Step back in time and wander around an ancient village. Let your mind wander and imagine what life was like back then. So inspiring and fun to walk anywhere you wanted, and you'll likely be alone, too! I loved walking in all the caves and imagining what it was like to be a teenager, living in these caves. "Let's go visit that cute girl we saw today that just moved into the cave across from the second waterway!" Truly, such a great place for photos and quiet time. Upon our return home, everyone voted the photos we took here as their favorite photos from our entire Oman trip! A little tricky to find. Our MapQuest kept sending us to a nearby Omani college with a parking lot and some fast food outlets. Keep going further away from Nizwa. It is just a little bit south of the Antique Inn. It is in a forest of palm trees, in a neighborhood and you have to park on a very narrow street. When you find it, you are there instantly. You don't have to do any walking to get to it. Hope you find it. Enjoy your time!

Wadi Muaydin is a deep gorge located a few kilometers further down the main road from Nizwa, past the exit to Birkat al Mouz. There are signs indicating the wadi. You need to drive deep into the gorge, partly on asphalt, and then 5 km on a dirt road before reaching the point where the hike starts. There are no signs here, so you may need to locate it on Google Maps. Reportedly, Wadi Muaydin continues almost endlessly, but we didn't go that far. We walked and scrambled over large stones, balanced on the edge of a water channel, and continued scrambling for about 1.5 hours before deciding to stop. We sat for half an hour on some large stones with our feet dipped in the delightful mountain water, enjoying dates we brought along and drinking bottled water. There were no people, only towering mountains on both sides, the sound of running water, and whistling birds. Perhaps this is what paradise looks like? Bring hiking shoes, water, a sun hat, and plenty of time. The difficulty level is moderate - we hiked in November, and there was quite a bit of water to navigate.

Unfortunately, we saw many abandoned mud-brick buildings within this region of Oman. Thus, while we found the ruins of Birkat Al Mouz photogenic, they were not an unusual or remarkable site. We are hopeful that these buildings will find new life in the near future.

These ruins are worth a stop and walk-through of a good hour, but I would not necessarily make a special trip to them. In most cases, when a tourist attraction - especially a protected one - is described as "ruins", it is quite accessible for walking. Birkat Al Mouz Ruins, however, are exactly that : ruins in mostly very bad state of dilapidation and difficult/dangerous walking. For the photography enthusiast some great shots of the crumbling picturesque buildings against the lush green palm trees and mountains in the background.