Thursday, 6 October 2011

My Jordan Diary: Drive to Petra, via Madaba, Mt Nebo and Kerak Castle

Day 3: Drive to Petra, via Madaba, Mt Nebo and Kerak Castle
After another disappointing breakfast I headed south to Madaba, a small Christian town with its collection of extraordinary mosaics, including the Great Map of Palestine (6th century). It was the first time where I had actually seen other tourists. The town was small with swarms of tourists, mostly Japanese, filling the streets and swarming round the church and visitors centre. The mosaic was discovered in 1896, and only fragmentary. It contains a picture of Jerusalem which is scarely quite accurate giving that there were no planes back then to map the country out like now. Even the fish in the river are swimming away from the dead sea.
Next stop: Jebel Neba (808m). Better known as Mount Nebo, which is a pilgrimage centre for Christians principally because Moses is said to have seen the Promised Land from this summit. There is a lot of development work going on here. The churches were closed and due to the rain the view of the promised land wasn't very clear. 
Then following the desert highway we reach Kerak, imposingly sited on a hilltop. Kerak became famous in the time of the Crusades as one of a chain of fortresses in the Holy War against Islam. The castle was built in 1132 by Baldwin of Jerusalem, a Crusader King.
After the castle was a 4 hour drive down to Petra where I was to spend 3 nights. The hotel, Beit Zaman, is a is a renovated authentic XIXth century village, known as Khirbet Al Nawafleh, in Wadi Musa which has been transformed into a village resort. The renovation of the houses was in keeping with the original housing design. The swimming pool here was great. The village contains 2 old olive presses as well as an old roman aqueduct in a small half-private courtyard. It is a unique experience that will add greatly to your stay in the Red Rose City.
This was yet another hotel where I needed to get a taxi into town. Petra high street consists of one road with a dozen or so restaurants and a few shops. For my first night in Petra I had a set meal at a local restaurant and had overcooked chicken, rice and salad.
Read my diary of my trip to Jordan:
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Location: London Madaba, Jordan