OMAN; PEARL OF ARABIA (Travel Documentary)

Are there still Bedouins living nomadically? Oman is a small nation situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a serene country with vastly different landscapes all within a short distance. Cities, desert, wadis, mountains and a very traditional culture. And the best way to see it all? Join us on a road trip through the north of Oman. After exploring the grand mosques and urban center of Muscat, the seaside capital of Oman, we head to Nizwa, a city nestled at the foot of the striking Hajar mountains. Once the capital of Oman, Nizwa remains the country's cultural heart, a place where beautiful mountain scenery, historic forts and ancient traditions converge. It was the natural first stop on our road trip through Oman. And on Fridays, something very special happens here. We're headed to the weekly goat market here in Nizwa. It happens every Friday morning starting at 6am. We're just arriving in the parking lot and it's really cool to see all the Omanis arriving with their goats in the back of their truck. And you can kind of see the gathering over here, so we're going to go check it out. The Nizwa Goat Souk is a traditional livestock auction and the warm, earthy scent of animals greets you the moment you arrive. By sunrise, it is already packed. Men in crisp white dastashas move with purpose, pickup trucks groan under the weight of restless livestock and curious tourists jostle for a glimpse of the action. I'm like a bit scared to pet them. They're clearly a little bit feisty. Look at this little baby one next to me. As you see the farmers unloading their goats from the truck, you really see how feisty the goats are. I guess these are the foundation of Shuwa. Oh, hello buddy. Oh. So farmers and shepherds from around the surrounding villages, some come from very far away. They bring their cattle over here on Friday mornings and auction them out. At 7am, the real spectacle begins. The auction is officially beginning and all the farmers are walking around the circular pavilion. I'm not sure what they're saying, but perhaps they're shouting out the virtues of their animals. So it's quite interesting to watch. The audio component is nice. Excuse me, how much is a goat? No? I'm really touristy, but also of course there's actually people here buying the goats. So they're going around the circle and then whenever someone's interested, they just get the attention of the seller and they do a little exchange right here and sometimes the transaction goes smooth. Okay, we have a sale. This was a very cool experience. Very different for me. I've never been to anything like this. Feels a little bit like traveling to a different time. Where are you coming from to visit the market? It's 20 minutes from here. And how much is a goat? It depends. It starts from 80 riyals to 100. What would a very expensive animal be like? What makes it like 200 riyals? Maybe because of the size and the kind. If it is Omani, it is expensive. And if it is from outside, it will be cheaper. And where do the farmers come from? Are they all from Nizwa? From Nizwa and from Bahla, from Izki, from the nearest village mostly. And how old is this tradition? How long has the market been going on? Actually, I don't have a specific answer, but it is from too long. Like hundreds of years ago? Maybe. Yeah, it feels very traditional. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Here, it is all Omani. Yeah, so here it's like very traditional Omani. So that's what makes Nizwa very special. What's special about this is compared to the capital city of Muscat, where it's very international and you get a blend of different cultures, Nizwa and this goat market specifically is a very, very old Omani tradition. So you get to experience real authentic local culture here. Okay, that was cool. Let's go. Definitely got a little poop on my shoe. Nizwa was once a strategic trading hub and a vital crossroads for the country. To defend it from tribal conflicts and foreign threats, most notably the Portuguese, who occupied parts of Oman in the early 16th century, the impressive Nizwa Fort was built. It is the centerpiece of the old town and one of the most popular tourist attractions in the country, famous for its immaculate architecture and rich history. We're at the Nizwa Fort and this is the most visited monument in all of Oman. It was built in the 17th century by the reigning imam of the time. And an imam was a religious and state leader who ruled big parts of Oman before the current sultanate. And this fort is known for its architecture. This circular tower next to me is the largest in the Arabian Peninsula. And throughout the fort, there's really clever booby traps to make sure that the enemy could never penetrate it. It's a really beautiful place to watch the sunset here. You can watch it go behind the mountains and there's a lot of beautiful palm trees over here. The colors are just absolutely beautiful. And as the sun sets, a traditional performance begins featuring live instruments and dance, a window into old Omani culture. Wahiba Sands, the sand deserts of Oman, with golden dunes that seem to stretch endlessly into the horizon, an otherworldly landscape that makes you fully aware of just how small you are. This is the ancestral home of the Bedouins, or desert dwellers, nomadic Arabic-speaking people who have lived in the harsh but beautiful deserts of the Middle East and North Africa for thousands of years. One of the world's oldest and most enduring ways of life. It's our first desert sunset here in Sharqiyah Sands. We just got here and it already feels so surreal to be here. It's really crazy now that I've been here to imagine the Bedouins living out here nomadically. It's absolutely beautiful, but it's a rugged and really extreme landscape. The beating sun, the wind blowing the sand everywhere. We head to our home for the evening, a small camp run by a local Bedouin man named Hamid. It is incredibly quiet and serene out here in the middle of the desert, a world away from the rush of the city. You get a glimpse of what a simpler life close to nature could look like. Dinner is being prepared right now. We're having a traditional Bedouin meal. They stuffed a chicken with vegetables and wrapped it in banana leaf, and it's going to be cooked over this very fragrant wood fire. And it's all open air. We're under the stars in the desert. It's very dreamlike right now. On the menu tonight alongside the chicken, Bedouin bread made fully from scratch, a multi-step process that starts with flour and water. He's kneading the dough and then the dough literally goes straight on the hot coals. Oh, it's like very dense and heavy. Next, the dough is covered in sand. I've never cooked with sand before. Your family live nomadically in the desert. My father, my grandfather, and my parents all lived in the desert. Are there still Bedouins living nomadically? Yes. Yes? Yes. A lot? Many? Yes. Do you? No. No? Yes. I'm learning today that sand flows and moves a lot more versatily than I first imagined. Today we saw it kind of move like a waterfall. Every time we would take a step on the edge of the cliff, it would kind of pour down really smoothly. And then you see it blow over the desert landscape. And now over fire, it boils. So I did not know that. Oh, I see. Yeah, in June, if you do this in the desert, the sandworm comes. They took the bread and they pounded it quite a bit. And then they add oil and fresh honey from Hamid's house. And I'm going to try it. It's like a nice crumbly, crumbly texture. Honey is really good. Delicious. It's very crunchy, but also moist and dense at the same time. Halas. Chicken halas. Okay, the chicken is ready. And it's smelling really good. It was really cool to watch the cooking process of this. And cheers. And what's different about this is you can really taste the banana leaf that it was cooked in. Very nice Bedouin meal. And together, we enjoyed dinner in the open air, under the moon and stars. We woke up early to watch the sunrise. And we're a little tired, but it was absolutely beautiful out. It's so still, you can hear the birds flapping overhead. And it's very cool. As we're walking over here, you can see the tracks from the animals that only come out at night. We see what's looking like snake tracks, little rodents, and then farm animals like goats. Yeah, it's just pristine and really lovely to be out here. In the morning, we meet Hamid's camels. Animals are the Bedouins' extended family. These people's lives depend on moving their animals through the desert in search of scarce food and resources. But times are changing, fast. Hamid lives in the city now. Like many Bedouins, he has traded the harsh nomadic life of his ancestors for more modern comforts and understandable shift. Yet, this brings the challenge of preserving the Bedouins' unique culture in a rapidly modernizing world. And where camels were once the Bedouins' key form of transport, now you have 4x4 vehicles, which is quite a fun way to experience the desert. Before saying goodbye to Wahiba Sands, Hamid taught us more about Bedouin culture, showing us items that help them to survive in the desert. I also tried on the traditional dress of a Bedouin woman with the striking face mask, a symbol of modesty that protects you against the sun, winds, and sand. Dotted throughout Oman's arid landscape are oasis-like regions called wadis. Wadis are natural valleys or riverbeds that fill with water during rainy season, creating pools and lush waterfalls. Among them, Wadi Shab is one of the most beautiful and one of the most popular stops on a road trip through the north of the country. To access the wadi, you must first get on a boat to the beginning of the hiking trail, and then it's 1 km in. As you make your way through the wadi, you pass through rugged mountains, palm trees, and turquoise pools of water, offering a stark contrast to the dry terrain. It's so pretty! The cool thing about traveling Oman so far, specifically the more northern part of the country where we've been, is that you get desert, you get mountain, you get ocean, and now you get this kind of landscape which is very much like an oasis. You have the palm trees everywhere, it's very green and beautiful, so you can get a lot all within a few hours of each other, like two or three hours driving. Along the way, you also see the Aflaj system, an ancient irrigation network used in Oman that gets its water from natural sources like wadis. This system supported local agriculture and communities for centuries. Where do you start swimming? Once you reach swimmable waters, the real adventure begins. Leaving the trail behind, you make your way through winding, zigzagging waterways. It's a refreshing respite from the unforgiving Arabian sun. The wadi is really beautiful. Once you reach the end of the one kilometer hike, you swim through the water and there's parts where you have to walk on rocks. It's kind of like a fun adventure and you're surrounded by these really dramatic rock formations. It's incredibly naturally beautiful, but just keep in mind that this is one of Oman's most popular tourist sites, so you're probably not going to have it to yourself. It actually gets quite crowded, especially in high season, but I would still encourage you to come and check it out. It's pretty cool and I've never seen anything like this before. At the end of the wadi, it seems like it's time to turn around, but a surprise awaits. Through a narrow crevice in the rock, just enough to fit your head and accessible only by swimming, lies a hidden cave with a small waterfall inside. A lot of people miss this little secret, but now you know. The north of Oman is covered by mountain ranges and our trip ended here in Jebel Akhdar, a stunning highland area renowned for its terraced farms and breathtaking views. From these rugged peaks to the rose-hued deserts of Wahiba Sands, to the white stone of the wadis and the turquoise blue of the ocean, Oman is a small country with so much to offer. Its people and rich traditions left a lasting impression and we are so grateful for the time we got to spend here.