Most Amazing Traditional FRIDAY MARKET of Nizwa S06 EP.121 | MIDDLE EAST Motorcycle Tour
Assalam Alekum Everyone and Welcome Back to the Channel from Nizwa Oman. As you can see, we've started this vlog so early in the day after a long time. It's 5:30 am and I got here about fifteen minutes ago. And the reason is that...
We are standing outside the central souq at the moment. They set up a market here that is known all over Oman. Today I'd like to explore Nizwa for you all. You may consider Nizwa to be the cultural capital of Oman.
As a matter of fact, it used to be the capital of Oman in old times. To this day, this is the most cultural place in GCC. The doors of the souq will be opened shortly and people will gradually start going there. At the moment, there are so many cars outside. People come here at night with their merchandise and wait for the souq to open.
And once that happens, there will be a lot of hustle and bustle here. I'm not doing this vlog alone. I've Adam with me who is an Omani friend. He's a photographer.
He's gonna help me explore the souq and other places in Nizwa. Here's another friend... Ali Abu Saeed. He's a photographer as well. We are standing in front of the souq gate; waiting for it to open. All these cars are also waiting for the same.
The souq gates are now open. People have started to come inside. There's something that I want to show you.
I haven't seen anything like this before. These are used for the artificial pollination of palm trees. I'm still not very sure about how it works; I've seen it for the first time. So I thought to share it with you guys as well. The gates of souq are opened right after the prayer call for Fajr prayer. And people take a prayer break after setting up their merchandise in the souq.
The mosque here is as historical as the souq itself. The mosque we are in is known as Mosque Mazarah. It's a 12 centuries old mosque. It's a small but beautiful mosque. It has been maintained in the same style as it has always been. It has only one room.
The renovations are done to ensure it stays in its original form. The writings that you can see here are about 700 years old. They've been preserved in the form of books along with proper explanation.
Just a way to keep their culture preserved. Even the current look of the mosque is the same as it was when it was constructed. Let's go back to the souq now. We have come to the fruit and vegetable market here.
You must have noticed by now that this market is quite different from the other ones. Because, here it's more like an auction. So people gather around the products they want to buy. More people mean more competition and higher bids in auction. They are selling garlic at this stall.
I can see many other varieties of fruits and vegetables as well. Adam told me that this is a special type of garlic. Its price starts from 30 riyals which is almost 70 to 80 dollars. What's the unit price? Is it 1 kg? 1 kg or 2 kg.
84 riyals. 84 riyals? No. 50 riyals. So the price is going up. Brother Khalfan here has purchased this garlic.
And it was for 50 riyals. 44 riyals. So, this is special garlic. Yes. What type of food is it used for? Shuwa? So, approximately...
You can say it's almost 2 kg for 44 riyals. This one is normal garlic that is 3 riyals per kg. The one that you saw before costs about 115 dollars.
That's because it was special but this one is normal. Here we have the local honey. I've been told that the amount that you can see here is sold for 50 riyals.
And 50 riyals mean almost 130 dollars. You can see how lively the souq has become right now. The souq has many parts. Right now we are in the fruits and vegetables section.
We'll also go see other sections. I'm told that even the firearms are sold on auction, somewhere in this souq. Let's go there now.
This is the firearm market, right beside the entrance of the souq. Here you can get guns, daggers and many more similar items. This gentleman looks interested in one of the guns.
What I understood from the conversation is that the owner is asking about 250 riyals for the gun. It's very interesting to experience this. Everyone here is very friendly. Nobody stopped me from making video or anything. They are very friendly and welcoming.
We are now at the top of the souq gate. The overall view from here is great. Behind me you can see the fort, beside the mosque. This view can give you an idea about how many people are here. Cars everywhere...
The parking, that was mainly empty in the morning, is jam packed now. The cultural experience that you get here is the most important thing. I haven't experienced that anywhere else in GCC before. There are more places that we want to visit.
Especially the rather famous goat market here. One has to distribute one's time properly; spending few minutes here and few minutes there. And that's exactly what we are gonna do... In order to enjoy and share the life, hustle and bustle and cultural experience of this souq. You'll also find pottery and handicrafts in this souq.
It's not just for tourists but also for locals. These shops normally open a little late. because their business hours are till late in the night. Walking through the fruit and vegetable market...
We are making our way towards the goat market. I think the business must have started there by now. I was told that the auctions start after 7 am. The gate that you can see now has 'Goat Market' written above it. It's quite crowded though.
Lets see... There aren't just goats here but other cattle as well. I'll try to show you all the animals from this souq. People are just sitting and waiting...
The business hasn't started yet. Goat market may be considered as the most touristic spot here. I have seen the highest number of tourists here. Most of the people in the previous section were locals; but here there are tourists as well. Visiting goat market in Nizwa on Friday morning is an important of tours. Still waiting for the market to begin.
There's a stage back there; that's where a local will announce the commencement from. And with that, the business will start in the market. Well... that was it. Just see how locals are standing in a queue, waiting for placing their bids. I think the space in the middle is for the animals to be sold.
So these guys are making their goats walk in front of all the people. People check the animal and state their price. This way, all the sellers are bringing their animals in front of people.
Look at this beautiful lamb. What an atmosphere... It looks more like a festival. Especially, as a tourist, you get this wholesome local experience. According to my info, such a market is only present in Nizwa in Oman.
I'm told that the typical price of a goat in this market starts from 300 dollars. Depending upon the condition of the animal and bidding, the price can go higher. You can see that the purchased animals have been loaded in vehicles. This parking lot is right next to the market and it's totally jam packed.
At the moment, many of the people are in other markets as well. People who have already purchased their stuff are gradually coming back to their cars. It's 8:30 am and people have already started to leave. Adam, around what time will the market end? 10...? 11 or 12?
10 sometimes.... Even 11.... You can even see rabbits and birds on sale here. I think we have reached the bird section of the souq. And rabbits too.
Look at how cute this rabbit is... He tells me that this rabbit is from the Netherlands and he wants to sell it for 13 riyals. You can get a better overview from this angle. That's the parking but some people are selling their birds here. Some people are also selling home made stuff here.
The gate of the souq and the minaret of the mosque can be seen in the background. Even the fort too. All of this starts right from the parking area, early in the morning. The gates you can see over there are the first ones to be opened.
Over here, you can get BBQ for breakfast. Although I'm a big fan of BBQ but I haven't tried it in breakfast before. Locals from the market are coming here for breakfast. Lets try some... Bismillah... In the name of Allah... It's very tasty.
People eat it for breakfast? Anytime... Breakfast.. Dinner... Lunch... Anytime... Getting some more sauce...
Take the other one... It's fine... He's saying that this sauce is gonna make it tastier. Thank you.
It's delicious... They are preparing Omani breakfast for us here. This is very similar to a pancake but in Arabic it's called kruz. These are little pancakes. That's the machine or pot to prepare the batter.
These pancakes are gonna be ready very soon. I think they serve it with honey and butter. That's the butter. Or melted butter to be more precise.
Yep. That's what it is... not oil though. Our pancakes are now ready. They are now pouring honey over the pancakes. That's our Omani breakfast.
The kids are here too. These kids turn out to be more clever than us. Looks like they have already bought the pancakes. These are actually pancakes. It's the honey sauce that's making it taste different. It has fennel as well.
This is the first time I've seen someone making sugarcane juice outside Pakistan. They are making fresh juice with mint in it. It might taste a little different from what we have in our country. They have the mint leaves in that separate bag. So it has garlic, lemon and mint as well.
These extra ingredients make it special. In Pakistan, they just add lemon; not everyone does that though. This one is good though. Let's go back to the souq and see what else we can find there. Assalam Alekum That's all the Arabic I can speak.
We are here to try a famous Omani dessert... the Omani halwa. Adam was telling me about this place. Let me ask him the name first. This is the best place for Omani halwa in Oman. This is called Al Saifi Halwa.
And it's the best halwa in Oman or in the world? Actually in the world. There are many different types of this halwa. We have Muhammad Saifi with us.
Can you tell us about the many different types of halwa? We have different types of halwa. This is the normal one; without saffron and nuts. This one is with saffron and nuts. This one is with figs and saffron.
Then we have this one without sugar. It has honey. And this one is with chocolates. The halwa is inside the chocolate. Take a look. As you can see, it's chocolate filled with halwa. What's the best one that you recommend to tourists? All of them... depend on your taste.
We are gonna try this saffron one. Saffron comes from Iran? We are standing in front of Nizwa fort; a major tourist destination here. It's the most important fort in Oman. Lets get inside and see this fort. I've heard so much about this fort. Looks beautiful from outside for sure.
Lets see... This is the reception or ticket office... Assalam Alekum Lets explore this fort from the inside. On our right side, is the way that takes you to the fort. There are some rooms in the front that are labeled as castle.
Here they had a fort as well as a castle. This castle here is the oldest. The Imam or the leader used to live here before. The fort was constructed subsequently. The castle is almost 1000 to 1200 years old.
There's some brief info on display here. You can get an idea about how the castle and then the fort were built. It has about 17 gates. These are the passage ways to throw hot water or hot oil down. There were some hidden openings down at the ground level. And the hot liquid would start coming out at once.
Presently they have constructed stairs. But before that, it was just a beam that could be removed to transport stuff. I'm talking about those stairs that you can see.
And there was a pit at the bottom as well. We are taking a narrow staircase to go up. It's a watch tower.
I noticed it when I was flying the drone. Not only can we have a nice view of the city but the building itself is quite interesting. We are almost half way there. You come all the way upstairs to find yourself in this spacious section.
Normally castles or forts have only narrow watch towers. They don't have this much space. And normally there are four of them to surround the building. But here, they have just one tower. Probably that's why they have made it so big.
Furthermore, there is a 30 to 40 meter high wall at the top. And there are stairs to go up there. Soldiers can go up there and take their position to defend the castle if needed.
Quite an interesting place it is ... with a great top view of the city. I've tried to briefly showcase the most interesting things about the castle and the fort. Time to leave. We have come here for dinner. This is Waheed. He's from Chakothi area in Kashmir. We talked on Instagram.
And here's Nawaz. Nawaz has been messaging me for quite some time now. I've been chasing you Abrar.
Actually when I was in Salalah, he had to visit Muscat for work. Now he has come to Nizwa from Muscat, especially to meet us. Thank you so much Nawaz. We have traditional Omani meal here. It's Shuwa and fish. It's actually a buffet.
Time to eat now. I hope you guys must have loved our Nizwa vlog. We have worked really hard for this. The city is indeed really beautiful and historical. One of the best places in Oman; highly recommended. Do remember us in your prayers.
Do Like, Subscribe and Share. Allah Hafiz
2023-03-14 21:20
