Bahla fort

Tue 30/12/25

After breakfast, we returned to our guesthouse to pack and check out , then made the short drive to Bahla fort, stopping by the old walls of Bahla on the way.

old walls of Bahla

We arrived at Bahla fort at 9.30 am and spent about 1.5 hours venturing every nook and corner of the fort.  The entrance fee to the fort costs OMR 8 for 2 adults. Bahla fort, a Unesco World heritage site was built between the 12th and 15th century by the Banu Nebhan tribe made of stone and mud brick. 

Bahla fort Unesco World heritage site

made of stone and mud brick

stairs

view from top

Bahla fort top

Bahla fort interior

watch tower

vastness of the fort

Across the road is Bahla souq but most of the shops were closed that day. We only took some pictures there.

Bahla souq

an abandoned mud brick house behind Bahla fort

abandoned village behind Bahla fort

After the souq visit, we went for lunch at Reem Al Yamen restaurant Bahla branch again. We had beef shuwa with mixed rice (OMR 2.6)

beef shuwa with mixed rice

We then proceeded to Kmkan café which is also a heritage hotel to check in (OMR 37.8 or RM 401 with breakfast, paid by cash) located next to Bahla fort. The room was beautifully decorated from the old mud brick building. 

our heritage room

We took a short walk around the fort and had a cup of latte at the café while waiting for sunset at 5.30pm. We then called it a day.

village behind Bahla fort

waiting for sunset

sunset at Bahla

Wed 31/12/25

Breakfast was included with our room rate and we were given a selection to choose from. I chose the Omani breakfast set which includes foul with tahini, shaksouka eggs, cheese, balaleet, vegetables and chapati bread with drinks which we chose hot latte and cappucino. Since the café only opens at 8am, we waited for quite a bit as we were already hungry (bananas to the rescue!)

Omani breakfast

Jabreen castle

Mon 29/12/25

After breakfast we packed, checked out and drove to Jebreen castle, located 30km away and took about 40 minutes. We arrived at Jabreen castle at 11am and spent about 1.5 hours venturing every nook and corner of the castle. Some of the decorations in it reminded me of Al Hambra Palace in Spain. The entrance fee to the castle costs OMR 6.3 for 2 adults. Jabreen castle was built in 1670 using large stones and dark gray sandstone. 

Jabreen castle interior

 sandstone

Jabreen castle top

view from top

interior view from top

interior decor

stairs

For lunch, we headed to Reem Al Yamen restaurant at Bahla branch. We had lamb shuwa with mixed rice (OMR 3.1) 

lamb shuwa with mixed rice

After lunch, we checked in at our guesthouse Poinciana rooms (OMR 10.2 or RM 108, paid by cash) which is located a bit offroad next to a football field and a swimming pool. We didn't do much afterwards, just relaxing for the rest of the day flicking the hundreds of channel on the TV, from various countries - Libya, Iraq and Algeria included.

our guesthouse

Tue 30/12/25

For today's breakfast, we had pratha bread with chicken curry, keema and karak chai for OMR 2.1 at A Wahat Al Tabiya restaurant located near Bahla fort.

keema, curry chicken and pratha bread

Al Hamra

Sun 28/12/25

From Misfat Al Abriyin, we drove to Al Hamra, located nearby about 6.5km and arrived within 15 minutes. We parked our car by the roadside at Al Hamra old village and walked from there towards the Al Hamra Palms path. We stopped for photos at the old abandoned clay and mud-brick houses at Al Hamra, where some have been restored and transformed into heritage hotels.

Old abandoned clay and mud-brick houses at Al Hamra

At the end of the Palms path, we reached the main road and saw a watchtower. We crossed the road and climbed a bit to the watch tower to get a view of Al Hamra old village clay and mud-brick houses,  date plantation and the mountains. There is a park nearby with car parks which we could have also parked there. 

watch tower of Al Hamra

view of Al Hamra old village, date plantation and the mountains

It was still early so we walked back towards the date plantation and had a cup of flat white coffee (1.1 OMR) at Saaf café situated in the middle of the plantation.

Al Hamra Palms path

having coffee in the date plantation

We decided to go for early lunch at Reem Al Yamen restaurant where we had lamb shuwa with rice (OMR 3.2) which we shared as we were not really hungry yet, having a fulfilling breakfast this morning. We also went to buy water and bananas at a nearby supermarket and stopped for petrol (RON 91) about half tank (OMR 4.4) 

lamb shuwa with rice

I then checked with the house owner if we could already check in and the answer was positive, so we made our way to the guesthouse located in the date plantation area (Reef Al Hamra) for OMR 18.9 or RM 200, paid by cash. Our house have a large garden area to hang out. We also washed our clothes as the house has a washing machine but the spinner was not functioning so some drying had to be done in creative ways.

our guesthouse garden

The rest of the afternoon was spent walking around the plantation which was a really calming experience seeing the greeneries. At 4.30pm we headed back to Reem Al Yamen restaurant for an early dinner where we had lamb shuwa with rice again and camel meat with rice (OMR 6.2)

walking the Palms path

Al Hamra palms path 

lamb shuwa and camel meat with rice

After dinner we went back to our guest house and called it a day.

Mon 29/12/25

For breakfast today, we went to Reem Al Yamen restaurant again. We had shaksouka and pratha bread (OMR 2.45) The shaksouka is different from the Tunisian version as it is dry and fried. 

shaksouka for breakfast

Misfat al Abriyin

Sat 27/12/25

After breakfast at our guesthouse in Jabal Shams, we checked out  and drove to Misfat al Abriyin, located about 50km away. The drive took about 1 hour 15 mins. 

view on the way from Jabal Shams to Misfat al Abriyin

We arrived at Misfat al Abriyin before 11am, so it was still early to check in at our hotel. So we decided to do the W9 walk, which took us around the date plantations and Falaj irrigation system until the spring of Misfat's falaj system, which was dry currently. There was also a pool for the local people only. 

Misfat al Abriyin village

pool at Misfat al Abriyin village

W9 walk along the falaj

W9 walk

W9 walk

We then returned the same way and took the W9c trail to back where we parked our car outside the village. The leisurely walk took us 1h 40 mins and covered 3.85 km with 167m elevation gain. 

W9c walk

We took our backpacks (I left the suitcase in the car) and walked to our heritage hotel Bait Baityn, restored from old clay and mud-brick houses (OMR 37.8 or RM 401 with breakfast and dinner, paid by cash) and could check in at 1pm. We were greeted with arabic coffee and dates as welcoming drink. 

Bait Baityn room

We then went to the hotel rooftop to have the last of our packed sandwich, and enjoyed the views while sipping hot tea. 

view from the rooftop

We then showered after the W9 walk just now and rested in our room for the rest of the afternoon. It was still quite hot under the sun (about 20C) in December. 

At 4pm we went outside the hotel to check out some of the shops around but we finished in less than 30 minutes as the old village is very small. So went to the rooftop again to enjoy the views and waited until sunset at 5.30pm

in front of Bait Baityn

Misfat al Abriyin village

sunset from the rooftop

Dinner was served buffet style at 6pm at the rooftop. We had rice with salad, chicken, curry and soup for dinner. After dinner we walked for a bit to check out the views at night and then called it a day.

dinner

Sun 28 Dec 2025

The next morning we woke up by 5am and then went to catch the sunrise at the hotel rooftop around 6.30am 

sunrise from the rooftop

Breakfast spread was delicious and was served at 7.30am. We had 2 rounds of the Omani pancake quroos which was really yummy.

delicious breakfast 

We took our time enjoying breakfast and checked out at 9am. The hotel staff helped to carry our bags to our car and then we spent a bit of time checking out the nearby honey shop and the views before proceeding to our next destination Al Hamra