Deserted village higher up in the mountains of Wadi Halfayn.
This wadi is near the road from Muscat to Nizwa, 4 km past Hamma, just before a Shell station, see separate [map] or below.
Map of the area along the main highway to Nizwa, South of Sumail.
The entrance of the Wadi is a 1-2 km from the highway and a vague track leads to the narrow entrance. The first time we missed it and had to drive back along a gravel side road from the Shell gas station.
It is a one a hour flat walk to the first water pools and you will need to follow the fallaj higher up to continue the the good swimming pools.
Large water pool, fallaj on the left, part of the trail, view down stream.
From the water pools, a steep trail leads up on the canyon but it is not easy to find. You could do a long walk of 5-6 hours (one-way) to the village of Manakhir on the Saiq Plateau but this requires a pickup. If you have less time and strength, you could always go up 1 or 2 hours (one way) and enjoy the spectacular views and reach some of the deserted mountain villages with palm trees (see above).
Higher up in the canyon.
A pick-up at the villages on the Saiq Plateau using the mostly tarmac access road starting in Wadi Mu’aydin requires tedious paper work with the authorities as the plateau is considered a military terrain and requires an entrance pass.
Enjoy.
