Jabal Shams

Thu 25/12/25

After lunch at Nizwa, we then headed for our final destination today Jabal Shams where we would be staying for 2 nights. The drive from Nizwa took almost 2 hours although it was only 88km because about 14km of the way was off roading so we had to drive slowly.

We reached our accommodation located at the start of the W6 Balcony Walk of Jabal Shams (40 OMR about RM 428 paid by cash) at 3pm where our host was already waiting for us. 

our room

Jabal Shams view from our guesthouse

I have ordered for dinner (OMR 5 or RM 55 per person) the previous day, thinking it was a bit difficult to find any restaurants around the area. Turned out that we were still full from lunch and was very sleepy as we haven't slept properly since we departed from home. In hindsight, we should have skipped dinner and sleep early for the balcony walk tomorrow. Dinner was rice with chicken, salad and vegetable dish. After dinner, we called it a day.

dinner at our guesthouse in Jabal Shams 

Fri 26 Dec 2025

We woke up early at 5am and then prepared for some simple breakfast and lunch of bread with chili tuna that we have packed from home. We did not order breakfast from the guesthouse as we planned to start our hike early. We also packed our bags and left them in the car as we have to check out from the house. Sunrise was at 6.30am

sunrise in front of our guesthouse

We set out for the W6 Balcony Walk at 7.30am from our guesthouse. There was only a family and a couple in front when we started our hike. Since we stayed at the guesthouse situated near to the start point, we were served with beautiful views of the mountains and canyons from the start.

views of the Balcony Walk

views of the Balcony Walk

Jabal Shams canyon

The hike started downwards and then was flat most of the way. It was still cool when we started, but it got sunnier at around 8am, with clear blue skies above. We even spotted 4 "eagles?" flying above us.

eagles maybe

balcony walk

old abandoned village

Jabal Shams canyon

Our hike took about 4 hours covering a distance of 10.4 km to and fro (the same way back) with 379m elevation gain. We also climbed up to a natural pool at the end of the hike. It is not clearly marked. Since it was dry season, the water in the pool was not fully filled up, and nothing to be missed if you skip this one.

the pool at the end of the balcony walk

the small pool

goat at Jabal shams canyon

On our way back, there were many people already on the trek and we had to give way most of the time as the trek is quite narrow. 

We stopped at a hut near the starting point to have our lunch of packed sandwich while enjoying the views and then returned back to our guesthouse at 12.30pm

We then drove to our next guesthouse Sun Horizon chalet (OMR 32 or RM 340 with breakfast, paid by cash) located about 15 mins away in Jabal Shams. It was a self check in accommodation with a key box and it was ready by the time we reached there at 1pm.

Sun Horizon chalet

Since there was no restaurant located nearby (only a café at the Jabal Shams view point), we finished up our packed bread and chili tuna for dinner. We rested for the rest of the day.

Sat 27 Dec 2025

I went out for a walk nearby the guesthouse at sunrise around 6.30am but since the second guesthouse was located further away from the canyon, the views here were rather limited. It was quite cold in the morning around 8C

We waited for breakfast at 7.30am where the caretaker came in and brought pre cooked meals. Our breakfast consisted of bread, boiled eggs, Omani pancakes (quroos), balaleet (sweet vermicelli), chickpeas and kidney beans. 

Omani breakfast

After breakfast, we checked out from the guesthouse and drove to Misfat al Abriyin, located about 50km away. The drive took about 1 hour 15 mins.