🌍Al Sogara, in Oman the incredible village carved into the rock

Inaccessible to foreigners until 2005, Al Sogara is the only still inhabited village in the mountains of Oman

For over 500 years a remote tribe has lived suspended on a cliff in the mountains of Oman.

Al Sogara is an incredible village. AND carved into the Jabal al Akhdar mountain, a 2.980 m high massif known as “Green Mountain”, and is a fascinating labyrinth of deep canyons and winding valleys, in one of the most remote corners of the country.

Few travelers reach Al Sogara. Until 2005, really, foreigners were not allowed to enter the mountain range as the Omani government maintained a military presence in the area. The only way to get in and out of the village today is to leave your vehicle at the end of a dirt road and climb a steep stone staircase for 20 minutes to the bottom of the canyon. The effort is worth it: Al Sogara is the only village in the area that is still inhabited. It is located about 40 km from the main mountain town of Seih Qatana and is among the most remote settlements in all of Oman.

Only for 14 years has Al Sogara been supplied with electricity and a telephone line. Previously the nearest road was 15km away and mules were used to transport goods to the village from the nearby towns of Nizwa and Birkat Al Mouz. Since 2005, villagers have been using pulley cables above the valley to haul supplies to the other side of the canyon where the dirt road ends. And if until the 70s they learned to read and write at home, now the children attend school 14 km away: to get there they walk up the narrow steps of the village and go up the other side of the mountain, where cars can accommodate them.

There are currently five families of the Alshariqi tribe, a group that emigrated from Jordan more than a thousand years ago and settled throughout Oman. Over the generations, the population has continued the ancient practice of building houses with stone and clay or digging them directly into the rock to insulate themselves in the cold winters and cool off in the summer. In fact Al Sogara, at 2700 meters above sea level, is one of the few places in Oman where It snows regularly. Caves are also used as shelters for herds and families build caves to keep their flock safe from wild animals.

Like many people in Oman and other Arab countries, the tribe in Al Sogara are very hospitable, offering food and drink for three full days before asking why they are visiting. Even today, when many of the residents have left the village for Muscat and Nizwa in search of work and, in an increasingly connected world.

While some villagers usually venture away from this once green mountain, others still they respect tradition and continue to live like their ancestors. “The future depends on the present,” said Mohammad Nasser, a resident of Al Sogara, during an interview with the BBC. «If we take care of this place, the next generations or our grandchildren will too. If we don't take care of these houses, the village could disappear within 15 years."

And the hope is that this never happens.