The Al Hajar range runs southeast for 300 miles from the Musandam Peninsula on the Strait of Hormuz to the port city of Sur, located where the Gulf of Oman meets the Arabian Sea. Its highest peak, Jebel Shams, rises to 9,000-plus feet. At first, the scenery is dominated by stark rocky ridges, precipitous gorges and sun-scorched plains devoid of a single leaf. But at 7,000 feet above sea level, traditional stone villages are surrounded by pear, plum, apricot, peach, walnut and pomegranate orchards. One such village, Al Aqr, is a center of rosewater production, and the pink damask roses grown on hillside terraces are harvested in April and May each year. Cultivation has bestowed the name Jebel Akhdar, or “Green Mountain,” on this stretch of the Al Hajar range, but the peaks themselves remain brown and dry, even after the intermittent winter rains. Nizwa, the former capital of Oman, stands on the edge of the range.

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