Jordan - King's Highway

Jordan - King's Highway - July 29, 2008

One thing Jordanians seemed to be acutely aware of is that they don't have oil. While their Saudi neighbors are awash in black gold, these resourceful people have had to find more traditional ways to grow into the 21st century. The country has a similar moderate Islam feeling to Turkey, but a much larger proportion of the people are Muslim. They are very proud of their incredible history and have a deep love for the royal family. The royal women especially are reaching out to the Western world to try to help bridge the gap, with former Queen Noor being a member of at least 12 international peace-building organizations and the current Queen Rania starting an amazingly successful YouTube channel (http://youtube.com/QueenRania) aimed particularly at dispelling stereotypes of people in the Arab world. They have definitely earned my respect and admiration.

So instead of an oil economy, Jordan is slowly developing through US and Euro free trade agreements, where they sell textiles, phosphates, and potash; a huge amount of international aid (presumably with encouragement to remain a moderate ally in a region with not too many of them); and especially tourism. The focus of this is Petra (for good reason), but Patricia and I wanted to see what else Jordan had to offer.



Pilgrims on the King's Highway

We hired a driver to take us for the day up the King's highway, passing through about half of Jordan. Outside of the tourist center of Petra, the prices dropped dramatically, and we found ourselves in a small tavern for breakfast of Turkish coffee and falafel, which our driver kindly offered to pay for. Normally not something I'd accept in a country so poor, I gave in when I realized it probably cost about 12 US cents each and we'd be more than compensating him with a good tip later.

The King's Highway is, of course, not actually a highway, but an ancient trading route through the Middle East.


We made our way up through the rocky desert to Shobak Castle. Not quite sure what to expect, we marvelled at the setting when it came into view.


Rolling hills of some of the most barren landscape I've ever seen, the castle is an imposing sight. Originally built in 1115 by Baldwin I of Jerusalem, the castle has a sorted history and has become famous along with nearby Karak Castle because they were both used as bases for charging tax on the traders travelling the King's highway and then later as strongholds by the Christians in the fight against the Muslims during the Crusades. Hence why Karak and Shobak are called Crusader Castles.

We found ourselves to be the only visitors so far that day, and our charming guide took us all through the castle, including the former barracks, a place for storing hidden treasure, and a scary secret passage that we weren't quite brave enough to try out. His stories were fun and full of cheesy jokes (my favorite) and he even reenacted some!


The peaceful desert setting and beautiful stone with no other tourists in sight made for a magical experience. A good chance for us to reflect on what we'd seen and what was to come.


We next stopped at a nearby shop where a friend of our driver had a wide assortment of jewelery, paintings, knives, and anything else he was able to get his hands on. When he learned I was American, he proudly showed me a picture of him with a US Army general who visited several years before. Patricia picked out a beautiful and unique metal perfume bottle and the owner offered us some traditional Bedouin music while we sipped tea and enjoyed the cool of his shop.





Salt the Wound

Back on the road, we veered West from the King's Highway for the classic adventure of a swim in the Dead Sea. At 1,378 ft below sea level, "its shores are the lowest point on the surface of the Earth on dry land." The amazing salt content makes this a very unusual swim. Stopping at a purpose built beach, the shockingly strong sun made us scramble across the hot sand to the cover of one of the small huts scattered throughout the beach. We both found ourselves a bit self-conscious when we noticed a large Muslim family nearby with the women about to go for a swim in full burqa.

Giving ourselves a bit of room, we delicately stepped over the jagged salt that lined the water's edge. When we finally made our way out, the fun of floating with half our body out of the water was tempered by the burn of the salt, sun, and my foot that was cut entering the lake. This is the part they don't tell you in the brochures! You are actually tracked by the lifeguard and are allowed no more than 30 minutes in the water because it is so intense. Patricia giggled at me as an accidental small splash got in my eye and I was blinded for 5 minutes while I waited for my tears to desalinate my eyes. Your hands are no help here as they are just as salty and only make it worse! Like my bungy jump in South Africa, this was one experience I was happy to have done once.....but I'm pretty sure it'll only be once!


Tired and salty (even with a shower you still feel crazy salty), we made one final stop near the end of our journey at Mount Nebo, where the scriptures say Moses was told by God that he was looking out over the promised land. An obviously important site for Christians and Jews, the rough landscape was unexpected and when I looked out, I wondered how Moses felt seeing such a barren spot as the land promised to his people. Perhaps not his top pick. But now I feel like the one pouring salt on the wounds of millions.