Some little village in the middle of the Omani mountains

Toby, one of the friends that Steffen and I made in Oman, was visiting Oman for a few weeks - right around the time that Steffen and I arrived. We met him at the Obama inauguration party that Elizabeth and her parents had. Toby used to live in Oman and worked for one of the adventure companies in Muscat. In this capacity he had helped arrange trips for the company and was also a driver. Now that he was back in Oman, and had most week days free, he wanted to go back to some of the places he had visited with the adventure company. Coincidentally Steffen and I wanted to see many of those same places, which led to us taking more than a few driving trips with Toby.

One of those trips with Toby was into the mountains, up some of the most twisty mountain roads I have ever seen. The type of roads that require a good 4WD and a great driver (which Toby was). The scenery was beautiful, with harsh mountains and blue sky.

Our destination was this little mountain village many miles from the main roads. It was the type of place that until recently would get blocked off the rest of world anytime there was any significant amount of rainfall, due to the flooding in the wadis (valleys). 

Steffen riding shotgun

I can't remember the village's name, but it was awesome. We came around the side of this mountain and we were suddenly looking down into a valley. In the middle of the valley was a small hill on which the village was built, surrounded by a swath of green. There were fields and date groves, all watered by a series of canals.

Up until this point we hadn't seen anything but rocks and more rocks, and suddenly we were face to face with a little oasis. Toby had a connection in the area, a young guy who is apparently being groomed for leadership of the village. We parked under some trees and waited for this guy to come out and meet us.  

We all shook hands when he arrived and we walked into town. Once inside his sitting room, we partook in the traditional routine of greeting guests in Oman, sharing tea or coffee and eating dates. Steffen spoke to the guy in Arabic for awhile then we all talked in English about living in this part of the world, so far from the rest of the world. He told us about how they have helicopters in case of emergency, and how the Sultan is building a better (paved) road out to them and some of the other nearby villages. Then he took us on a tour of his amazing town.

After walking through town, he took us into the fields and date groves surrounding the town.

Soon we were walking along the canal system they have in place to water the fields. 

We walked through fields that smelled of garlic. The water came from the caves and pools above the city, filtering quietly through the small canals that we walked on. You could see the different ways that the water could be routed, depending on the needs of the fields. I followed a little behind the guys, taking pictures and just enjoying the bright sunny day.

When people think of the Middle East, I wish they would think of places like this little village before making broad generalizations. 

The village, in the distance

We eventually left the village and headed farther up the mountain, to the summit. The nice thing about these little traveled mountain roads is that at any point you can stop and have your own little scenic viewpoint!