Jenny and I have both been pretty busy over the summer and we have neglected getting out into the countryside. Our friends Gil and Amy had been given a book on trekking routes in Oman so we looked through and selected a grade 1 walk up in Jebel Akhdar as we thought that it would be nice and cool up there.
Jebel Akhdar, which translates from Arabic as the "green mountain" is part of the Western Hajar mountains. It takes about two hours to drive from Muscat and requires a 4x4. The road up the mountain is probably one of the best roads I've ever driven, but for some reason there is a police checkpoint at the bottom of the mountain which only permits 4x4 vehicles to drive to the top.
The start of the trekking route is just outside the village of Al Aqur at an altitude of just over 2,000m. This meant that the temperature was around 25C, a noticeable 10 degrees less than Muscat. We couldn't plan to go for a walk without taking Ralph, but even out of the city he attracts a lot of attention. As soon as we parked up, the car was surrounded by Omani gentlemen all looking to take pictures of Ralph. As a sign of their appreciation (it was a huge effort on my part!) they gave us some pomegranates which are one of the local delicacies.
Jebel Akhdar is famous for its green terraces, where all the local market gardening takes place. It's obviously early in the season, but you can get the idea from the pictures above. Apparently Spring is the best time to visit, as all the roses are in bloom, but still pretty impressive views at this time of year.
We walked through the village, watched the kids playing on the roof and then down through some of the terraces. Even though it was considerably cooler than Muscat, it was still pretty warm and Ralph enjoyed cooling off in the falajes.
After about an hour of walking down through the terraces, doubling back because we'd missed one of the route markers, passing through a couple of smaller villages, meeting more locals who very generously wanted to give us more pomegranates, we arrived at the village of Sayq, the end of the trek. We stopped for a little picnic, before turning around back to the car.
According to the guide book this was only a 1km walk, but that must have surely been as the crow flies, because even with the back tracking, it shouldn't have taken that long. The walk back was a bit more tiring as we had to climb back up the terraces and of course, this was right at the hottest part of the day. Anyway, it was nice to get out and have some exercise in somewhat fresher air and we all, especially Ralph, slept pretty well that night.
As a bonus, at least now I know if it ever comes up in a pub quiz, that pomegranates grow on trees!
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