Oman Incentive Travel – A Magical Night in Nizwa

Incentive Travel in Oman

Anne Thornley-Brown, MBA

Executive Oasis International

A Souk, a Sheihk, Jins, & a Magic Book

It was May….that means very hot in Oman. I had travelled to Oman to make final preparations for an incentive trip for one of my Middle Eastern clients. Three members of the group had joined me the day before so that my team could review all logistics with them. Earlier in the day, we had travelled to Nizwa, an oasis town up in the mountains, 1 1/2 hours away from Muscat. Nizwa was the capital of Oman during the 6th and 7th centuries.

We were greeted at our mountain hotel by an enthusiastic staff who provided an unexpected hot towel service and welcome drink that one would expect to find only at a five star hotel. Arup Singh Deo and his staff lined up when we arrived and gave us the warmest welcome I have every received at any hotel. The rest of our party would not be arriving until late in the evening and really early the next morning so we had a bit of time to kill. We had spent over an hour browsing in some of the shoppes. Now, most of the shoppes were closed.

By 9 PM, the Sheihk, Krystina and I were sitting at a table under a huge tree in the Nizwa Souq sipping coffee. It’s one of those moments that one would say is not plausible if you saw it in the movies. Abdul, who worked at the hotel, had dropped us off 1 1/2 hours earlier and he soon joined us. We sat talking, relaxing and taking in the night air. The Sheihk and Abdul were speaking Arabic. Even though we couldn’t understand what they were saying, they seemed to be having an interesting discussion. So, I asked “What are you talking about?” He replied “It’s what I was telling you about before….the fact that Nizwa is known historically for black magic”. Our eyes were wide as we drew closer to hear more.

Abdul started telling us some fascinating stories. There was a tale about a child travelling from Nizwa to Bahla (another town historically known for black magic) by sliding down a tree, Then there was the book that will tell you all the secrets about magic if you read it at one sitting. “If you don’t read it at one sitting, you’ll go mad.” He told us that nearby there was a street that had been known for black magic historically. “If you walk there you’ll immediately start to feel nervous”. He also told us that 2 of Oman’s oldest mosques in the country are located in Nizwa. Abdul continued to tell us tales about jins and unusual experiences. During one of his stories, he mentioned a falaj. Krystina and I didn’t have a clue what he was talking about. After all, I am from Jamaica and I was raised in Canada and she is Polish Canadian. So, when Abdul asked “Shall I take you there and show you?” We immediately said “yes”.

We spent the next 2 hours touring the backstreets of Nizwa, we climbed up the stairs to the 2 mosques including the So’al Mosque built in the 2nd century. It had an outdoor rooftop area in which people worshipped. Abdul had been raised in that area and shared some of his fond childhood memories with us. He pointed down a lane to the street where one starts to feel nervous. Krystina and I headed boldly in that direction. We stopped when we noticed that the Sheihk and Abdul weren’t joining us. “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.” Abdul said that during the day it would be fine but he would not venture there at night.

We passed a huge mound of dirt. He said it had appeared there magically one night. A man made the mistake of removing some of the dirt with a wheelbarrow and he was paralyzed for life. He also pointed to another area in which a house had appeared in the middle of a field mysteriously overnight. Abdul took us to the Falaj Daris, one of Unesco’s World Heritage site that is the largest falaj in Oman. We soon learned that the 2000 year old aflaj irrigation system was the main source of water in Oman. It is a system of man-made subterranean channels that taps into underground water. We climbed right down into it and let the cool refreshing, water flow through our fingers. Then we strolled through the beautiful garden park at Shariya.

The next day, after our entire party had arrived, we had an early morning GPS treasure hunt around Nizwa, a shopping challenge in the Nizwa Souq, and a tour of the Nizwa Fort.

It was Friday so we experienced the excitement of the weekly cattle auction. The Sheikh’s team was no where to be found. Had they succumbed to the powers of one of the evil jins that Abdul had told us about? It was a great mystery until they showed up at the rendez-vous point to depart for lunch with an Omani family and abseiling in the mountains. The Sheikh had found a local taxi driver to take his team on the same incredible adventure that we had shared the night before.

To tell you the truth, the unplanned night excursion down the backstreets of Nizwa was so special and memorable that it was definitely the highlight of that trip to Oman. If I had been on the ball, I would have given early risers the opportunity to share the magic. This experience was the inspiration for the first of my:

10 Tips for Incentive Travel in Oman

When in Oman, always build enough time into your itinerary for the impromptu.

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Incentive Travel in Oman