On tour seeing some Forts.

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Day 4:

We had a bit of a lie in before heading off on a tour in our own car. We went to another town called Nizwa we stopped at the big mosque on route in Mascat. It was very beautiful inside, the dome was coloured and the Mihrab was very impressive. We continued on our journey arriving in Nizwa around an hour later at the souk for some shopping where I bought some postcards. The ‘old’ souk was made out of mud and palm leaves and was much nicer than the newer bit, There were several sections, fruit and veg, spices, tourist stuff and fish. We then looked at Nizwa Fort an old Fort which had great views from the top.

After further driving we arrived in Barhla, a town famous for pottery and looked at a traditional potters with giant kiln. We then went on to see Jebrine Fort, this was bigger than the one in Nizwa and had some original painted ceilings which were great. On our drive back to Nizwa we took a detour up a small artificial hill (for mobile masts) and had a great view of Barhla Fort - this is the oldest one in Oman and is currently being restored.

We stopped at a local place for fried fish and rice (I was starving as it was nearly 3pm!). Pudding was cold custard stuff and minty tea (my favs!) fortunately Mummy was therer and finished those off for me! We finished our trip at Birkat al Mouz a traditional old village (the old part is now uninhabited) before driving all the way back to the dive centre, I slept a bit in the car as was exhausted!

Dinner was fish and noodles with a fresh chapatti.

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