Vague pick-up times are not ideal as it can mean waiting around unnecessarily. As it was possible I’d be collected anytime between 08:00 and 08:30 I had to get ready with the assumption it’d be the earliest. It was still dark out and the rain hadn’t let up at all. In fact, it was the worst I’d seen here. As luck would have it, the rain started to ease by the time I started running, and I managed to somehow find a loop to run without using a map. It was very hilly, and almost half a mile longer than I’d intended, but it was pleasant enough.
The breakfast buffet had changed a little since yesterday. There were now a couple of cold meats, some pieces of pizza, and these hotdog bites. I hadn’t known breakfast started earlier today as reception had only told me about my first morning. As they don’t seem to clear tables here it meant every single one had either someone sitting at it, or dirty dishes. I kept my breakfast light, and got ready for the day ahead.
I checked out just minutes before 08:00, but it wasn’t until 08:30 that the driver for the next few days, Naser, appeared. It was still raining, and on the drive south we had to slow down considerably as unlike yesterday when the road disappeared due to sand, today it disappeared due to thick fog, and the spray of rain water off the road. Even driving slowly, the driver missed the turn and had to take the next one instead. I thought he’d said that we wouldn’t be able to go to Mount Nebo due to the weather meaning it wouldn’t be safe to go up, but I must have misunderstood him as sure enough that was our first stop.
When we got there he got me to add his number to WhatsApp, and shared his data so that I could connect to it and use that to let him know when I was done. I’d got a feeling it wouldn’t work too well as I’d need to get close enough to see him in order to use it to find him. We’d see how this worked out.
The Jordan Pass had gotten me into a few places so far, but here it was three dinars, or as you’d usually see it written 3JOD, to enter. Mount Nebo is supposed to be the place where Moses lived his final days until he died, and if he existed, it’s one of the places where he might be buried. It was from here it was said he saw the so-called Promised Land across the Jordan valley to the hills of Jerusalem and the Dead Sea - something you should normally see from this biblical mountain 710 metres above sea level. Today you could see very little through the rain. It did brighten up for a while whilst I was wandering outside, but this did not last long.
Other than the view, there is a church, some mosaics, and sculpture that looks like a cross, but is supposed to be a staff and snake relating to the story of Moses. Inside there are more mosaics on the floor and walls. Surprisingly the church is still in use as there were people singing at the back, in an area off-limits to tourists. Once I’d seen everything I wanted to, I made my way back down to the car park, and checked my phone. Sure enough I had no connection, but I did spot his car pretty quickly anyway.
After having spent only thirty minutes at Mount Nebo, we were then on our way to Madaba to visit the Greek Orthodox Church of St. George; this is where you can find a well preserved mosaic from the 6th century that is a map of Jerusalem. The entrance for this one is just one dinar, so very cheap! Whilst the map is the most famous of the mosaics there, it’s far from the only one. The walls are covered in small mosaics depicting different scenes, such as George and the Dragon.
Before leaving, the driver bought me a cup of Jordan mint tea. I'm sure it wouldn’t have been too bad if it hadn’t been for how sweet it was, but this is the way mint tea is served here. I had a few sips but had to leave it, the driver was talking a lot so at least I had an excuse to not be drinking it. There should have been a break for the viewpoint at Wadi Mujib, but with the weather the way it was, it wasn’t worth it. Instead we carried on until we reached a service station somewhere near Al Qatrana, with a restaurant and a shop. This was a fifteen minute break, but I decided I’d eat later.
As we got into the desert it did brighten up quite a bit, and for miles at a time it looked barren until passing through a few small towns and villages. I saw the turn for Al Karak pass by, and we didn’t turn off so I asked if that was where we were going. Naser said we weren’t going due to the heavy rain, I’m not sure if that meant the rain had affected the opening of the castle or if it’d delayed us too much to go there. It was only past midday at this point though so I felt we’d got plenty of time.
He said we’d instead be visiting Ash Shawbak castle, also known as Montreal, saying it was just the same: a crusader castle. Kerak however is one of the three largest castles in the region, and not getting to see it was a massive disappointment, even though I’d not yet seen what this alternative castle would be like.
From the main road the path climbed up until it was blocked by roadworks. We turned back and went an alternative way, through an abandoned village, and down a very steep road before going back up to where Ash Shawbak castle was. It was sunny here, but much cooler than it had been. Naser stopped the car at the bottom of a road up to the castle and told me I’d got thirty minutes to look around. I decided that this might be a good opportunity for lunch too.
This castle had been attacked by Saladin in 1187, and its location had caused it to take two years to successfully capture it, and gave it to his brother. After almost thirty years had passed, the Ayyubids tried to negotiate with the crusaders but holding both this castle and Kerak, is why they failed to reach an agreement. So maybe it wasn’t as big, but it seemed to be just as important to the history of this region.
It looked like this castle was still being excavated, and in some places there were scaffolding against walls, and holding up ceilings. There were places around this that were off limits, but otherwise, for the most part at least, I could go wherever I wanted. Just as with the other castles I’d visited, anything that could be dangerous to walk on was for me to decide that.
I got around the castle fairly quickly, and had my sandwich whilst walking. It made it difficult to take photographs for a while, but it saved time as I got back down to the car just in time for what had been agreed. This was then another hour until we reached Wadi Mousa, and I’d been expecting the hotel near the entrance to Petra as had been advertised, but instead this was up on the mountainside at a place called the Amra International Palace Hotel. I certainly couldn’t complain as it looked very nice from the outside with its own indoor pool. The inside had a vert Middle Eastern feel to it, with one room covered in cloths that were draped from floor to ceiling like a Bedouin tent. At least, what I imagined a Bedouin tent might look like. Perhaps this was what a caravanserai would have looked like during the days of the traders' caravans.
Apparently they do food here from 18:30, a buffet for ten dinars and included dessert. Not bad! The room here brought double glazing to a whole new level as well. The outermost layer was a mesh to keep out insects, then one double glazed window, and then another. Combined with two layers of curtains I felt any light or noise would be kept out overnight, and I’d sleep far better than I had in Amman.
After relaxing for a while I headed back out to explore the town. I'd not expected there to be so many buildings here: I thought it’d be the world heritage site, a few hotels and restaurants, and that’s it. There is however a town full of houses, small shops, mosques, and even an expensive looking precinct directly in front of the hotel. I went to the precinct first, and checked what food was available there for later. The pizza place was tempting but without prices I didn’t really want to bother. I did however buy a slice of chocolate cake from a fancy cake shop there, and ate that as I walked past shops and found myself looking over where the entrance to the historical site is. I could see souvenir shops and restaurants further down the hill, so thought I’d check these out, and see what else there was before tomorrow.
I went to quite a few different ones, and in one he told me the wooden camels were twelve dinars each, or if I bought three he’d do them for 36 dinars. Yeah, I know how maths works. Eventually I did buy one for that price from one of the other shops, and a couple of other bits to take home, spending 28 dinars in total. I wouldn’t have minded getting one of their copper animals for 28 dinars, but considering that was as much as I’d already spent, and was unsure how much I’d need to spend over the next week, I held back.
At the end of this row of restaurants and shops is the entrance to the historical site. Obviously I didn’t go in as this would be a job for tomorrow, but I did photograph the “I ❤️Jordan” sign outside, and had a look around the museum. There isn’t a great deal in there, but as it’s free it’s worth spending maybe ten or twenty minutes inside. I’d seen on the map there was a viewpoint from where the College of Archaeology is, so I walked up the very steep hill to that, but found it not really worth it. I could use that path as a way to get back to the hotel at least.
I’d got two hours until the buffet opened, so I relaxed in my room until then, and went down to see what it was like. It had a selection of meats, salad, vegetables, naan, and roast potatoes. I got some salad and tried a little bit of each meat along with some rice, but found the chicken and the fish to be a little undercooked. The dessert buffet wasn’t too bad; most of them were mousses of some sort except for a nice cinnamon sponge, and some truffles. It even included a glass of apple juice for the price.