Weekend in Hajar Mountains

We were hosting my friend for a week and during the weekend we decided to show her Hajar Mountains, Jebel Shams and Al Jabal Al Akhdar/Sayq Plateau where we had actually been before. But this time we had rented a 4WD with a low gear, so we were brave enough to take also some smaller and steeper roads. 

On Friday, we left Muscat rather early to see Nizwa's Souq (market) at its best. We arrived around 10am and the market started to calm down by then already but yet we could see trucks with cows, cages with pigeons and hens, besides more usual products like vegetables and crafts. 

Nizwa's Souq:

After visiting the souq we also had a quick visit to Nizwa Fort:

Then we headed to Jabel Shams. We had taken warm clothes with us but this time it was really warm up there.
Al Khitaym village:

Ancient village Misfat Al Abriyyin:

We planned to visit Al Jabal Al Akhdar next day, so we had decided before it was wiser to stay overnight in the area to avoid driving forth and back to Muscat. We stayed near Bahla in one hotel apartment of 3-bedrooms. It was actually the very first time we stayed at hotel here in Oman. Just a side note, we had dinner at one restaurant nearby and had really delicious food including grand fresh juices and we paid only around 15€ for 3 adults and 2 (3) kids. 

On Saturday we headed to the Green Mountains, to Sayq Plateau.

View to Al Fayyadhiyah:

Doing a small hike in Wadi Bani Habib, to old village ruins:

View from Al Fayyadhiyah:

When driving down in Sayq Plateau there are also escape lanes for emergency:

Actually, I have always thought it is difficult to take photos of mountains to show the real wow-effect. One must experience it, feel it, see it. 

By the way, we use Explorer's Oman Off-Road book when planning and doing our weekend trips. Must-have literature for exploring Oman!