Categories
Uncategorized

Misfat Al Abriyeen

misfat-al-abriyeen-11

Misfat Al Abriyeen (مسفاة العبريين) is a unique mountainous village located 1,000 m above sea level on the mountain foothills surrounding wilayat Al Hamra in Al Dhakhiyla Governorate. The village derives its name from the Al Abri tribe, who originally come from Misfat Al Abriyeen and Al Hamra.

misfat-al-abriyeen-4misfat-al-abriyeen-8

Misfat Al Abriyeen has become quite an attractive tourist destination in recent years due to the many features that make it a wonderful experience for any visitor. The village boasts amazing agricultural terraces, beautiful alleys, and old houses built on top of solid rocks. The combination of these elements gives a visitor to Misfat Al Abriyeen a dramatic image from the viewing platform, which is a short walk from the entrance to the village. Near the viewing platform, there is also a map of the historical part of Misfat Al Abriyeen along with information, points of interests and tips for visiting tourists. The old houses in Misfat al Abriyeen are traditional mud houses with palm frond roofs, and are unique in that they are built on solid rock foundations, surely as means of providing security during the olden times.

misfat-al-abriyeen-3 misfat-al-abriyeen-7

Many villagers of Misfat Al Abriyeen rely on the agricultural terraces for their livelihood, where bananas, pomegranates, papayas, mangoes, citrus trees and of course palm trees are grown. Those terraces along the mountain slopes are watered through an intricate falaj system that has been carved through the hard rocks of the mountain, and is supplied from a spring source that can be reached by following a short track along the falaj.

misfat-al-abriyeen-2misfat-al-abriyeen-12

There is also another track on the opposite side of the village which passes through more agricultural terraces and leads to a steep stairwell downhill through more gardens and plantations, and then back up again. Walking along those tracks makes a visitor realize why the village is sometimes called a mountain oasis you will passing through local gardens. We really enjoyed the walk but felt tired quite easily because you are completely exposed to the sun and we went there at midday! The tracks are dotted by the familiar yellow, green and red flag that marks most hiking tracks in Oman. You should really stick with the marks so that you don’t wander off to private properties.

misfat-al-abriyeen-6misfat-al-abriyeen-5

Places To Stay

There is a bed and breakfast in the village called Misfah Old House. It provides a great option for visitors to stay overnight and continue exploring the many other attractions around Al Hamra, such as Al Hoota cave, Wadi Ghul or Jabal Shams. Otherwise, the largest nearby city is Nizwa, or you can just stay at one of the accommodation places in Jabal Shams.

How To Get There

Misfat Al Abriyeen is approximately 6 kms from Al Hamra through an uphill zigzagged road, which is paved all way to the village entrance. Al Hamra is about 200 kms from Muscat, and it can be reached by following the main highway connecting Muscat to Al Dakhiliyah, and either continuing all the way to Al Hamra via Bahla, or taking the side-road through Tanuf before the exit to Nizwa.

We really like Misfat Al Abriyeen, and it is one of the places we visit whenever we are passing by Al Hamra because of the beautiful views and lovely atmosphere! The location of the village makes it very hard to resist the temptation of visiting, as it is a short detour away from the road leading to Jabal Shams, and it is close to Nizwa and the other attractions in Al Dakhiliyah region! What do you think of Misfat Al Abriyeen?

misfat-al-abriyeen-10misfat-al-abriyeen-1misfat-al-abriyeen-9

17 replies on “Misfat Al Abriyeen”

I had been there with few of my photo enthusiast friends about a fortnight before. Our Omani friend Mr. Soud took us there, and it was a wonderful experience. We like the terrain, old houses, falej, greeneries like many. I will certainly visit there again, and will surely recommend my friends to visit this interesting place.

One question that I cannot find an answer to online. Is it an old Jewish town?
Are there still Jewish history there?
Thanks

Hi, thanks for all this helpful information! I will be renting a car from Muscat and I want to visit Al Abriyeen, Al Hamra, Bahla, Jibreen, Nizwa, and Birkat Al Mouz over 2 days (with 1 overnight somewhere). Which route do you recommend to start from Muscat? From the side of Wadi Bani Awf? Or from the other side on route 15?

Note that I skipped Balad Sayt because l don’t feel confident enough to drive those narrow dirt roads along the cliff side. Do you think driving to Al Abriyeen / Al Hamra is safer? Should I drive there from Nizwa side or from Muscat (Wadi Bani Awf side)?

Hi Sunny,

Sorry I missed your comment earlier, hence the late reply.

For your itinerary you wrote, I highly recommend you take the main Muscat-Dakhiliyah highway (Route 15), this will make it easy to visit all the attractions you mentioned with no off-road driving either. Of course, this way you will miss Wadi Bani Awf & Balad Sayt but you can see other things (perhaps drive up Jabal Akhder and explore the villages – few hikes and lovely views there!).

And for your second question, just drive from the Muscat side. I am not sure if Google Maps will even show you the drive from Muscat to Al Hamra via Wadi Bani Awf side, as that is a narrow dirt-road that you should avoid if you’re not confident driving off-road 🙂 So just drive out from Muscat towards Nizwa and from there you can visit Al Hamra and Misfat Al Abriyeen! If you have any follow-up questions feel free to email me ali@omantripper.com

Best,
Ali

I visited here 8 years ago. I wonderful place. Imagine my surprise when I saw if again whilst watching the movie ‘Personal Shopper’ last night, starring Kirsten Stewart. Spooky. Brought back some nice memories of walking through the village and the falaj. Beautiful…and now famous!

Hi James,

Ha, what a coincidence. I suspect the village hasn’t changed much since your last visit, except it is becoming much more popular with tourists. I have been seeing the (albeit small) changes for the past 5-6 years now. I got to check that movie, had no idea Kirsten Stewart went to film there!

Best,
Ali

We also loved this village and the lovely walk along the falaj, but we were disappointed to learn that none of the old buildings are now occupied by locals. I do hope the old buildings don’t completely crumble. Turning more of them into accomodation would create a great tourist experience.

Thanks for sharing your experience Susan – indeed, it is a pity that many of the old buildings are not being maintained. However, the situation is much better than it was a few years ago where almost all of the old houses were abandoned as the villagers moved to the new part and left the old houses. The recent surge of tourists has encouraged villagers to start renovating the old houses and host villagers and the situation is much much better now than it was when I first visited the village. Hopefully the villagers continue to improve and maintain have the balance of hosting tourists while keeping the charm and feel of the place 🙂

Ali

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.