The highest points in the Gulf, the place where the sun
meets the earth. This is what Jabel Shams is all about. Jabel Shams translated
as the sun mountain due to the fact that Oman sees its dusk and dawn on this
peak first is the highest peak in the Middle East standing at 3009 m at its
summit. It stood with pride among the Hajar range and looked splendorous.
We started off at dawn from Muscat reaching Nizwa through
the beautiful way covering small and large Rocky Mountains and we could see the
Hajar range basking in glory. We reached Nizwa and had breakfast and set off
for the mountains. The town of Nizwa was a historic one. Elected as the Islamic
cultural capital of Oman, it lives the Omani tradition. The Nizwa fort and Souq
showed the old architecture and the walled city in it. We moved forward to
reach near Bahla to proceed towards the Hamra-Jabel Shams road. Soon we reached
Hamra and moved towards Jabel Shams. The track was winding and we could see the
mountain range closing towards us. We were surrounded by mountains, blue grey
and brown with spots of green Date Palms and farm fields. Soon we reached Nakhur
were the ancient ruins of Persians still survived. The road started the ascend.
It was picturesque and with the usual Omani shades of brown. This land is
amazing and mystical. An aura of mystique surrounds you while you travel to the
interiors of Oman and we felt it here as well.
The climb was winding and we could see the below villages getting
smaller and smaller. The Date Palms and green fields got tinier as the weather
got colder. The air was much crispier. Soon the terrain got grayer and steeper
until we saw a mesmerizing view of the below land. It was Hamra I suppose but I
could see the white buildings at the horizon and a curtain of haze on it. Soon
the tar track ended and the muddy brown tracks appeared. We travelled long
along the dusty rugged terrain until we reached the view point. It was breath
taking. The massive high peaks formed narrow deep chasms into the ground down
below. The place was at around 2400m and it looked boisterous.
The mountain formed gorges and crevasses into the land
below. It was as though the piece was cut out of the mountains. We moved ahead
towards the village of khitaym to take our trekking pass. The grand canyon of Oman
as it is called lay in front of us. This large natural wonder is simply
breathtaking. It is said to be the second largest canyon in the world after the
Grand Canyon in the US and is named the Grand Canyon of Oman. It lays at a
height of 3009m at the summit( varies from 2980m to 3009m) and the canyon dives
in to the deep. The gorge beneath is known as Wadi Ghul. The entire canyon can
be circumvented through the trekking pass of W6 which is a balcony walk around
the canyon.
The weather was cool at 16c and it helped during the trek.
It was a really splendid journey. As we got down to the pass, we could see the
majestic cliff in its brown rising up from the gorge beneath. A few date palms
and shrubs were seen below. Jabel Shams is famous for its juniper trees. The
hills and the mountains that we passed by were spotted with twirling barks of
the juniper trees. At one of the valleys nearing the summit, there were
numerous of them. It looked as though an
old frail man was looking at us with his hands resting on his chin. I thought
of it as a time teller, who stayed there from time immemorial saying stories of
the past. Some of the juniper trees were really old. The main flora of this
place is its beautiful juniper trees with their dusty green canopy and the wild
olives that grew here and there. Apart from these there were the usual thorny
shrubs of the semi-arid terrain. The trail that we took was also the same with
junipers and the thorny shrubs. As we walked down , we could see the mountain
goats at sides chewing shrubs and leaves standing at the edge. I wondered how
they could do this with their hoofs. It was fascinating. The goats were
beautiful with their silky hairs and wide eyes yet looked sturdy with pride.
They were better climbers than us and I wondered at them. Some clung onto the
rocks and were walking upwards. Soon we reached the middle of our climb down.
The village of sab stood there at the edge.
This view was breathtaking. The ancient village of Sab Bani
Khamis and its ruins were found at the edge of this cliff. The mud bricked
houses and a store stood there vertical onto the cliff and was a piece of early
engineering marvel. The houses are said to have outlets towards to the lower
areas and stay there clinging onto the edge. They brown and seen as though
inserted into the cliff walls. They are said to be the village of the khamsamsah
tribe who have shifted to Hamra and other villages below. Soon we reached the terrace
cultivation lands created at the edge of this cliff. It was dry and abandoned
but looked splendor. At the end of this pass was the tower overlooking the
Grand Canyon. We climbed up and were greeted with a beautiful view. The entire
land ahead was visible. We could see the Hamra with haze on it.
We climbed down and proceeded further. The rocks were large
and boulder-like. We climbed them with little bit of difficulty since we
weren’t prepared much for this trip. We had our water bottles and they were
almost empty. As we climbed we could see the edge of the pool. This was one
breathtaking view. Soon after the climb, tucked inside the edge of the cliff
lie a shallow but large pool. The water dropped down from the rocks above and
the pool looked emerald. It was cool, a soothing coolness. This was balcony
view. We climbed down and sat beside the pool. It was a nature pool tucked into
the edge of the bowl.
After lying down in the pool enjoying the coolness of the
water we returned back. We saw slithery salamanders on the way. Grey dull ones
slithered along the rocks. The return was tougher since we had no water with
us. The temperature dipped to 8c and was really cool. The walk across the edge
of the canyon was a tip-toe when seen from far. When we looked back at the
route we took, we didn’t seen one. It looked plain edge all the way down the
2400 meters.
Soon we reached the starting point. The mountain stood
behind us grand and pride. The shadows went deep down forming brown and grey
together. It was majestic and the sun was dipping down behind the mountains. It
was as though the sun rested on a throne or a royal chalice. It was indeed the
mountain of the sun with the orange and crimson behind the cliff of brown and
blue….
We kissed him, we kissed the sun.
