Oman – Nizwa in okolica

Nizwa, eno izmed najstarejših mest v Omanu, je na programu praktično vsakega turista, ki obišče državo. Že od nekdaj velja za trgovsko, včasih pa tudi za politično središče tega območja. Že Nizwa sama ponuja nekaj zanimivosti, če pa temu dodaš še trdnjavi Bakhla in Jabreen in bližnje gore, veš, zakaj je to mesto verjetno najbolj obiskano mesto v Omanu. Našo pot po Omanu sem planiral tako, da smo v bližino mesta prišli v sredo popoldan, si ogledali obe trdnjavi in našli res dober kamping prostor, z odličnim pogledom na le 100 metrov oddaljeno trdnjavo Jabreen. Sledilo je četrtkovo zgodnjo vstajanje in obisk prve znamenitosti Nizwe – četrtkov market day. In kljub temu, da sem na svojih poteh videl že marsikaj, je bil market v Nizwi nekaj posebnega – sploh v jutranjih urah,ko so ostali turisti še lepo zajtrkovali v pregrešno dragih hotelih. Na enem koncu so domačini prodajali puške in tradicionalne nože, potem so bili na vrsti prodajalci golobov in ostalih malih domačih živali. In na koncu, za piko na i šov z prodajo koz in goveda. Pri kozah je bilo dogajanje še dokaj umirjeno, ko pa so na sceno prišli podivjani biki, se je vse spremenilo. Kaos in podivjane živali, zaradi katerih sem moral nekajkrat bežati kot pred biki v španskih bikoborskih arenah.

Nizwa, one of the oldest cities in Oman is on every tourist itinerary of Oman holidays. It is a trading center of the area but in the past it was also a political center of the country. Nizwa itself has a lot of attractions but when you add Bakhla and Jabreen fortress you know, why it is probably the most visited place in Oman. We arrived to the Nizwa area on Wednesday afternoon, visited both fortresses and find a really good camping place, with an excellent view of  Jabreen fort. The next day we woke up early and visited the first Nizwa attraction – Thursday market area. And although I visited so many market places around the globe I was really surprised with market area in Nizwa – expecially early in the morning, when other tourists still had a nice breakfast in the expensive Nizwa hotels. Market area is huge. At one end, the locals selling traditional guns and knives, then there were vendors selling pigeons and other small domestic animals. And finally, at the end there was a show with selling goats and cattle. When they were selling goats everything was calm and OK. But when bulls arrived in the arena, it all changed. I felt like being in the bullfighting arena in Spain – chaos and crazy animals all around us.