Our final days in Oman had a mix of activities and the first of which was the Nizwa livestock market. It takes place every Friday and this tradition has been happening in the same location for hundreds of years. We had to arrive early to catch the action so we were joining the crowds at 7am where we picked up a tea and some doughy bread from a stall. Goats, cows and the odd sheep were tied up to poles for buyers and spectators to admire before the bidding started. There were a few tourists mingling through the crowds but the vast majority were local men, so it was a complete sea of white as they wore their traditional white robes and hats.

There was some commotion and then everyone formed a large circle, kind of like a doughnut so the centre was filled with people as was the outside and the middle was the thoroughfare where the sellers showcased their animals. It was frantic and I absolutely loved it, men were carrying two baby goats at the same time while larger ones were pulled along by a rope. Locals called out to show their interest and the owner would bring the goat over so they could give it a little inspection which seemed to involve squeezing a full udder to test the milk-flow, lifting tails and shoving their fingers in their mouth, preferably not in that order. Sometimes two bidders would be competing and the seller would shout prices back and fourth before handing the goat to the buyer and the sale was complete. It was so funny because spectators who’d just been sitting there now had a goat as a companion…although more likely as a dinner meal for later.

Most of the goats looks very similar but there were some unique breeds, some looked like they belonged on a plain in Africa while others looked like a normal goat but on steroids as they stood about 5ft tall! After the goats a couple of sheep came around and then it was time to bid on the cows. They started with the gorgeous little babies and then moved onto the larger cows and it was chaos. The cows were too strong for the owners and would suddenly start charging into the crowds causing everyone to run in all directions. After the bidding finished we headed off into the main Nizwa souk where we discovered locals love buying guns and knives! All we purchase was some local honey, lemon and ginger after Craig woke up feeling a bit poorly this morning.

Our next stop was Wadi Damm which involved a stunning drive to reach. The mountains were so dramatic in all directions. The actual wadi wasn’t as impressive as I’d read, the pools weren’t crystal clear and had an opaqueness to them. The rocks in the pools were all covered in the slipperiest slime imaginable. If you stepped on it you’d instantly fall over. Apparently there’s some great pools if you go for a more adventurous walk up the canyon but judging by the pools at the start we were happy to just take it easy and have a dip in the first ones. There were toads absolutely everywhere, it’s clearly mating season and many of them seemed to be in the act, clinging onto the others back in a cute embrace. Although it wasn’t so cute when we realised they had bizarre black threads a few foot long which were covered in little beads of spawn protruding from their bodies.

We found a nice spot to camp with amazing mountain views near a dry riverbed but it turned out to be a hangout spot for locals. At dark a car came by and the driver said “come have tea with me!” It was almost our bed time but Craig went along – he came back after an hour and filled me in. Three more cars joined them and apparently it was a mix of young men in their 20s, one was a policeman, another military and the others oil and gas workers. He said it took over 30 minutes to make the tea and then the maker got two friends to taste it before serving Craig, very sweet and courteous. But when the gas ran out they just threw it into the riverbed behind them and when we returned the next morning we saw that they’d left all their rubbish behind and they probably come here every evening and do exactly the same thing. Sometimes the locals put all the litter into one bag and leave that or they literally get up and walk away, leaving a circle of cans, cups and plastic bottles while the crisp packets just blow away. It’s absolutely infuriating to watch, especially as Oman provides a lot of rubbish bins. Craig wanted to confront them when he saw them littering but you just can’t as a tourist. Imagine him telling the policemen not to throw rubbish!

We headed back to the wadi for another swim first thing in the morning and then drove towards the viewing area for Jebal Sham, Oman’s highest peak at 3009m. The road turns to dirt at some point so we weren’t going to make it to the top but we enjoyed the scenic drive anyway and camped with a nice view of the mountains.

The following morning we set off on a hike up a wadi that we discovered near Ghul a few days before. We first walked along it in the the afternoon and it was so beautiful we said we’d have to come back in the morning and spend the day jumping in the pools so that’s exactly what we did.

We followed the river through the canyon and occasionally deep pools would form under giant boulders so we’d stop for a swim in the crystal clear water. We ended up finding the most idyllic deep pool where the water was twinkling and blue so we hung out there for a while but as the day went on people started to arrive, in fact some locals said we found the best pool and they’d been coming here since they were kids. We wanted a nice tranquil spots though so we continued hiking through the canyon, surrounded by steep orange walls and stopping to swim whenever it became too hot. It was paradise and exactly what we needed as we’ve had cloud and wind roll in whenever we visited other wadis. Saying that it was scorching hot, after the rains the weathers gone up to a whopping 31° and it’s unbearable without a place to swim.

After 14 days it’s time to make our way back to Muscat to drop off the rental car. It’s been a fun trip but for some reason I haven’t fallen in love with Oman like I know many people do. Maybe it was the cloudy weather that made the views look a little bleak for our first week, or the rain that caused our tent to leak, or the multiple groups of kids who told us to f-off or the frustration of watching the locals litter their country. We’ve still seen some fab sights and I’m very happy we’ve explored Oman, from the dreamy wadis to the high mountains, but now it’s time to make our way to the Maldives for some we’ll deserved relax time and a proper shower.