Leave Muscat and your first stop is at Barka, a seaside town with small souks and a fort along the shoreline. As you approach Nakhl, keep an eye out for the fortress that sits on a hillock outside the town. The fort’s origin is pre-Islamic with major contributions by the Al Ya’ruba and the Al Bu Sayed dynasties. You visit the fort. Visit the mineral-laden hot springs water in Nakhl. Picnic Lunch under one of the many shades. You then move to Rustaq for a photo stop for another pre-Islamic fort. Later in the evening you return to Muscat.