Al Mudayrib

Al Mudayrib stands where the Sharqiya plain meets the sands, and it was a town of merchants trading with East Africa, which paid for the tall houses of the old quarter: substantial mud and stone buildings with carved doors and decorated plasterwork, several storeys high, set along lanes above a wadi and a large falaj. Watchtowers stand on the hills around the village, put up to guard the settlement and its water, and they are the feature most visitors photograph, dark stone towers on rocky knolls above the palms. Much of the old quarter is abandoned, with restoration on some houses. The falaj and the date gardens are still worked.

What you actually see

• The merchant houses - the tall decorated buildings of the old quarter.
• Hilltop watchtowers - the towers on the knolls around the village.
• The falaj - the large water channel through the settlement.
• Date gardens - the plantations along the wadi.

When to go

October to March; Ash Sharqiyah is severely hot in summer. Late afternoon light suits the towers and the houses. There is no gate or fee and the village is open at any time.

Honest expectations

Many buildings are derelict and unsafe to enter. There is no interpretation or visitor provision. The village is inhabited in part and privacy should be respected. Access to the towers involves scrambling.

Nearby

Ibra lies northwest; the Wahiba sands are south.