Kerak

Kerak Castle atop it's steep glacis

Monday 3 December: Jordan should be an inexpensive country to visit but the lack of public transport means that, once again, I'm forced to hire a private taxi, but this time I haggle hard and get the price for the trip to Kerak down from 60JD to 20JD. We are happily travelling south along the King's Highway when a little worryingly my Bedouin driver, Muhammad, stops for an hour or so to bleed the car's brakes. We stop again to view Wadi Mujib before making the steep descent into the wadi. Scary stuff but we arrive in Kerak safely.
After another good lunch of creamy humus topped with chick peas I explore Kerak Castle. Protected by a steep glacis or killing ground around two sides and a deep moat around the others, the battlements tower over the surrounding countryside as far as the Dead Sea. It's one of the largest Crusader castles in the Levant and there are many underground rooms and corridors to explore as well as clambering over the more recently added Ottoman towers. Not a health and safety officer in sight, great.
Tuesday 4 December: Local bus to Ma'an and a taxi to Wadi Musa, the dormitory town for one of the seven wonders of the world, Petra.
Slideshow of Karak.