Her Infinite Variety
Variety holds the key to Oman’s constant allure, and when we felt the heat rising, we escaped to mountains in the north where temperatures were more agreeable. Oman has seaside and mountaintop attractions, as well as hideaways in arid sand dunes and moist valleys. En route to Nizwa in the northeast, we stopped by Amouage Perfumery where traditional and modern techniques are employed to coax exotic scents out of natural ingredients. We also inspected the ruins of the ancient village of Birkat Al Mawz that once flourished at the mouth of Wadi Al Muaydin. But our real destination was the fortress-like Anantara Al Jabal Al Akhdar, some 2,000 meters above sea level, overlooking rugged mountains whose face has been worked into green terraces by the locals. The hotel has a swimming pool and a yoga platform, as well as trails that went around the compound, and if those were not enough for the mostly young and fit guests, there was the inexplicably popular guided mountain climbing – a literal cliffhanger that ended with a zipline ride. Hopefully. Although I managed to escape all of the above, I was lured into a ‘leisurely trek’ down the ravine the following day, which immediately turned out to be a rough hike up and down the rugged slopes, through mud-hut villages, along the falaj – an ancient irrigation system that fed the orchards, and up again to the other side of the cliff. The most memorable part of the hike, however, was a chance encounter with an old man who was working fire stoves in a sooty, rickety hut extracting rosewater from the late April blooms. The entire block was perfumed by his produce, and I couldn’t imagine a better advertising for his trade. A spa massage after a hearty lunch at one of Anantara’s restaurants repaired whatever was damaged during the arduous hike.