busy embroidering kumars, the traditional hats worn by Omani men. I’m surprised that the women don’t run into the house, especially since a foreign Western man is in their midst.
We eat apples and oranges and dates and drink some coffee. He looks through the pictures I’ve taken on my camera and then proceeds to show us some beautiful pictures he has taken using his phone. He is really a great photographer, with such a good eye. We can tell he’s quite pleased with his pictures, as he should be.

the Omani photographer/farmer, me and Mario, sharing apples, dates and coffee
As we leave, we see this plant right next to the porch, punctuated with some bright red leaves.

colorful leaves outside the kind Omani’s house
Back down in the wadi, we come across this flowering weed, a lone plant among the rocks.

another lone spiked ball

parting view of the mosque, mountains and date palms
The sun is starting to set and as it falls low in the sky behind some clouds, it sends its last warming rays into the wadi.

sun shining from behind mountains and clouds
As we drive back out, we stop to take pictures of some terraced fields and pretty houses in the waning sunlight.

terraces and houses

a picturesque setting

Wadi Bani Kharous

houses and terraces in Wadi Bani Kharous

Wadi Bani Kharous
We head then to Al Musanaah, where we have some dinner at a Pakistan “SPCIY” Village Restaurant. We have a laugh over the misspelling, which we can’t even pronounce. We eat a simple salad sprinkled with lime juice, some chicken with sauce and naan and paratha.

Pakistan “SPCIY” Village RESTAURANT

Salad with lime juice

Pakistani chicken with delicious sauce

the waiter at the restaurant
Finally, we check in at the little chalets at the Gulf Sand Hotel, where we have some trouble communicating with the receptionist who doesn’t speak a word of English. After we each check into our rooms, I join Mario for a little wine and conversation. We are both feeling really tired today because of the heat and humidity on the coast. I fall asleep easily in my ice-cold air-conditioned room.
What an exotic world…. the plants are different from anything I have seen. The first pic of the white flowers looks like a butterfly with a hundred antennae. Also enjoyed reading about the hospitality extended to you and your friend… Everytime I read one of your blog posts, I get wanderlust.
Thanks so much, Annette. I’m always surprised by the pretty plants we find living in such a harsh environment. I loved that little flower with the antennnae. Isn’t it amazing? It’s really small too, so delicate. The hospitality we met along the way was lovely. Too bad you can’t come along on my little journeys. 🙂
WOW! Looks like an amazing place to visit. Your photos are exciting to view.
BE ENCOURAGED! BE BLESSED!
Thanks so much, Francine!
Reading your posts transports me to Oman….memories
Thanks, Indra. So glad I can take you back to great memories. 🙂
I ate more dates in the three weeks I was in Oman than in the rest of my life all together. Lucky I like dates! Lovely photos.
I know what you mean, Carol. I think I’ve done the same. Thanks so much!
😀
As usual, amazing photos! The little orchid-like flower outside Mario’s is spectacular! You will have so many amazing memories of Oman when you leave!
Thanks so much KvKvK!! You keep changing your name. 🙂 Yes, thank goodness, I will have lots of great memories, and luckily all I have to do is peruse my blog when I want to walk down memory lane. Fun times. 🙂
Thanks so much for the wonderful tour, Cathy. The people there look extremely friendly and hospitable. I love those white mosques amongst the date palms. So pretty. You’re chicken with delicious sauce, just made my mouth water. 🙂
Thanks so much, Sylvia. The people on this day were very friendly. We don’t normally meet such friendly and hospitable people. Many of them may be friendly but they feel uncomfortable that they don’t speak English. We encounter that a lot. That chicken with sauce was yummy. 🙂
Love this post Cathy. You could make a book out of it. Oman is such an exotic beautiful part of the world.
Is a wadi another word for oasis?
The first flower looks similar to a passion flower.
How wonderful to know that people would still invite strangers lurking around their farms into their homes for refreshments!
Loved the misspelling of the “SPCIY” restaurant sign. I wonder whether the sign painter was dyslexic?
Thanks so much, Rosie. I would love to make a book out of my travels through Oman one day. Although there are so many already out there with amazing photographs, I don’t know if I’d have anything special to add.
A wadi is a valley or a dry riverbed. Sometimes they have small pools of water in them, or some kind of underground water source, and that’s why people plant fruit trees on terraces in the wadi. During rain, maybe 3-4 times a year, the wadis in Oman flood. It’s crazy. In such a dry country, it’s always surprising when it rains and the wadis, normally dry, become raging rivers. People can’t even function because they are so excited. It’s comparable to us in a blizzard.
I looked up pictures of passion flowers, and I don’t think that is one, just from the pictures. Those look bigger and sturdier than these tiny delicacies.
Haha, your comment about people inviting “strangers lurking around their farms into their homes” cracked me up. It is surprising, isn’t it?
About the sign, I think your second guess was right on. 🙂
No the sign painter most probably couldn’t read or write English!
I’m sure he couldn’t, Rosie. That’s what’s so funny about English signage in a foreign country! 🙂
Such a beautiful country and I get the impression from reading your blog that Omani people are very friendly?
Yes, it’s really beautiful in spots here, Gilly. And yes, Omanis can be very friendly. 🙂
The plants & architecture are fascinating, and you did them justice as usual. How lucky to have that invite to coffee – hey, can you feature that happening here in the US? And that meal looks fresh and delicious – roll into a hotel and fall asleep in the cool air after a long trip…I think it sounds fabulous!
Yes, it was a great trip, as most of my trips with Mario are!! I’m glad you like my plants and ruins. These two subjects seem to be the highlight of most of my posts about Oman. That invite to coffee was really special and made our day. I think it made the man’s day too, as he got to show off his wonderful photos to someone who would appreciate them. It was fabulous. On days like these, I know I will REALLY miss Oman. 🙂
Thank you for the little journey … and the food pictures, yum yum
Thank you for coming along, chiefmadapple! Glad you like my food pictures. 🙂
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