Nizwa, the ancient city.

Nizwa, the ancient capital of Oman, is a small but charming city. I specifically chose to visit on a Thursday because every Friday morning there is a cattle and sheep market. Oman is a relatively wealthy country, and most people, except for foreign workers, own cars, so public transportation is not well developed. The most convenient way to get to Nizwa from the capital is by carpooling, although the timing can be unpredictable. The journey takes about two and a half to three hours. Remember to tell the driver to drop you off at the Nizwa market, or else you might end up in the new city. The old town of Nizwa is very small, and you can walk through the entire town in less than half an hour. The main attractions are the Nizwa Fort, the pottery market, the food market, and the coffee shops. Since people from all over come to Nizwa on Thursdays to sell or visit the Friday cattle and sheep market, it is almost impossible to find accommodation on Thursday nights. I managed to book the only available hotel, which had been open for just two weeks. If you search for Nizwa online, the most iconic image is probably the aerial view of Nizwa Fort. I didn't have a drone, so I don't have a panoramic photo of the fort. Although the fort is not very large, it takes about an hour to explore it thoroughly. The pottery market is even more beautiful when lit up at night, but it's crowded and hard to take photos. For me, the most fun was the food market. I noticed that all the shoppers here are men. When the vendors saw me, an East Asian woman, they were usually very surprised and then very enthusiastic, offering me fruits and vegetables. After a round of the vegetable market, I had already eaten apples, oranges, fresh dates, and more. Then I went to the sweets market, where every stall offered free samples. Again, all the shoppers were men. When they saw me, they immediately made way for me to try the samples. Some even encouraged me to try everything as if they owned the stalls. The main sweet to sample is called halwa, a jelly-like dessert made from vegetable oil, sugar, rose water, and saffron, with various nuts, spices, and dates added for different flavors. Although it was too sweet for me, as a spice lover, I couldn't stop eating it. If you want to bring these sweets back to Hong Kong, choose a stall that provides airtight containers and put the halwa in the fridge as soon as you get home. These stalls also offer free coffee to cleanse your palate between samples. The coffee here is unique, flavored with cardamom and saffron, which I really enjoyed. I also bought some local coffee and cardamom to take back to Hong Kong. It's worth mentioning the coffee shops here, not for the quality of the coffee, but for the viewing corridors on the second floor of some shops. These corridors are actually part of the old city walls. The day I visited, they were open for free, but I saw them cleaning the area, so I knew they would start charging the next day. From the viewing corridors, you can see date palm trees and buildings, just like the scenery I imagined in Oman. The next morning, I arrived at the cattle and sheep market at 7 AM, and it was already crowded, making it hard to find a good spot for photos. Unlike the market in Kashgar, Xinjiang, where sellers wait for customers to choose their cattle and sheep, here the sellers lead their sheep around a sandy arena for everyone to bid on. Some sellers hire professional speakers to lead their sheep and loudly promote their qualities. After an hour, my legs were tired from standing, so I walked around and found that about 20% of the market visitors were foreign tourists. Oman was once a British colony, so everyone speaks English, making communication easy. The food is mainly grilled meat, but if you don't like that, there are also pizzas available.