Bahla, Oman. Madinat al-Sehr — the City of Magic. I have also heard it been referred to as The City of Jinns. Till date, a mysterious aura surrounds the walled city and of you talk to the locals, they'll be sure to tell you some wild stories. There is, for example, a tale about a tree growing in the citadel that would bring an untimely death to anyone who touched it because the sorcerer had cast a spell on it. The legend goes that if you are not from Bahla and touched the tree, you would be doomed to great misfortune and an untimely death. During one of our school fieldtrips, we went to Bahla and stayed for a few days. One of my classmates down right refused to go, because of Bahlas reputation and they stories and legends she had heard about the city while growing up. While our class were there we went around and saw a few of the local landmarks such as the old Bahla Fort, souq and, of course, the famous - or rather, infamous - tree growing at the centre of the citadel. I'm not superstitious, however, I was too scared to go over and touch it. A few boys from my class did though - one of which died during the summer of last year.