Taking a long swing past Rustaq I joined other members of the Historical Association of Oman in Bat the ancient site associated with the copper trade in Oman up to 5000 years ago. We were fortunate to see the current excavations and development at this UNESCO site. While there are other sites such as this in Oman Bat was perhaps one of the earliest to be recognized by western academics when it was excavated by a Danish team.

The current work it utilizing the original stones to re-build a tower – and frankly the quality of work on the original facing was superb.

On our way we had a chance to visit the fort at Al Hazm which is closed while being worked on to incorporate an Artillery and Gun Museum. I first visited it when it was still a Police Station and it remains a wonderful fort to visit.