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!
The answers to those questions Rahul:
Q1. What is the bus frequency of going to and coming from Karak.
A: The bus from Wihdat that we took left once every hour. This was a full size bus. We returned on a minibus that seemed to run much more frequently. Likely you will be guided to a full-size air-conditioned tour bus in the morning. It was parked on the far left of the lot, near the vending kiosks, though if you say “Kerak,” you’ll be guided to the right place. The cost is 82 piasters, officially, rounded to 80. The return mini bus fare is the same but it seemed to leave more often, maybe every 15-30 minutes.
Q2. When is the last bus from Karak to Amman.
A: We were told the last bus to Amman was at 7pm. But that was told to us by the big bus driver. It appeared the minibuses run the usual minibus schedule, which usually runs until at least 10pm. That said, we took no chances and got to the bus stop in Kerak at 5:30pm. BTW The big bus drops you on the side of the road at the base of the city of Kerak with an upward view of the castle, not at the bus stop. The bus stop is about 200 meters to the left from the stoplight. We caught our taxi about 100 meters up the road to the left of the light. Cabs are not as frequent as Amman or Madaba.
Q3. How much is the cost from Karak bus stop to Castle?
A: We were charged nus, or half a dinar for the ride up. Then we took the driver’s phone number to call him when we were ready to leave. That may have added a ‘surcharge’ as the return trip — about 500 meters further than the ride up — went to 1 dinar.
We hope that helps. Have fun. It’s a fantastic place. We’d recommend going in the morning and soon before the summer sun gets too hot!
I had found ur site through surfing and i bookmarked it so that i can visit it frequently as it contains many tours 🙂 to xplore Jordan. I am living in Madaba and am from India working over here.
Can u tell me the details of going and comming to Karak. Like u said from Whadat Bus stop to Karak and then a taxi. So if u dont mind can u answer some of the questions so that i can plan my visit.
1. What is the bus frequency of going to and comming from Karak.
2. When is the last bus from Karak to Amman.
3. How much is the cost from Karak bus stop to Castle?
I prefer to have these informations since I dont understand and speak arabic well and these give me a fair enough amount of idea as to what and when n how i should do.
Thank u very much for the post and i will kip comming. In the mean time, if u want to look Jordan from my Eyes here it is
http://www.rahulsingh.fotopic.net
Regards
Rahul Singh
I’ve been to the Crac (but not to Karak yet!) and it is amazing.
I also wish Jordan would do more with tourism, maybe even have field trips from schools since so few Jordanians have seen the treasures they have.
There is an Ammonite-era home excavated near the baseball park. There WAS a Byzantine era church foundation in our neighborhood, but is was plowed up to built yet another monstrous apartment building. The Dept of Antiquities guy promised the mosiac on the floor was going to Madaba to be restored, but no one seems to think it was worthy of anything more than that. The remains of a Roman Road are just across the street, getting buried in the construction rubble from another new building.
Back to the film, I remember reading in the JT over a year ago that this film was going to be done by the Syrian guy who made the “Halloween” films, that the whole film would be done in Jordan and that Sean Connery would play Salah-Iddin. Instead it’s Ridley, Spain/Morocco/Massoud?WHAT HAPPENED?
Thanks Ayman for the info. Jeff is fascinated wih Syria and really wants to visit someday. Your blog makes Syria even more intriguing. we ‘ll make sure to visit the castle you mentioned in our future visit to your country:)
I only knew about Karak Castle after watching the movie. I feel so ignorant!
The Crac des Chevaliers (Castle of Knights) in Syria is the largest in the Middle East and one of the most famous medieval castles in the world. It was built by the Crusaders 1110 on the ruins of an earlier Arab castle. The Templars garrisoned there for a period of time during the Crusades. It is said that when Saladin examined the fortifications of the Castle, he decided to move on without besieging it. The Crac fell to Sultan Baybars in 1271.
I don’t know the answer to your question Jeff. But I kind of read the whole movie was filmed in Moroco. Of course, Hollywood has its own tricks, and the castle looked nice,complete, and intact. I visited the castle about 16 years ago and I don’t know if it is the one that has a stone inside where some script goes to one of the kings during the old testament times. Marketing those sites worldwide needs lots of efforts not only from ministry of tourism. I forgot what would be the most appropriate transportation means to take you to Kerak, but helicopter will be a good choice 🙂
salamtek 🙂 I’m glad you’re feelin better today
Wihdat was all part of the adventure. It wasn’t bad at all, actually. I used to ride a bus from Abdali to Ad Dustour when working there as an editor, so I was back on familiar ground, though I could do with a bit less smoking :O That said, what’s the best way via bus or service taxi?
Tell me more about the reference to the castle in the film. I need to see it again, having now been there. But when watching the first time I thought it didn’t look as I’d seen in some friends’ photos. And, of course, they shot in Spain so I’m not sure how they created the castle seen on the screen. Do you know any info on the castles shown on screen in the film Jareer?
Roba, Natasha and I feel exactly the same. It’s one of the reasons I wanted to venture out there. Besides being a fun trip and an amazing exploration — the castle is huge — we wanted to put it up here to encourage someone else to go there. I’ve been putting pictures of Jordan on Flickr and getting many a response of “I’d love to visit.” If only someone could harness this sort of thing to benefit the kingdom.
Wadi Mujib is on my short list also, actually. I’m hoping we might get a shot at it before we leave. We are headed to the Baptism site on Saturday for any interested.
Oh wow, now I really want to go! It sounds like so much fun and the pictures are absolutely gorgeous!
Nothing annoys me more than the fact that Jordan is a country so unbelievably rich with historical sights and natural wonders but that the tourism ministry doesn’t put any effort into making these trips pleasant!
On my list are also Qasr il Mshatta, Qosayr Amra, and Wadi Mujib…
And salamat 🙂
Sorry you had to go through Wihdat. I was disappointed that the castle they refered to as Karak Castle, wasn’t this one.