One of these past weekends I found myself once again in the beautiful village of Wakan, in the Oman mountains. My last visit had been in the spring, when the fruit trees were in bloom. This time, in the autumn, I wanted to check the pomegranate season; Wakan has a good number of pomegranate trees, distributed in the cultivated terraces. Together with other fruits and vegetables, they are an important source of income for the local people.
Every time I visit Wakan, I walk the nearby trail, which snakes up from the village to the top of the mountain. This is a difficult trek, because the terrain is rough, with some loose rocks and narrow passages overlooking precipitous cliffs. Still, it affords fantastic views over the Gubrah bowl and Wadi Mistal, a few hundred meters below.
After parking the car (you need a 4WD), I wandered about the cultivated terraces, enjoying the sound of the water running along the several falaj, and the shade under the green trees. Leaving the village behind me, I walked along the trail for about 3 hours, before resting near the top. When I had arrived in the morning, the weather had been sunny, with a nice blue sky all around. However, as the day progressed, clouds had been piling up, leading to some heavy rain showers and strong winds at sunset.
By then, I had already returned to the village, where I enjoyed a nice cup of tea in the local coffee shop. I made a few stops between Wakan and the exit of Wadi Mistal, to photograph the developing storm, which was featuring impressive clouds. The day ended with a nice colorful sunset over the Jebel Akhdar.
During this trek I carried my two Fujifilm X-T5 cameras, with the Viltrox 13mm f/1.4 and Fujifilm 70-300 f/4 – f/5.6 lenses.
