I’d been meaning to write about our recent visit to Karak Castle earlier but I have fallen ill for some reason. I have just gathered strength enough to last me a bit, so I thought I’d jot down a quick post before this nasty flu puts me back in bed. Still under the influence of the movie "Kingdom of Heaven," we decided to take a one-day trip to south Jordan to visit Karak Castle, which was featured prominently in this Hollywood production.
We had loads of fun. Getting there was part of the adventure, as we took a bus from Wehdat bus stop all the way to Karak. The trip was smooth, but I was suffocated by all the smoking on the bus. Apparently, Jordan’s public transport is still not smoke-free, despite laws saying it should be. When we arrived in Karak, we took a cab right to the castle gate. I learned on the Karak cab drive that taxi drivers in the city don’t follow the meter, although it’s right there in the cab. They just set their own rate.
When we arrived at the castle, we were surprised by how humongous it is. According to a tour guide I chatted with briefly, the castle is the second largest in the Middle East (no, I didn’t ask him about the first). We spent some three hours or so discovering all the nooks and crannies of this historic outpost all the while taking pictures, loads of them [An album of photos is up with descriptions of the site]. We learned that the castle was where Crusader leader Reynold de Chatellion hung his helmet.
I have to admit, I owe this sudden historic interest in this castle to the one and only Hollywood. Had I not seen this movie I would not have bothered to take this trip.
The castle’s museum was really top-notch, detailing the history of not only the castle itself but all of Jordan through various historic eras as well. I have to say I was impressed. We were also surprised at the number of tourists there, the majority of whom appeared European. This made me wonder: Are the efforts of the ministry of tourism finally paying off? Is the tourist trade actually on the rise? Or am I being too optimistic in speculating that the tourists we saw were prompted to visit the site following the movie’s release? Regardless, the trip was really fun. We had a blast!
Jeff,
Thanks for ur info and reply to my questions. I had been there yest (since it was ID holiday) and i njoyed my trip. Only thing i didnt like is the bus journey since it was full of smoke!!.
I will post the fotos on http://www.rahulsingh.fotopic.net
Thanks once again.
Jeff, there are no buses i think. you’d have to drive, better a car thats good with hills.
Best directions i can give is to go to madaba straight on through until you get to town or area of Diban. After passing Diban you should find yourself heading downhill, very steep, until you pass the Walih river, there’s also a dam there called the Walih dam. After that you’ll be heading upwards through a series of winding hills…welcome to the mujub. keep going with the road and you’ll find yourself in kerak sooner or later but it wont be from the castle….on these winding uphill roads you shud come to a plautue and that is the kerak area. first youll see the township of she7an and the she7an hill on ure right. go straight through till al-rabba and keep going straight, youll see abu-7amour and adar on ure right and left respectivly, keep going you get to the traingle of the thania, go right towards kerak city till u get to the castle. rabba’t amoun used to be a kingdom and its a town built on historical sites and there are still ruins of the castle but people have ruined alot of it. something to see along the way.
its about 10 km from alrabba to the castle.
oh and when u go to the castle, check out the kerak hotel right next to it, go downstairs to the resteraunt and ask for the chicken dish which is kick arse.
We thought Wadi Mujib was on the way. But having never been there we took the only route we knew to be sure and so mafi Mujib. I do hope to see it sometime and would love to revisit the castle from there. It doesn’t look like we’ll have time for it this trip, however.
Would you care to give some general directions on that? Is it best to do it by automobile?
u shudve went to kerak through the wadi mujib, now that is quite a sight