Just a few minutes from home, a short distance from the 6 lane freeway, you can find yourself in the middle of a local village with these narrow roads lined with date palms. At some points, it is so narrow that you have to roll down the window and pull in the mirrors so they don't bump the walls. At the end of this road is Bait Al'Maqham. It is a fortified house that used to be owned by a prominent Omani woman, I read in some travel guide. It has been beautifully restored, but I have never been able to go inside as it never seems to be open, which is a shame. Sometimes it is hard to get up-to-date information around here and I cannot seem to find much on this particular site. However, it's still a fun place to explore.
Next on the list is Bowsher Castle, the remains of a small 2-story fort nearby. Looking at this, it makes you appreciate all the work that must have been put into restoring historic buildings around here. This property is apparently privately owned and is not being restored. Interestingly, it now boasts new signage explaining some geology of Oman and is part of Ministry's Muscat Geoheritage Geotours with ipod application. Sounds like something I need to check out!
Oman Geotours
