So after having broken my foot and missing out on Eid al Fitr (the big holiday at the end of Ramadan) and the subsequent trip of my friends to Jerusalem, I was pretty bummed not to be able to do anything for over a month. But after over a month on crutches, I got a boot!! It meant that I could walk and go places! I could leave the house for real now!!!!
So needless to say when Charles invited me to go do the Eastern Castles, I jumped at the chance to explore. First stop was Umm al Jimal near Mafraq in the north. We dropped Skylar off to do an interview for research for his thesis (on the awesome topic of refugee access to water and water conservation) and headed over.
August is already a bit blistering, but as we were further east than Amman, and much more into the desert, the temperatures were pretty scorching rather fast. It was funny, the guidebook specifically was like, "don't visit here between 10 am and 2 pm." So of course we got there around 11 and didn't leave until 12:30.
Drew outside the entrance
The black volcanic rock is EVERYWHERE and it used to be nicknamed the black city, or something along those lines. Either way, this type of stone is very good at keeping temperatures low and regulating living space.
Embiggen if you want to read about it
Part of the site
Charles looking spiffy in glasses that some awesome person gave him
Pensive and reading the info
Hi!
Cool level of a cistern next to a high archway where trade and living spaces were
Spot Charles!
Hi!
After seeing the site for an hour and a half, we were pretty beat and so we went back to Mafraq to pick Skylar up and go on to the next locale. We had a few snacks before heading south to Azraq to see a few things and (hopefully) get lunch at an awesome location.
Charles was the driver, which led to hilarious moments with matabs (speed bumps) where poor Drew and Skylar would go flying in the backseat. It was an interesting experience driving around the different locations since we actually passed by both Za'atari and Mafraq refugee camps. I can see why refugees are protesting harsh conditions. Even with better housing, being stuck smack dab in the middle of the desert with the closest town around 20-30 km away is not a fun experience. There is also ZERO vegetation in the area. There weren't even scrubs, just rocks, sand and grit.
Before eating, we decided to visit Azraq Castle since it was supposed to be a quick stop. Well, we drive to it, it's still supposedly open, and can't find the entrance. We walk around the entire thing, having had two different people tell us different entrances, and then realize that the person manning it left early and closed the gate.
Beautiful view, sad that I couldn't explore.
However, given that there was literally NO ONE around and Charles and Skylar are both over 6 feet tall, they hopped over a low wall and looked around for a bit. Given that I was in my boot and was still using one crutch for support it was laughable to think that even with their help I could have followed. So Drew hung out with me and we waited by the car for Skylar and Charles to finish looking around. It ended up being rather cute since a little boy in an apartment a few stories up was playing on the balcony with his little toy gun. He and I were pretending to shoot one another and I did dramatic deaths on the front of the car which would cause him to erupt into peals of giggles. Sadly his mother grabbed him to come and eat something for tea time and he and I stopped our games.
I found some exotic wildlife
From there, we headed over to the restaurant to grab some lunch. It's apparently this nice place that also supports local cooperatives with various ventures. One of the crafts they do is paint ostrich eggs. Those were really cool, but a. super expensive and b. fragile. To our disappointment, it turns out you needed to have told the restaurant two days in advance that you are coming so that they can prepare the food for you.
Oh well, we just went down the street, got gas for the car, and found a nice little restaurant next to the gas station and had some food. We all just shared some hummus, pita, and some grilled meat with tomatoes, and it was absolutely delicious. After that we headed over to the Azraq Nature Reserve.
Despite it's name, and the fact that on the map it sticks out, in reality it was rather hard to find the entrance. We were quite sad to get there and see that they closed early. Fortunately there was still a guy in the office and he took pity on us and let us in.
Man, was it worth it!
Little bit of paradise
Dragonflies-they were EVERYWHERE
Charles is happy to be near a wetter climate :P
Gorgeous time of day to go too!
The only pic we got of the group that day! (L-R: Charles, Skylar, me, and Drew)
The only time it was appropriate to wear shorts-and mostly people just noticed my leg.
Skylar and Charles!
Hiding place of the water buffalo!
So apparently this used to be a huge wetland/water reserve and then Azraq kept pumping water from it to provide water to people in the city and in Amman. Soon the wetlands were pretty much nonexistent. Then a few years ago Jordan decided to pump water back into the area and introduce some local species back into the area. They now have 8 water buffalo and hundreds of birds and wildlife in the area.
It was SO peaceful and quiet
Click to embiggen-there's a heron
And some ducks
Some birds in the foreground
The guy had told us only half an hour, but let us stay for close to 45 minutes. It was so nice and peaceful. I don't think any of us really wanted to leave. It was such a refreshing break from the hot, dry, and noisy that we had experienced so far. If you can make it out there, it's definitely worth the trip!
From Azraq, we looped back west to head back to Amman, and pass by two more locations on the Eastern Castles loop. First up we went to Qasr al Amra. Unfortunately the guy manning the site decided that since we came RIGHT at sunset (i.e. closing) that he wasn't going to let us in. It was a bit frustrating as he had just let in a different group.
The closest we got to the site :(
From there a few miles down the road is Qasr Kharana. All of these sites are famous strongholds in the desert for the bedouins and management of the early Islamic caliphates. It was neat to see some of these older buildings and see the beautiful architecture. Luckily when we got to Qasr Kharana there was no fee to get in and the site was still open. Yay!
Hi Skylar!
Entrance
Embiggen to read about the site
Deciding whether or not they should go up
They went up--hi Drew!
So pretty
Hi Skylar and Charles!
After that we headed back to Amman. It was a bit dark driving back, but Charles did very well and we treated ourselves to Lebnani snack for dinner before heading to our separate apartments. It was nice to finally have a group of friends who wanted to make the trek out to the Eastern castles, and it'd definitely recommend doing it--just maybe when it's a bit cooler.
No comments:
Post a Comment