Karak-the Crusader Castle

This Crusader Castle in Karak is one of the largest castles built in this Middle East. It's a place  of the battles between the Crusaders and Muslim leader, Salah ad-Din, during the 12th century.

The castle is also famous for its underground tunnels and prison cells. There is a small museum built beside the castle, offering the information and history about the Karak region and the castle. The entrance fee is free for the Jordanians and persons with the residency, and one dinar for foreign visitors.

Karak-the city

Karak is a small city, located on the King's Highway and the south of Amman. Before heading to its famous crusader castle, we had a lot of fun walking on the streets and visiting the local market. We also had a very nice lunch at a small restaurant which serves delicious Arabic food. Good weather, good forks and good food made the trip very enjoyable and delightful.

Salt-the People

In general, people in Salt seem much friendlier than in Amman. Walking on the streets of the old town area, we were often greeted by the locals, adults and kids. They are very generous on giving directions or just having some conversations. Some even invited us to have some tea with them. It made me feel like being back to Damascus.

Salt-the City

Salt (السلط) is an ancient city on the northwest outside Amman, and was once a regional capital during the Ottoman Empire. A lot of buildings were built in this period and survive until now.

There are a lot of big and small buses running between Salt and Amman. It takes half an hour to reach this lovely ancient city. We walked around in the old town area, visiting Haman Street, mosques, churches, the Ottoman-period mansion Beit Abu Jaber and a local coffee house. 

Iraq Al-Amir at Wadi Al-Seer

Wadi Al-Seer is located at the southeast of Amman. From the Al-Muhajireen bus stop of the Downtown, it takes half a hour to reach there. Then we took another small bus to Iraq Al-Amir, which is 15 km southwest of the town of Wadi Al-Seer, for visiting caves in the hills (date back to the Copper Age) and the ruins of Qasr Al-Abad (Palace of the Servant), built in the 3rd century BC. On the way to the ruins, we enjoyed the nice views of the valleys filled with the greens and orchards. 

Petra-The Views

This is my third time of visiting Petra, the most famous and expensive tourist spot in Jordan. Petra is a huge stone-carved ancient city, and visitors normally need to take several hours or a whole day to walk around inside. This time, even though it's too hot for me to enjoy the views as much as last two visits, I was still amazed by its nature and beauty. 

Petra-People & Animals

The Bedouins can be seen everywhere in Petra. The men provide tourists animal rides, while the women sell souvenirs, and the children chase after visitors for selling postcards. It's been two years from my last visit here. This time I also saw some Egyptians working here as janitors. Because of the Arab Spring, less tourists come to Petra, where I saw a lot of the Bedouins hanging around with their animals.