Bahla Tours and Tickets

Our guide, Juma, picked us up on time and we set off for the 90 minute drive to Nizwa. I'd like to regale you with tales of the magnificent scenery but I fell asleep almost straight away and woke up as we were parking the car! We started with a walk through the souk which was actually lovely, more European in that there was no haggling or pressure to by or even look, just stalls with good for sale. Probably not an authentic experience but we actually bought a few things because there was no pressure, unlike yesterdays visit to Mutrah Souk in Muscat. We walked the short distance to the fort and Juma bought our tickets and then very kindly took Deb's shopping to put in the car to save her carrying it around. The fort was built when Nizwa was the capital of Oman and is apparently the most visited attraction in the country. The fort was built in the 1650's and is over an underground stream to ensure it could survive sieges. The castle and associated administrative buildings huddle around it with the fort and its 30m high walls acting as a keep, the final line of defence. The castle was a real warren of buildings and of course we hadn't looked at a map or plan so we wandered up and down stairs, through corridors and in and out of various rooms. Most were empty but some had carpets and cushions in to show how they'd have looked as meeting rooms or study rooms. The exhibition on the restoration of the fort was very well done with before and after pictures of each section as well as information on how it was built. The section on the history of Oman was also very good, placing it in a world context through the ages. There were also women demonstrating traditional handicrafts which was lovely to watch. We may well have missed something amazing but we spent well over an hour before we even got to the fort itself. The design was quite clever with the entry route being blocked by doors with murder holes above the could be used to either pour boiling date juice on the attackers or to pour water on the doors if they were set alight. The fort itself was a shell keep and firing platform with plenty of space inside for locals to shelter with their livestock and stores for food and ammunition as well as 4 wells. The views from the walls over the oasis were quite awesome, with the obligatory mountains all around. Before leaving Nizwa we visited the small animal preserve in the castle garden. This was a bit mixed, we bought some food for Deb to feed the animals but I got the impression that a lot of them didn't want to be there. There were plenty of rabbits and goats and they seemed to have a great time but the solitary donkey, solitary camel and two oryx seemed sad and lonely. It was nice to see them though but I'd suggest this is the next area to develop, to improve the environment and allow more social grouping for the exhibits so there's a balance between their welfare and our education. It was now lunchtime but there was no lunch available due to Ramadam and despite Juma's best efforts, stopping at 4 supermarkets, none were open at all. We drove along more of the excellent Omani roads to our next stop, Bahla Castle. I did actually stay awake for this part and we drove past more rocky desert and mountains, which seemed to comprises of a series of sharp ridges which must be a nightmare to traverse or fight over as there was almost no obvious cover or shade and a lot of the rock looked more like shale than anything solid. Based on todays experience of good roads, lots of signposts for all the attractions and drivers that obey traffic lights, I wish we'd looked into hiring a car. Bahla's Castle is just across the road from the mosque so being both Friday and the start of Ramadam. the area was busy! The castle was huge and older than Nizwa with a solid stone base level and various towers properly organised for defence. The fort was built of mud brick to guard frankinsense trade routes, probably in the 12th century and is the largest in Oman. Construction was certainly cruder than Nizwa, or at least the finish of the buildings, with no smoothed walls or decoration. The heat was pretty oppresive by now so Deb went to sit in the shade whilst I clambered up stairs, along walls and in and out of rooms, vaugely following the perimiter of the wall. There were a few other tourists around but most seemed to be following Deb's example so I had the place almost to myself as Juma had gone to perform his prayers in the Friday Mosque. The rooms outside the kasbah, fortified citadel, were all bare of both decoration and furnishing but the walls were thick enough to allow niches to be built in to them. I couldn't go to the top of the tower as that was ladder access only and blocked off but there were nice views over the oasis from the walls and several other mudbrick buildings in various states of decay. The town is apparently surrounded by the original city wall, or as original as it can get being patched up after each rainy season. The kasbah had massively high rooms on the ground floor and some beautiful wooden doors as well as Islamic inscriptions in the entrance hall. I spent some more time exploring here before returning to Deb for us both to walk around the handicraft section next to the (closed) cafe where she was sat. This was very pretty with some lovely modern design touches to show off the pottery workshop's output. We didn't spend as long here as at Nizwa as there was no exhibition and most of the rooms were empty. The place was far more of a military building than one with any unneccessary decoration or luxury. We tried a few more supermarkets after leaving and eventually got lucky and found one open, Juma very kindly buying us orange juice and water as I was suffering a bit in the heat although he had another 4 hours to go before he could eat or drink! It was a short drive to our final stop, Jabreen Castle. After visiting we decided that calling it a castle was really a misnomer, in the UK it would have been a fortified manor house. The outer wall was quite low and more for show than defence while the interior was beautifully decorated and a palace type residence. The ceilings in some of the rooms were beautifully painted and others had ornate plasterwork or stone inscriptions. Some rooms were furnished with carpets, travelling chests and books and there was also a small armoury to visit. The exhibition in one of the rooms told about the castle's founder, Imam Bil'arab-bin Sultan al-Yarubi in the seventeenth century. He is actually buried in the castle and he helped expand Oman as far as the coast of Mozambique, building the countries wealth through trading in slaves. He defeated the Portugese and even raided as far as India as well as expanding trade and education. The rooms in Jabreen Castle were brighter than either of the previous forts, with tall windows in most rooms and the place had a lovely feel to it, despite being another warren. Interestingly, none of the places we visited today had a hamman, just bathrooms for sluicing yourself clean with water. My favourite feature and perhaps the one that made it most homey, was the open central courtyard. This was a beatiful and tranquil area in the middle of the fort that was immersed in shade but still plenty bright enough, just without some of the heat. That was it for today, 3 forts that were all impressive and each showed a different aspect of Omani heritage. I think we were very lucky with Juma who exemplified Omani traditions of looking after guests and being calm and polite. All in all a fabulous, if tiring day!

Perfect day enjoying the forts and castle!! I think one of my favorite parts of the day was when we visited the souq! A lot of fabulous spices, I’m a huge lover of frankincense, sandalwood and other natural aroma therapy and it was very interesting. My college son really enjoyed trying the different dates and dipping the dates in tahini which we have never experienced before and loved it. Our guide was fantastic!! He was so pleasant and very knowledgeable. Told us so much about their culture in Oman. We loved every part of this tour! Highly recommend

Nizwa was such a beautiful place, the souk was lots of fun to taste samples and shop for coffee, dates and silver jewellery. The fort in Nizwa was an incredible place to explore as was Bahla fort. We loved Bahla fort even though there wasn’t much information inside. Jabreen castle’s intricate designs and beautiful architecture made it a pleasure to wander around in. We could have spent hours there. We were lucky enough to have Khalfan as our tour guide again! He made sure our day was a memorable one.