Jordan Finale - Desert Castles of the Eastern Desert

Qasr Hallabat sitting in isolation

April 14^th was finally here and it would be my last day in the country. The flight out of Jordan was that night so I had a full day to spare. I decided to visit the eastern part of Jordan for this last day.

Thus far, I had been west (dead sea), south (Karak, Dana, Petra, and Wadi Rum) and north (Ajloun and Jerash). With Jordan being a relatively small country, east was the only direction I had yet to explore.

Ruins of Qasr Hallibat

Roads in Jordan are good and for someone who is used to Indian traffic, the worst that Jordan can throw would still be better than a typical day in most Indian cities. However, local transport going into the eastern desert was infrequent and the better option was to either rent a taxi or rent a car.

Mosaic at Qasr Hallabat

Car rental is relatively inexpensive but there was a hefty charge for pick up and drop off for anything other than the Queen Alia International Airport inconveniently located about 35 kms south east of Amman. Since I was flying out that same night it made sense to rent a car for a day, then self driver to some of the main attraction in the eastern desert before returning the car back to the airport at night and proceed to catch my flight.

Hammam al-Sarah

At the hostel in the morning I packed up and took the express bus to the airport for a fraction of the cost of a taxi before getting the rental car. I was just hoping my iPhone battery (poor for a so called premium brand) would last the entire day since it was going to be my primary navigation tool for the day.

Qasr Azraq

The eastern desert is vast stretching all the way to Iraq if one keeps going east. Unlike the desert in Wadi Rum and further south towards the border with Saudi Arabia, the eastern desert is flat, stony and barren. It sort-of fits the common narrative of Jordan being a dry barren country.

Qasr Amra

The desert in the east has a collection of isolated forts, lodges and bath houses and the occupants ranged from Romans to the muslim dynasties at the turn of the millennia and one castle in particular was the base for Lawrence of Arabia in the early 20^th century. Although misleading, they are collectively called as “Desert Castles”, most likely to collectively market them to the ruin hunters and tourists.

Fresco at Qasr Amra - (L) woman bathing; (R) Musician
Surprising as both was considered taboo in Islam

From the airport, I headed north-east and proceeded to take a clockwise loop. First stop was an ancient roman fort later repurposed as a Umayyad castle, Qasr Al-Hallabat. Not far from there was the bath house Hammam al-Sarah. Both places sit quietly in isolation not far from the dusty village going by the same name.

Heading further east across the monotonous highway, a UN refugee camp passes to the right, housing Syrians who fled its recent civil war, until reaching the oasis town of Azraq.

Hopefully with the downfall of ISIS, perhaps these poor people can return home. The main attraction in Azraq is its castle – primarily due to its association with Lawrence of Arabia who made this fort his base for leading the Arab revolt against the Ottomans. Its a place of significant importance to British visitors in particular.

Fresco at Qasr Amra - Hunting Oryx

Someone with more of an inclination towards nature would rather consider the Azraq oasis as a more compelling site but it’s a pale and rather sad shadow of what it once was. The oasis used to be a thriving ecosystem fed by a large aquafer supporting a large amount of flora and fauna for miles in the desert. Tragically, due to the over exploitation of its water, it’s possibly in terminal decline now. Water is now fed to this oasis from other sources just to sustain what’s left of it and even if its well intentioned I wonder if the place is self-sustainable at this point…. Truly sad indeed!

Azraq was the farthest point in my travel into the Eastern desert, I looped back south-west towards the airport but not before stopping at probably the two best castles in the eastern desert – Qasr Amra and Qasr Kharanah.

Qasr Amra, an attractive bath house beside a now dried wadi is adorned by well-preserved frescos on its interior walls making it a UNESCO World Heritage Site. A short distance further west from Qasr Amra was the large and relatively well-preserved Qasr Kharanah which made for a dramatic last sunset in Jordan.

There was just enough time to admire the quaint scene of cool uninhibited breeze sweeping across the desert plains as the diminishing red glow of the setting sun pointed to my time in Jordan coming to an end. I got myself cleaned up and headed to the airport to catch the flight back home. Back in India, the family had two recent arrivals and I was excited to finally see them.

Overall, in the ten days I spent in Jordan I covered a lot of ground in all directions and saw several of its top attractions and possibly more than my fair share. The flip side of being on the road for most of the ten days was a much poorer human and cultural experience. Ideally, I would have liked to spend more time in Amman and interact with the locals and experience the Jordanian culture but I know I can’t have it all.

Qasr Kharanah

Sunset at Qasr Kharanah - Last time using this guidebook

Generally, when people like a travel destination they wish to return someday. I, on the other hand visit a country thinking I am probably never going to come back. It then becomes more of an incentive to make every day - every moment count.

An uncle to these two now - Left is my niece and right
my nephew

Not sure if destiny will ever bring me back to Jordan but if it doesn’t I’d have no qualms. There is a train of though that that says, “Never say never” but I like the contrarian statement in Hindi that says “Kal Ho Na No” which translates to “Tomorrow might or might not happen”.

When I recently mentioned this to a friend who I came into contact after almost two decades she asked me if all men think this way. I can’t speak for all men but Its an ethos I am trying to live by.

It’s not easy…we get complacent with our lives in the good times and in the bad times we wallow in the pain and suffering of the past. I might or might not be succeeding but I’m trying hard to be more grateful for each day and strive to make the most of it and that goes for my travels as well.

Cheers to Jordan and cheers to my first venture in the Middle East!