There are mountains that we can see looming in the distance from Al Ain, but with the exception of Jebel Hafit, none are actually in the UAE. So, on another sunny day, we took a day trip across the border into Oman to explore.

This was not our first trip to Oman (See Musandam – 2009 and Frankincense, Sinbad and the Queen of Sheba). In fact, it was not even our first trip to this particular area. Back in about 2004, before the Emirati-Omani border was fenced (with a giant wall), we stayed in Al Ain for a long weekend and drove to these wadis. We didn’t even know at the time that we were in Oman.

Nowadays, we need to cross a border. Up until a few months ago, Covid has limited our crossing. Now, we are free to pop back and forth.

We left home quite early to both beat the rush at the border and to beat a bit of the heat. As we crossed over a small rise in the mountains and down into the first wadi, we were greeted with a foggy mist rising from the wadi.

Once we found a place to park – well in the parking lot – we set off to walk through the farming areas.

Big falaj channels everywhere

We took a leisurely stroll along the main path, which was just wide enough to allow farm vehicles through. We saw lots of palm trees …

… a worker hut and fields …

… and then came to the old village of Khutwa. After a short climb up a small hill, we found a lovely view over the wadi and farming areas.

As we continued, we encountered a young high school student and his brother, who were very keen to show us around. Their family has owned some of the fields in this area for generations. They are actually Emirati citizens, but still have this land holding in Omani territory.

As they showed us around their fields and crops, he also explained some of the workings of the falaj system.

On their farm, they are growing quite an array of food including …

… and fields of animal feed. I can’t recall what it was called, and he didn’t know the English name, but as far I could tell, there were two types of hay.

They also had a small goat enclosure …

… with the cutest little goats.

As we walked around, we were of course surrounded by date palms. These palms range in age up to 80 – 100 years old.

There are a variety of different types. As they have been cultivated for millennia, they need to be pollinated by hand. Someone climbs up each palm, and takes the pollen from neighboring trees and shakes it over the new growths of dates.

The falaj system runs from a rain water cache up in the mountains and brings water from about 5 kilometers away into the wadi. The falaj system is redirected here and there to eventually water the entire wadi.

Each family gets water for about an hour a day. So, the local workers have to be ready to divert the water where they need it. Near each field, there are a lot of deep pits where they collect excess water for later use between their ‘times’.

After thanking our guide profusely, we jumped in our vehicle and raced off to the next wadi.

En route, we stopped at a lonely gas station near the border and as we left we saw a western man and two teenagers walking down the road with suitcases and bags. Puzzled by the oddity of this situation, we stopped to ask if they were alright. In fact, they were Czech, and had taken the bus from the coast to the border, but were dropped off a couple KMs away from the border at a road crossing. We drove them to the border and carried on!

Our map was out of date and we had a bit of trouble to find the next wadi. Out in the desert, a lot of it looks the same. There are not many recognizable landmarks.

There are two ways in, one from the exit of the wadi and one which takes you around to the top of the wadi waterfall. We actually got very close to the waterfall entrance, but the road was unused and looked derelict. So, we kept driving around until we found the other entrance.

Once we entered the wadi, we found water and a lovely setting for a picnic. I was very surprised to see a thriving school of fish in this small pool. Some of the fish were 6 inches long or more – in this little pool which must dry up now and then.

After eating our lunch and marveling at the fish, we walked back out …

… to the desert …

… to our car.