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00:00...of extraordinary wonders.
00:01It's epic out here.
00:03Where ancient civilizations...
00:06There were rock inscriptions scattered all over this landscape.
00:09...meet rising modern cities.
00:13I'm Clive Standen.
00:15Time to head to ground running.
00:17And I'm embarking on a journey across the Arabian Peninsula.
00:20This place is unlike anywhere else.
00:23I'm forging far and diving deep.
00:26Isn't he amazing?
00:27Uncovering its best-kept secrets.
00:30A little precarious.
00:31...meeting the people who call this place home.
00:34And the pioneers preserving its natural treasures.
00:37That is remarkable.
00:39I want to show you the beautiful.
00:41It's just a little untouched piece of paradise.
00:43The surprising.
00:44It's an unbelievable sight.
00:46And the heartwarming.
00:47What am I supposed to do?
00:49Exploring the secrets that make this land so captivating.
00:53I really do feel like an archaeologist.
00:56Mum, I'm never coming home.
00:59Wow.
01:00This is Arabia like you've never seen before.
01:04Come on.
01:05There's plenty more to see.
01:06My journey has led me to Oman, on the eastern edge of the Arabian Peninsula.
01:21It's a land of breathtaking contrasts, rugged mountains, vast deserts, and 2,000 miles of dramatic coastline.
01:33Unlike some of its neighbors, Oman has held on tightly to his traditions.
01:38Life here moves.
01:39Life here moves at a slower pace, shaped by history and heritage.
01:44I've come to the lesser known south of the country, where the spirit of old Arabia still feels very much alive.
01:54I'm in the Dofar region at the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, with its rolling waves, its tropical climate of coconut palms and banana plantations, as well as its wild and rugged mountains.
02:09It's a land whose story was built on ancient trade, resilient people, and the scent of frankincense.
02:16This is one of the most remote corners of the Arabian Peninsula, and I want to meet the individuals who call this rugged land their home.
02:35I'm going to hang out with a few tribesmen, and they're going to show me the ways of the mountain men in Dofar, and see how their way of life is up here on this plateau.
02:52I'm heading to Jebel Samen, the highest mountain range in Dofar, rising to just under 2,000 meters, to meet a man known as Samurai.
03:02A cattle herder, a tracker, and something of a local legend, they call him the Bear Grylls of Arabia.
03:22This must be... Samurai.
03:32Samurai!
03:39Welcome, welcome.
03:41Look at this.
03:43As-salamu alaykum.
03:45This is my area.
03:47You're letting the cows out?
03:49Yes, these are my cows.
03:51How many cows do you have on the land?
03:53I have maybe 80.
03:5580?
03:56Yes.
03:57Some people have 100, 120, 200.
04:00And you walk around barefoot.
04:01You must have very, very hard feet.
04:03Yes.
04:04Sometimes I don't need these shoes.
04:07No.
04:08And this is the traditional Kanja?
04:10Yes, Kanja.
04:11Sadhat.
04:12Yeah.
04:13Can we see it?
04:14Yes, you can see.
04:15No.
04:16You can see.
04:17In my language, this name is Sadhat.
04:19Sadhat.
04:20Can you teach me a phrase in Jubali?
04:27Yes.
04:28Khabu?
04:29Khabu.
04:30Khabu.
04:31What happened?
04:32Khabu.
04:33Khabu.
04:34Khaburha.
04:35It's okay.
04:36It's okay.
04:37Khaburha.
04:38All good.
04:39Khabu?
04:40Khaburha.
04:41Samurai is taking me deep into his land.
04:49He believes that to understand the spirit of this place,
04:52I need to see a hidden wonder few have witnessed.
05:06Millions of years ago, as tectonic plates collided,
05:09the seabed was thrust skyward, forming towering limestone cliffs.
05:14But below the surface, water began its silent work carving through stone,
05:20creating vast underground chambers.
05:23Eventually, the ceiling collapsed, revealing one of the largest sinkholes on earth.
05:31This is Tawiyatir.
05:34Known as the Well of Birds, this enormous limestone collapse plunges more than 650 feet down.
05:44There's something really epic about this place, and it was the last thing I expected to find when I came to the Arabian Peninsula.
05:52Amman really is otherworldly, and this particular place is a real good secret.
06:00Yeah.
06:01Arabia's Best Kept Secrets, presented by Gulf Air.
06:16Arabia's Best Kept Secrets, presented by Gulf Air.
06:21I'm in the Dofar region of southern Amman, exploring its rugged highlands with a local tribesman named Samurai.
06:34And you walk around barefoot, you must have very, very hard feet.
06:39Samurai has taken me to one of the largest sinkholes on the planet, known as the Well of Birds, a dizzying drop into the heart of the earth.
06:48There's something really epic about this place, and it was the last thing I expected to find when I came to the Arabian Peninsula.
06:56It's incredibly peaceful down here, and the landscape to me is almost biblical.
07:02It evokes images, you know, being a kid and reading the Bible, and went past bushes full of thorns.
07:08You can almost imagine like the crown of thorns came from there.
07:11Do you feel, when you're down here, it's very spiritual?
07:16It's a natural thing that if you come to these places that are far from people, or the huffers, or the huffers,
07:22it's possible to be a jinn.
07:24A jinn? It's a spirit?
07:26Yes, or you can hear them, or you can feel them.
07:31You can feel that there's someone there, and you don't see them.
07:35So you feel the jinn, the spirits, they almost live on a different plane.
07:39But this is the kind of landscape where you might encounter that spirit level of the plane.
07:43We didn't see a single soul on our hike down here.
08:06I mean, it's so rare these days to have a natural beauty like this without it having guard rails,
08:12and, you know, ropes to have, you know, tourists going up and down all day.
08:17And it really is an incredible natural beauty.
08:22And the longer we stay here, the more the birds are more comfortable with us.
08:27It's like a bird watcher's paradise here.
08:29It's no easy feat to get down here in this heat and the humility, but it really is now we're sitting here and taking time out.
08:34It really is worth it.
08:59It's easy to understand how samurai, when he was talking to me on the way down here, he said that they believe in jinns, like spirits.
09:18And the best way for the mountain people to find them is in a place like this, because they believe that the spirits are on a different plane.
09:27And this is the best chance you've got of coming closer to the spirit world.
09:33Just listen to that.
09:38I love this place.
09:40It's a natural cathedral, vast, mysterious, and carved over millennia by water and time.
09:48As samurai leads me across the plateau, he invites me to a tribal gathering, a rare glimpse into an ancient culture.
10:03Neither Bedouin nor Arab in origin, their language, Jabali, is shaped by oral storytelling and music passed down through the generations.
10:13Gatherings like this are more than social occasions.
10:23They bring tribesmen together to celebrate in their culture.
10:28It's nice to sit down for a bit. We've been exploring all day.
10:55You look exhausted. Maybe because of the hiking.
10:58Yeah.
10:59I've been really interested in finding out from samurai, you know, the way of the mountain people and how you see this land as a far more spiritual kind of area than I expected.
11:09I was learning about the jinns.
11:11Jinns are existing or living in a place which is mostly, I mean, isolated from the cities.
11:17Sometimes we are hearing some sounds and some knocking of stones sometimes.
11:23Yeah.
11:24No need to feel scary.
11:25It is something maybe odd, but just we can live with it.
11:30Arabia's Best Kept Secrets, presented by Gulf Air.
11:43Arabia's Best Kept Secrets, presented by Gulf Air.
11:48I'm exploring the remote pockets of Oman's Highlands with my guide, Samurai.
12:00He's introducing me to the people and their Dofari tribal culture.
12:07So you have a safe?
12:08Yeah.
12:09I can say it's an Omani sword.
12:14This is actually a Dofari sword.
12:19Check the design and curvings.
12:22Wow.
12:24We are very special in designing these swords.
12:29Oh, fuck.
12:30Star Wars, eh?
12:35Star Wars.
12:39So, how would you use that sword in Oman?
12:42Yeah.
12:43In our festival, our traditional dances, especially in weddings.
12:48How would you use it in a wedding?
12:49Yeah.
12:50Samurai.
12:51You can perform.
12:52Yeah.
12:53I'll take it.
12:54I'll take it.
12:55Like this.
12:57It was in the past.
12:58It's your best warrior?
12:59Yeah.
13:00It's the best warrior.
13:01He's our hero, actually.
13:11Who needs a wedding DJ when you've got swords, singing and the odd rifle for good measure?
13:17Oh, hey.
13:18Oh, hey.
13:19Now I'm in the spotlight.
13:36I don't think my skills are going to qualify me to dance at a travel wedding.
13:37Ashley, you're one of us.
13:40I don't think my skills are going to qualify me to dance at a tribal wedding.
14:05You are one of us.
14:10That was great.
14:14Very nice.
14:16For tribal gatherings, a traditional barbecue is always at the heart of the celebration.
14:24Tell me about traditions.
14:26What makes a safari different to any other cultures out here in Oman?
14:30I feel it's the nature.
14:32People here, their lifestyle, it depends on the seasons.
14:36This lifestyle is monitoring their life.
14:40Do you notice that we are cooking the meat on firestone?
14:44This is a traditional way of cooking meat, which is called, in our language, madhbi.
14:50Using the fat to grease the stones or the gravels.
14:56That is in order to be more hygienic.
14:58And when you cook the meat on the top, it will not be stick.
15:02So it acts like a non-stick pan.
15:04Yeah, natural Teflon.
15:06And actually you will get the taste of smokiness.
15:14Dinner is served.
15:17Time to feast, Jabali style.
15:20So juicy.
15:22There are so many different fish.
15:24This is the fat.
15:26This is the good fat.
15:28With a full belly, a buzzing mind and a deeper respect for the tradition still thriving out here, it's been a full-on immersion.
15:44But there's still more of this remarkable region waiting to be uncovered.
15:56Arabia's Best Kept Secrets.
15:58Presented by Gulf Air.
16:00Arabia's Best Kept Secrets.
16:03Presented by Gulf Air.
16:12My journey across Amman has taken me to the rugged mountains of the Dofar region.
16:17Now I'm heading deep into one of its wild sanctuaries.
16:21Hidden in the foothills of these rugged mountains lies the Ain Nujob Nature Reserve.
16:27To learn more about the region's unique wildlife, I'm meeting someone who has dedicated his life to conservation.
16:34So off for a hike with Mohammed.
16:36He's an expert tracker and wildlife photographer of the Dofar region.
16:39He's used to going deep into the wilderness to get his shots.
16:42So if anyone can tell me about the wildlife in this region, it's him.
16:53Hello.
16:54Muhammad.
16:55Salaam alaikum.
16:56Salaam. How are you doing?
16:57I'm good.
16:58Are you ready for action?
16:59Always ready for action.
17:00This rugged terrain is home to rare and elusive species, including wolves, hyenas, and even the critically endangered Arabian leopard.
17:13With only around 200 left in the wild, these mountains are one of the leopard's last sanctuaries.
17:21Each year, monsoon rains sweep across the region.
17:25Over time, torrents of rain have carved deep into the limestone, forming vast underground chambers.
17:32It's estimated there are over a dozen bat caves across Oman.
17:36Combined with Dofar's favorable climate and an abundance of tropical fruit, these conditions create the perfect sanctuary where bats have built a thriving, hidden colony.
17:46There it is.
17:47The Egyptian fruit bats.
17:48Wow.
17:49Welcome to the bat cave.
17:50Oh.
17:51There's a lot of them.
17:52I think more than 1,000.
17:53And they're here 12 months of the year.
18:08They stay here.
18:09They don't migrate anywhere else.
18:10This is their home.
18:11All caves, they live intact.
18:13Almost.
18:14But this cave is special.
18:15The colony is so much bigger.
18:18Feeding on dates, figs, and other fruits, the Egyptian fruit bat helps Dofar's rare greenery thrive by spreading seeds across the landscape, even outside of the monsoon season.
18:29I mean, it really is a sight to behold.
18:32They're everywhere.
18:34It didn't get any landscape of what they are.
18:37Mahamad has been monitoring wildlife in this valley for years and is keen to show me what he's caught on camera.
18:44Oh, straight in there, wow.
18:49And it's in the daytime.
18:50Yeah.
18:51It's very graceful.
18:52That's an extremely rare image.
18:54It's not a care in the...
18:55Whoa.
18:56Oh, look right down the lens.
18:57rare image there's not a care in the whoa look right down the lens how do you feel when you come
19:05to these camera traps you take out the footage you download it onto the computer and then when
19:11you see the arabian leopard staring down the barrel of your camera i get blown my mind i get
19:17very very happy about this shot to actually see it with your own eyes and see the evidence that
19:23they are roaming these mountains wild it feels really good yeah i didn't imagine hyenas were out
19:38here yeah there is available also he's he's cheeky one time he broke the camera he just smell it and
19:47put his mouth and broken mohammed and many other people from the dofar region are real guardians of
19:56these mountains and the wildlife that call it home it's a real inspiration to see his dedication his
20:03commitment and perseverance to keeping this land thriving and respecting it from afar if the arabian
20:10leopard has any chance of coming back from the brink of extinction it's because of people like him
20:17so next time i follow the trail of frankincense just made some incisions and already the trees
20:29started bleeding uncovering its role in local life a little precarious and the empire it helped to shape
20:36this is a very important place that used to be the center of trade
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