Skhrrat, a village located around 180 km from Muscat, has become a haven for nature lovers and adventure tourists. Situated between the Hajar Mountains, this natural oasis is located approximately 10 km away from the coastline. Its unique location and composition often obscure the sun's rays during the morning and evening periods, creating a serene environment for visitors.
Accessing Skhrrat is not easy, as the zigzagging road leading to the village needs to be more bumpy and unpaved, requiring a four-wheel drive vehicle. Visitors must park their cars on the hills of the eastern bank and hike to the lower edge of the wadi, where the wading journey begins in the waters of the wadi. Visitors then cross the valley to reach the west bank, where they can witness the stunning waterfalls flowing from the heights of the mountain plateaus.
Despite the challenges of reaching Skhrrat, many tourists, particularly foreigners, visit the village from time to time. This village is ranked among the quietest in the Sultanate of Oman, providing a peaceful environment for visitors to practice swimming, camping and photography.
Skhrrat is also a haven for many wild animals and dozens of species of birds and reptiles. The village is considered a green agricultural oasis characterised by the abundance of water that feeds the primary sources of water in the village, such as 'aflaj' and artesian wells. The abundance of water helps to grow many types of trees, the most famous of which are palm trees, lemons, mangoes and bananas. Garlic and onion vegetables are also grown in large quantities.
Citizens have appealed the competent authorities to study the possibility of paving the road linking the main street with the centre of the village.
"We face difficulty in general movements, especially after it rains, and we also face difficulty in transporting heavy materials to this village. For example, a citizen faces great difficulty when he intends to build a small house of his own, or to move furniture or other things. Therefore, we hope that the competent authorities look into this critical situation seriously,” said a citizen.
Many tourists do not know this village due to the difficulty in reaching it, and its poor marketing.
“The difficulty of accessing this village is not only due to the ruggedness of the road, but also due to the lack of promotion of domestic tourism. Even today, there is no proper way to help reach tourists to the village, so many don't know anything about it,” he explained.
TEXT & PHOTOS BY: YAHYA AL SALMANI
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