Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Ramadan 17, 1445 H
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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

A quick escape to ain waghla

Ain-Waghla
Ain-Waghla
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Ain Waghla comes in different names. Some simply refer to it as Wadi Dima but the fact is, it is located in between the junction of Dima and Tayyin on the Bidbid-Ibra Road and a few metres from the village of Miss.


About two hours drive from Muscat, this is arguably one of the smallest wadis in Oman yet despite being small, Ain Waghla is phenomenally beautiful. It is also a great spot for an easy trek and the barely two kilometres hike offers not only different interesting rock formation but makes you come face to face with hot pools of varying sizes.


Over the weekend, I led a group of 15 people into the heart of the ophiolite mountains that hid Ain Waghla.


In the last two years, the area has massively gained interest amongst the travelling public and adventure lover. This is both a good and bad thing. The good thing is because the area is finally enjoying visitors and the bad, is because the number of visitors causes problems for the local population.


Personally, this has been my fourth trip to Ain Waghla. This is the best spot to bring nature lovers who are just getting acquainted with hiking. The path offers a good combination of challenges that prepare them for a more difficult hike or climb.


“Our group usually do summit or mountain treks. It is seldom that we do wadis. We used to do it a few years back but we stopped and there had been clamour from members of the group to try one of Oman’s beautiful wadis,” shared Ahrun, one of the group leaders who contacted me to help them out prepare for the hike.


After passing through the small farm where a cistern collects water to be distributed into the falaj, the group walked for about 15 minutes when we started hearing the rush of water. The sound of it makes everyone excited.


A few more minutes of walking and we came to the first pool where the bottom is totally chalk-white.


This is what makes Ain Waghla an interesting place. It has a serious of pools where the bottom was covered in white calcite. The calcite coats the surface of the rock and the reflection of the sky and in tandem with the white deposits make the water appears blue.


This beauty is even made more pronounced by the golden if not chocolate black mountains.


“This is truly remarkable and worthy of our time to visit,” said one of the lady participants.


While the flowing water in some part of the wadi is relatively cool, there are areas when the spring is totally lukewarm. Dipping one’s feet into the warm water gives a relaxing feeling.


At the very end of the wadi is about 10 metres stretch of natural pool and about 5 feet in depth. The team has decided to do a little bit of swimming.


“The water is fantastic. It’s a nice surprise after a hot walk,” gushed one of the participants.


For people looking for a quick escape from Muscat and are into hiking or trekking, the surrounding mountains of Ain Waghla is definitely a worthy challenge.


This Eid al Adha, while majority of people head out to Salalah or visit popular places like Wadi Bani Khalid or Wadi Tiwi and Shab, Ain Waghla is definitely a good alternative.


But for all of those visiting the area, make sure that you observe local customs and avoid making disruption to the local community. Also make sure that you mind where you put your trash and always do your best to not destroy anything in this water source that serves a lot of purpose for farmers depending on its waters for their farming needs.


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