Muscat Oman day 5

A big travel day - all up we did 570km so we started with an early breakfast and Said picked us up at 8.45am. The first section was expressway conditions but as we got towards Nizwa the mountains were prominent as you can see from the following photos

Nizwa was the ancient capital of Oman and is now the 2nd biggest town in the country. It is famous for its animal and other markets as well as its souq. The markets are every Friday.

Faye had a good time in the souq and we were able to buy some souvenirs!

Next door is the Nizwa fort but unfortunately it was closed for repairs so we coildn't inspect and climb the tower. It is 100's of years old.

Then we went on to Jabal Shams (the highest mountain n Oman) to view Oman's Grand Canyon. It is the 2nd biggest in the world behind it's namesake in USA. A pretty windy road and gravel/4WD for the last few km's but the view was fantastic. The photos below do not pay it justice but it is huge. From the floor of the canyon to the rim is 2,000m.

There is even a village in the floor of the canyon!

Girls were at the lookout selling things that they make from goats hair so Faye was active again in the buying department!

These last photos were taken on the way up the moutain from Nizwa.The 2nd photos is an ancient village in the moutainside that it now deserted.

Today was the last tour day of our prize but 2 more days before we fly out Monday morning. Tomorrow we have booked a bus to go to the Muscat Grand Mall.

We are both keeping well and thoroughly enjoying the trip. We had another middle eastern lunch today and it was even better than the last one.