Day Trip to Nizwa, Jabal Akhdar (Green Mountain), Birkat Al Moz

The tour starts in the morning, we’ll drive towards Nizwa, Nizwa was the capital of Oman during Al Yaruba Dynasty we’ll visit the famous Nizwa Market (Souq), a wide variety of vendors offering their goods in the streets of the souk from, here you can find vegetables, pottery, jewelry, handicrafts, Omani sweets (halwa), spice, dates and souvenirs which are sold in authentic old market halls that few places can boast, especially interesting is the Friday cattle market when the locals come to sell their, goats, cattle, sheep, and chickens in a circus style open marketplace.

Next to the Souq is Nizwa Fort and Castle the Fort it’s been built in 1649 and the Castle been built in 888, the Fort is a museum today and offers splendid views of this ancient town and the surrounding mountains, you can walk around in this impressive Fort and Castle with many passages rooms, the Fort is an architectural testimony to the economic and military achievements of the early Yaruba dynasty from the mid-17th century, it was a military stronghold designed to withstand even the strongest of attacks at the time, even along the corridors many traps were laid to deter any intruders that might have penetrated the defenses.

From Nizwa we drive up to (Jebel Akhdar) it’s known as “Green Mountain” it’s considered one of the most scenic areas in Oman, it’s a part of Hajar Mountain range, Jebel Akhdar has so-called because of the presence of green terraced gardens surrounding the villages, this place can be reached only by Donkey for hundreds of years, a variety of fruits like pomegranates, apricot, apple, olives, Grape, Rose, Peaches, and Walnut, are grown here there are interesting walks in Wadi Bani Habib, Shrejah, Al Ain, and Al Aqur villages.

After Green Mountain we visit Birkat Al Moz, it has a large Falaj system that supplies water date palms, and vegetables for many orchards, it’s listed to the UNESCO, it’s worth spending some time walking and discovering the old part of the village, then drive back to Muscat.