12.11. Wakan, fortress Nakhal, hot spring

12.11. We wake up at seven and take pictures of the panoramas and the sunrise, after a while our acquaintance from the night passes us back and invites us for coffee, we pack and drive further along the dusty road towards where the lights were seen at night. The way down seems even steeper than the way up yesterday, sometimes there are terrain breaks where we can't even see under the wheels. Something like when you are approaching the edge of a black slope on skis. I find that when I'm shooting video that I'm not afraid, the road doesn't look steep at all through the phone. We have views of the other side of the ridge. We arrive at the old homestead, they are already waiting for us, they invite us to a large mat in the shade next to the house. Our acquaintance and another young man are sitting with us. We get black coffee and a bowl of spiced dates, we contribute Omani biscuits, a grandmother walks by who is looking after a small toddler, then she brings a girl of about 3 years old instead, she sits far away, when I wave at her to sit with us, she refuses, I don't know what the rules are rules. The grandmother guides the girl to greet us, but she is shy, I give her a package of cookies, she shyly takes them, but she is happy. Grandma will also bring us apples, they are a rarity here, they don't grow here, so I encourage the children to just taste them. With the help of a translator and a dictionary, we talk to the men, they are cheerful and laugh at everything. One extended family lives here, 20 people, 10 of whom are children, they have a school in the valley behind the hill, they get water from the wadi. Colorful goats run around us. When we run out of topics, we ask if we can pay them for coffee, again it makes them laugh heartily. We leave for Wakan. We are happy for this unique opportunity to meet the local people, they are very nice, surprisingly they invite strangers even if they don't know more than a few words of English.

The way back doesn't seem so scary to us anymore, I guess we're getting used to it. We are going to the village of Wakan, which is on the slope above the valley, I don't know what to expect here, but I have it on the list of places where Kudrna goes, so there will be something there, according to the map, there is a lookout point above the town. We park in the parking lot, all alone. There is an information sign with hiking routes around the area, most of which are difficult beyond our capabilities. We head up the hill along the marked path through the center of the village. There are signs everywhere telling us to be respectful and not to litter, which is especially funny when you consider that Omanis litter everywhere. Wherever they picnic, they leave a horrible mess. We go up the stairs, there are closed stalls around, obviously we are here before the season, we don't meet a single tourist (and not a single piece of garbage) the whole way up. Around us are terraced gardens with trees and vegetables, they are irrigated by an ingenious system of aflaji - water channels, which distributes water from top to bottom. Canals branch off from the main artery into the gardens, where the water flows is regulated by sacks and stones blocking the connectors. We return back down from the viewpoint. We are going to Nakhal, Lenka has been looking forward to the hot spring for 2 days. It's a weekday, so there are a few locals, a bunch of Germans are just leaving. A warm stream flows here from the river, and a hot spring of about 40 degrees Celsius flows into it. The children bathe in the spring and in the river, we just need to rinse our feet in the water and let the little fish lick them.

The next stop is the Nakhal Fort, according to reviews, it was under repair for several years and they opened it recently. There is almost no one in the parking lot and they bring projection equipment into the castle, obviously something is going on here, but they let us in without any comments (from 7 years 2 OMR/person). We walk through the extensive complex, the low early evening sun illuminates the castle nicely, there is not much in the interiors, ceramics on display, David is interested in the cannons. One tower can be climbed using an unconventional ladder. We don't know what's going on here, but Lenka would really like to see it.

Dusk is approaching, so we decide to return to our camp in the wadi, it's the way and we don't have to look for anything new in the dark. We buy bread, water and laban (local kefir), Ota goes to refuel the tank. Next to the pump, the tire service is having the tire checked, which has been a bit of a problem since the beginning. There really is a small hole, Bangadéšan is fixing it, the whole event costs an incredible 1 OMR (CZK 60), we give him two, he is visibly happy. On the way, we stop at the water tower to fill up the water for the shower, from which we mostly wash the dishes (we bathe in the water), there are 6 taps and we meet a lot of locals with canisters. Our place in the wadi is free, so we set up tents. The children already know what is needed, so they set up the tent themselves, while I cook rice for dinner.