Ghul & Wadi Nakhr

Wadi Ghul with the modern village of Ghul on the right and the summit of Jabal Shams on the left	The ruins of the old village of Ghul, abandoned in favor of the new village across the valley	Ruins of the old village of Ghul	Oasis of Ghul with the abandoned old village and the south rim of the Wadi An Nakhur Gorge
Constructed of local stone, the ancient village blends into the mountainside	Ruins of Ghul	Fortifications of Ghul leading up to the ruins of the fortress	Wadi Ghul
Panorama with Wadi Ghul, the ruins of the ancient village of Ghul and Jabal Shams	The new paved road runs above the wadi	Driving in Wadi Ghul	Wadi Ghul continues off to the left in front of the ruins while Wadi Al Nakhur leades deep into the mountain
Watchtower, ruins of Ghul	Watchtower, ruins of Ghul	Driving up Wadi An Nakhur into the "Grand Canyon of Arabia"	Driving up Wadi An Nakhur into the "Grand Canyon of Arabia"
Oasis village of Al Hajir, 2 km into the gorge	Date palm oasis, Al Hajir, Wadi An Nakhur	To get around a rockfall, the road climbs on the side of the valley before returning to the wadi floor	ودي النخر
Wadi An Nakhur	Wadi An Nakhur	The road passes through a narrow section of Wadi An Nakhur	Al Hajir, Wadi An Nakhur
Watch tower, Al Hajir	Wadi An Nakhur	Al Hajir	Primitive stone building, Al Hajir, Wadi An Nakhurl
Irrigation falaj, Wadi An Nakhur	The loose gravel of the wadi floor make the driving unsuitable for non 4x4s	ودي النخر	Tiny pool of water with, amazingly, small minnow-sized fish
Wadi An Nakhur with steep cliffs both sides	Deeper penetration into the Grand Canyon of Arabia	Wadi An Nakhur, the Grand Canyon of Arabia, Jabal Shams	Overhanging cliffs offered ancient people shelter and protection
The remains of an ancient structure high on a cliff above Wadi An Nakhur	Wadi An Nakhur	A cave, Wadi An Nakhur	Wadi An Nakhur with the cliffs rising 1000m on either side
ودي النخر	Wadi An Nakhur, the Grand Canyon of Arabia	Wadi An Nakhul replaces Wadi Bih as the best drive I've found around the UAE and Oman	Wadi An Nakhur
Wadi An Nakhur	Wadi An Nakhur	Wadi An Nakhur	Wadi Nakhr
Pools of standing water, Wadi An Nakhur, the Grand Canyon of Arabia	The track passes through a wet section of Wadi An Nakhur	Pool of water, Wadi An Nakhur	Wadi An Nakhur
A very narrow section of Wadi An Nakhur, the Grand Canyon of Arabia	Road leading 7km up Wadi An Nakhur	1000m cliffs, Wadi An Nakhur	Interesting rock formation, Wadi An Nakhur
ودي النخر	Another narrow section	Looking up 1000m to where the clifftop viewpoints of Jabal Shams are	Wadi An Nakhur
Nearing the village of Nakhur, the valley opens up	Village of An Nakhur 7km through the narrow gorge deep within Jabal Shams	Arriving at An Nakhur village	Terraced cornfields, An Nakhur village
An Nakhur village	A rare sight in the desert, water-thirsty ferns	There must be a spring in the cliff here to support the ferns	Dirty Range Rover
Lush paradise, An Nakhur	Stone hut, An Nakhur	Stone hut, An Nakhur	Stone hut, An Nakhur
An Nakhur, a village deep inside the Grand Canyon of Arabia	Turnaround point at the end of the road in An Nakhur	The end of the road, An Nakhur	Any further exploration is on foot
An Nakhur	Shady pavilion where the inhabitants of An Nakhur sell carpets to tourists who manage to make it this far	Tempting, but no sale...carpets of the Jabal Shams region, Oman	The end of the road, An Nakhur
An Nakhur village, Jabal Shams	An Nakhur village, Jabal Shams	Driving back through Wadi An Nakhur	An amazing drive...five stars
Wadi Al Nakhr	Wadi An Nakhur	Irrigation channel (falaj)	Falaj along Wadi An Nakhur
Another surprise, tadpoles in the falaj	Wadi An Nakhur	Wadi An Nakhur	Wadi An Nakhur
Passing through Al Hajir again	Al Hajir	The climb around the rockfall at Al Hajir	Al Hajir
Wadi An Nakhur	Back at the village of Ghul	Climbing through the ruins of the ancient village of Ghul	Rough climb to enter the village of Ghul
Watchtower ruins, Ghul	"Main Street" of the abandoned village of Ghul	Note the trail marker on the left	Inside one of the ruined huts
Exploring the ruins of the old village of Ghul	Ancient ghul	Irrigated fields at Ghul	Ruins of Ghul
Ruins of Ghul	Ruins of Ghul	Ruins of Ghul	The junction of Wadi Ghul and Wadi An Nakhur in front of Jabal Ghul
Panorama from the ruins of Ghul	Ruins of Ghul	Ruins of Ghul	Ruins of Ghul
Ruins of Ghul	It's May and it's hot