Balcony Walk at Jebel Shams

 We drove to Jebel Shams for an overnighter with a few things on our agenda. Travelers know that every good trip has its "snags" or even crisis. We left Friday after speaking in church and drove past Nizwah to a sort of Air B&B hotelish place that Matt assured me had reviews claiming "clean" and "new". I made him ask to see the rooms before he paid and yet, well, he learned his lesson. Ants, scrubbing the sink for 20 minutes before I could rewash the 3 dishes, don't sit on the furniture and leave your shoes on. Beds were clean and seemed new so we stayed. The great bonus about that sort of an accommodation is that we were up early for the days adventure!

The road up to the hike was steep and winding. We saw children selling some small berries on the side of the road and of course Matt couldn't resist. He bought 2 bracelets and a bowl full of mountain berries we had to scrounge a container for. I was glad when we got to the resort area and there was pavement again for a little while. 

The Balcony Walk is probably our favorite hike ever. Oman is often very hazy. It seems to correlate with the heat? Not positive on that but it was hazy for our hike. This wadi is lovingly referred to as "The Grand Canyon of Oman". It's a stunning view with treasures to discover. 

Like all the "mountain berries" you could ever want to eat. Matt took full advantage. The berries are intensely sweet. They have a pit that comes away easily in your mouth. Most of us enjoyed them but no one more than Matt.

I'm always a little cautious about taking the girls on hikes. the 2nd of my goals coming to Oman with my family was to build the confidence of my girls to do hard things. The boys either love hiking or they're like Brigham and can go forever as long as he doesn't get too hot. I was SO PROUD of the girls. Sennia and Elise didn't have a single complaint for all 7 miles of up and down. Alena had a bit of a struggle, mostly she couldn't understand where we find our joy in that kind of torture, but she did it!

Above that giant arch are the terraced gardens you'll see in the picture below. It's pretty far away. Basically the entire hike is walking along one of those ridge-lines around turn after turn, up and down.

Elise was very concerned about Alena.

Just when we were beginning to wonder where on earth this village was, we found it. Once called Sab Bani Khamis, built during the reign of Sultan Qaboos I? over 50 years ago, these huts are abandoned now but a terrific marker that you've almost reached the cave and waterfall. Before we found them we were beginning to question. It's hard to see where any of these things could possibly hide.

Before the rough climbing ascent to the cave you're treated to a waterfall with fruit trees. Alena's favorite is the pomegranate. She also happens to like green fruit so her brother found one partially ripened on the ground and it really revived her spirits.

This is the end of the trail. Supposedly the pool is usually crystal clear but because there had been rain in the mountains recently (see previous post), it looked quite green. There's a marked drinking water drip that is filtered through the rocks where we filled out water bottles. Matt and Brigham took a swim and Elise climbed everywhere to her heart's content and the adult's nerves. 

While we were at the cave resting, planning to eat snacks and get ready for the return journey, it began to thunder. Like a lot. One never knows with us. We seem to have brought the rain to Oman. We got packed up and headed out as fast as we could. It was a good opportunity to teach the kids, Sennia, that we do our best and try not to worry about what we can't change. We prayed and let God take the wheel and we made it back with no problems.

This is my favorite picture. These Omani colored stripes very clearly mark the trail if you're attentive you can't get lost following them. We started a fun game going in that we had to slap them to pass. It was fun for Sennia and Elise to spot them and give them a slap. This is the end and she proudly slapped the last flag. We celebrated with some Popsicles, Turkish food and a playground.