Every Friday morning Nizwa turns into the liveliest market in Oman. Traders lead goats, sheep and cattle around a ring while buyers bid, and the souq fills with dates, honey, spices, halwa, fruit, vegetables and hand-made silver. We leave Muscat before dawn so that you see the auction at its peak with a guide who explains what is happening. Afterwards we visit Nizwa Fort and its ingenious defences, take a coffee break, then continue to Birkat Al Mouz to walk beside Falaj Al Khatmeen, an irrigation channel two thousand years old, and step inside Al Seebani old house of mud, stone and wood. On the way back we stop for a relaxed lunch at a local restaurant in Fanja. This trip runs with a small group in a comfortable bus; contact us if you prefer a private vehicle.