Muscat Moments 24 - # 20/2011

The last quick snap from the "jaunt in the jebel":  a village lady in colourful traditional clothes carries a bundle of crops on her head towards the aged 4.0 litrewhite Toyata pick-up. In the foreground is a white plastic water tank looking like a a typical Omani watch tower with its crenelations around the top.

Muscat Moments 23 - # 19/2011

"A jaunt in the jebel - 2"...................a close up view of the terraces showing the thick, green crop. On the right the water distribution channels and in the background the harsh rocky crags and precipices of the mountain range.

Muscat Moments 22 - # 18/2011

"A jaunt in the jebel"...........a village at around 2,200 meters high in the Jebel Akhdar (the Akhdar Mountain chain): over the years the villagers have laboriously constructed a huge series of terraces on which they grow their crops.  There is plentiful moisture and running water is distributed via an ingenious system of water channels that serve the terraces. Today, main sewerage and mains water pumping systems are being installed under the narrow alleys between the houses. Electricity comes via a chain of pylons built across the ridges and gulleys of the mountains. Mobile phone reception is perfect.