My in-laws are in town, and we thought a great hike to take them on would be the Riyam Hike. Let's just say that if you do this one in the winter and/or in the afternoon, your experience will be much more enjoyable than our first, way too hot experience. In fact, we went from it being my worst idea ever hike to a "so much fun" hike.
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| All smiling faces overlooking the large Frankincense burner. |
This time, we were hiking in February rather than September or October. The high for the day was only expected to be 74F. And this time, we didn't head out until 1-1:30pm. We were in the shade of the mountains for much of the walk. It even got a bit chilly if we rested too long.
The hike was really beautiful. The hike up at the beginning is steep with some tall steps, but it is pretty manageable as there are actual concrete steps at spots. After going up, you get to wind your way down along well-marked paths. The path is even marked on Pokemon Go if that is your thing. The paths are well-worn, and there are plenty of marker flags painted on the rocks if you keep your eyes peeled. The boys made a game of "catch the flag" where they would run ahead and tag the next marker flag.
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| A glimpse of the stairs at the beginning. |
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| Playing "catch the flag" |
Around the half way point, there is an abandoned village with not much left to see, but it is a nice excursion anyways. There is a wall, a well, a foundation, and the crumbled walls of one house. Last time we went on this hike, we were so exhausted that we missed the village completely. Our heads were down, and we were desperately looking for shade.
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| Some walls of a house |
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| The "well", maybe? |
Thanks to rain within the past week, there were plenty of puddles to dodge. This made the hike a bit trickier because you needed to climb on some worn smooth rocks or tiptoe around the puddles. My mother-in-law would say this made it more than a bit trickier. Know your skill level and keep the puddle possibility in mind if it has rained recently.
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| Can you see the puddles? |
After the hike, we strolled through the Muttrah Souq then headed back to the car. Still a long walk from the Cornish to the parking lot, but there tends to be a breeze along the ocean. The breeze combined with the shade of trees made it a pleasant walk. After our hike, we headed to The Cave to eat dinner. The Cave is a restaurant complex overlooking Ruwi. Many of the restaurants here open late, so only Cloud was open. While the view was great, the food was just okay. Our burgers didn't come with all the advertised toppings, so they went from being special cloud burgers to cheeseburgers that had a slightly odd seasoning. It is also sadly difficult to get in and out of The Cave thanks to the lack of U-turns. In summary, do the hike, visit the souq, eat somewhere else. There are plenty of food options in Muscat.
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| The spaghetti bolognese was apparently good. A bit garlic-y for this guy's taste, but he still ate a lot. |
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| The pizza was huge and quite good! |
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| This was the Cloud Special Burger. The presentation was nice, but there was nothing special about the burger. |
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| This picture doesn't quite do the view justice. It's even better up in the restaurant. This was at the parking lot level. |
