Jordan: Karak, Qasr, Safi, Mazraa', Amman

Spring Break Day Four (continued from part three)

The next day turned out to be a frustrating one in terms of transportation, but I got to see one of my favorite parts of Jordan.

I got up in the morning to go to Wihdat Station, and took the bus to Karak. Karak is located about 150km south of Amman, and is one of Jordan's largest cities, although that doesn't say much since it's really not very big. The ride there was picturesque, as most of the rides through Jordan were. When I arrived at the bus station, I could see my destination in sight - Karak Castle - but it was situated very high on the hill and I didn't know how to get there.

I asked a minibus driver if he would take me to the qasr, to which he agreed. As far as I know there isn't a word for castle in Arabic, but qasr means "palace" and the castle used to serve as a palace anyway, so I figured he'd understand what I meant. He began to drive me away from the castle, so I assumed the road to the castle must have been out of the way. He then began asking me why I wanted to go to the qasr and where exactly I wanted to be dropped off. He was confused why I wanted to go there, and I was confused why we were heading out of Karak, until I saw a road sign for al-Qasr. It turns out al-Qasr is an obscure village outside of Karak. By the time I realized what was going on, I figured I might as well see what the place was like before going back. I got out in Qasr, leaving him thoroughly baffled as to why I was there.

There was absolutely nothing in Qasr for me to see or do, not even a place to get some food. Luckily I found a Qasr-Karak bus, and took it back to Karak. In Karak, I asked a minibus driver to take me to al-qala', which means the citadel, and there was no miscommunication here. When I finally arrived at the castle, I was very impressed. The castle was built in the 12th century by Crusaders who occupied the Holy Land, and was later used as a fortress by the Mamelukes. As you can tell from the pictures, you can see a great deal of the surrounding region from the summit. I would rate it as one of my favorite sights of my trip.

Views from the Crusader castle.








After having lunch in Karak, I went to catch a bus to the town of Safi. I knew that there were buses from Karak to Safi, but that they left at a different station than the rest of the buses. I asked a cab driver to take me to that bus station, but somehow he interpreted it to mean I wanted him to take me to Safi. Another miscommunication, but I didn't object, since I wanted to go to Lot's Cave and I would need a taxi when I arrived in Safi anyway.

The road from Karak to Safi passes along the King's Highway, which is considered the most picturesque road in Jordan. The road has been around since Biblical times, and passes through huge desert valleys and descends below sea level at a very rapid rate. While Karak had a warm but comfortable temperature, the temperature around Safi was unbearably hot. Before heading to Lot's Cave, we passed Bab al-Dhraa. There wasn't much to see there other than a cemetery, but it is believed to be Sodom, the Biblical city that was destroyed by God.

Along the King's Highway.


Former site of Sodom. Not much to see there, just some graves.


Lot's Cave is the place where the prophet Lot was believed to hide from the destruction of Sodom. (Bab al-Dhraa is only a few minutes drive away.) It's rather far from civilization, and you really need a four-wheel vehicle to climb the hill to get to the cave. It's not a very popular tourist spot, as the attendant said I was only the fifth person to visit that day. It makes sense, since it involves a long hike up a mountain just to see a tiny cave. There are ruins of a Byzantine church that once stood there, but besides that, it's completely desolate. However, it is interesting to think that I stood in the same spot where Lot stayed thousands of years ago.

Standing in Lot's Cave.




After the cave, I asked my taxi driver to drop me off in Safi. This sparked an argument, since he expected me to return to Karak and pay the round trip. We eventually settled on a price, though he was not happy. When I arrived in Safi, there wasn't much to see. It was a dreary, poor village, and the heat was overbearing. It is known in the Bible as one of the "Cities of the Plain." It seemed like there was a large Palestinian population in Safi, most of them very poor. I decided to have a snack at the coffee shop by the bus station. It seemed like the owners hadn't seen a foreigner in awhile, because they were very intrigued to meet me. In fact I'm sure I was the only foreigner in Safi, and I wondered if the locals were suspicious of me, since Safi is not far from the Israeli border. I soon found out that there were no more buses to Amman that day, so I took the bus to Mazraa', which was a few minutes drive north. There were no buses from Mazraa', so the bus continued to Karak.

Along the Dead Sea Highway.


The Arab Potash Company (produces potassium carbonate from the Dead Sea) is the only major landmark for miles along this way.


Drive back to Karak.



When I arrived in Karak again, there was a bus with Amman as destination, but it had not yet filled up with people, and judging by the amount of activity in the city at the point, it wasn't leaving anytime soon. Buses in Jordan only leave when they're full, otherwise the bus drivers don't make a profit. After a few minutes of waiting, another Karak-Amman bus pulled into the station, but it was nearly full and looking for passengers. The two other people waiting with me ran onto that bus, and I made my way over there as well. There must be some unwritten rule that all buses must start from the station, however, since the driver of my bus became furious. A small fistfight erupted on the passing bus. The bus driver of this new bus urged me to hop on, but the other driver slammed the door in my face. Recruiting passengers is serious business. I wasn't about to start a fight over a bus, so I just returned to the first bus, while the others who were quicker got a ride to Amman. The number of riders waiting at the station now dwindled to two. I waited there for almost two hours while the bus driver recruited enough passengers to pack the bus. In retrospect, I found out there was a bus only for tourists that left from just outside the castle, but I wasn't quite following the tourist agenda at that point.

I finally arrived back in Amman that night, had dinner at one of the standard outdoor kebab diner establishments, and wandered around Downtown before heading to the hostel. I spent more time inside a vehicle than out of a vehicle that day, but on the upside I got to see quite a bit of central Jordan. It also contributed to my goal of balancing tourist visits with more mundane, less exciting travel. The purpose of this was to get a feel for how Jordan and its culture really is, rather than get a skewed, artificial view of the country.