Birkat Al Mouz - Nizwa

Thu 25/12/25

It was 7 am in the morning when we left the airport and made our way to our destination today, Jabal Shams with a few stops along the way.

Our first stop was a café, Bait Al Sabah at Birkat Al Mouz, a historic Omani village with abandoned clay and mud-brick houses, banana and date plantations, and the UNESCO-listed Falaj Al Khatmeen irrigation system,  at the foothills of Jebel Akhdar. There are many abandoned villages with clay and mud-brick houses around Oman that we encountered during our 10 day visit, and this is one of them.

I came across the café while searching for accommodation, but unfortunately it was fully booked. So I decided to just visit the café.

The village is located 132km from Muscat airport, which took about 1h30mins on the highway which did not have any tolls.  We arrived at the café at 8.30am and we had latte and cappuccino for 3.4 OMR (about RM 36). The café is located in an old house built of mud that was recently restored to be a heritage inn. The café have a four legged mascot. 

the cafe cat

our coffee

the old village view from the cafe rooftop

After having coffee on the rooftop, we strolled around the surrounding abandoned village with the falaj drainage system and enjoyed the views. 

view behind the village

old mud brick houses

falaj irrigation system

at the top of the old village

falaj going through the mud brick houses

mudbrick houses

From Birkat Al Mouz, we made our way to Nizwa town to buy some groceries at Lulu hypermarket. After buying groceries, we went for lunch at Turath al Mandi restaurant. We had lamb shuwa with mixed rice for 3 OMR (about RM 33) , lamb or goat marinated in a rich spice blend (including coriander, cumin, cardamom, cloves, garlic) then slow-cooked for hours, traditionally in an underground sand oven (tanor). It was delicious! We were also given black tea free of charge. 

lamb shuwa

sitting on the floor style

We then walked to the Nizwa souq next door for a quick visit to take pictures since it was already 12.30pm, the souq would be closed during the afternoon hour from 1pm and re-open at 4pm. We didn't buy anything here, just taking notes of the souvenirs that we would buy from the souq in Muscat later. 

Nizwa souq entrance door

Nizwa souq

Nizwa souq

Nizwa souq

Nizwa souq food section

halwa or sweets 

We also took some pictures outside of Nizwa fort, just next to the Nizwa souq.

Nizwa fort is behind

We then headed for our final destination today Jabal Shams where we would be staying for 2 nights.