The little wonders of Jabal Akhdhar’s Al-Ayn village

Jabal Akhdhar did not only take my breath away but put me in a deep thought on how peaceful life can be and perhaps will always be.

The beauty of villages from the top of a mountain was breathtaking and I was completely captivated by the green terraced farms, old cottages and the peace around them as I was looking down below. Since I never had enough if it, I drove down the steep mountain so I can get a closer look.

The first villagers I made contact with was a child skipping on a rope watched by her grandmother. Seconds later, the old lady was joined by an elderly gentleman who sat on a mat next to her, leaning on the wall of their house. Out from a street corner walked in a baby goat.

The young animal stopped to watch the child then diverted its attention to look at the old couple. Then this amazing thing happened. The old lady waved at the goat and motioned it to come. The goat obliged and walked towards her. Then the old lady patted a hand on the mat. The baby goat obliged again and squatted next to her.

Then two humans and a goat were looking at the little girl having fun right in the middle of the street. On top of a rock, just above where the girl was skipping, a donkey appeared from nowhere. It raised its huge ears, lowered its head and looked down at the skipping girl. Right then, including myself, the girl had three humans and two animals admiring her rope skipping skills.

I wanted to film the whole display but I thought it did not deserve the rude intrusion of catching what was a simple way of life in a simple little village. I was in the Al-Ayn village where the inhabitants are not more than 200 people. I decided to walk further down, past the two old couples and their goat and turned a corner.

A waft of cold breeze made me stop right on my track. In the month of February, temperature there can drop to 11 degrees. I pulled up the collar of my jacket and kept on walking. Two little boys looked at me curiously as they were walking out from a little shop. I smiled at them and they smiled back before they started chasing each other.

For a little shop, it was fully stocked with essential staple food but I noticed there were no chocolates, fizzy drinks or sweets.
I guess there was no demand there of such commodities that we now know ruin our health. The shopkeeper smiled and said a polite ‘marhaba.’ I bought a bottle of water and walked out.

All the houses were built from local material. The bricks were curved from the rocks, the wadi provided the red mud used for plastering and the logs of the thorny trees were used for beams. All the houses had the hallmark of a construction technology that was used a century ago.

As I was admiring the architectural delight of the houses, an eagle landed right on top of a tree a few meters away from me. I could not resist the urge of taking a photo of it with my mobile phone. Then a herd of cows, led by a ferocious looking bull, rounded a corner and walked towards me. I gave them the right of way before the bull decided to pierce its horns where it hurts most.

I took more photos and soon the “little wonders” of the little village took most space in my phone’s memories. When I got back to my hotel that evening, I witnessed the most amazing sunset just on top of the mountains.

I wondered what other amazement in Jabal Akhdhar was waiting for me the next day.