Day 4 - The King's Highway

The historic Kings’s Highway is one of the oldest routes in the Middle East. A road on which traveled through the ages, caravans with exotic products, warring armies, conquerors and traders. The road runs through a mountainous landscape, through arid regions, but also through rolling fields with crops such as olive trees and fruit trees.

Would I ever want to get behind the wheel myself in Jordan? No, not in anyway. Because of my privileged position on the first row of our bus, I keep a close eye on the traffic. After crossing the country for two days, it is clear to me that the road marking serves only to beautify the dull  arrid and gray asphalt. The line pattern of yellow, full white and dashed white stripes provide a hypnotic effect. Probably the reason why Jordanians are such relaxed drivers. Road signs only serve to bring color to the desolate landscape. The parking problems that occur in the west are completely strange to the Jordanians. That probably has to do with the unique parking system that they use: using every centimeter by parking lateral to the footpath, by parking slope wise or by wringing the car facing snouth first to the footpath in  between cars. The result is a cacophony of cars, but everyone gets their car parked.

Our destination this morning is Mount Nebo, also called  Mount Moses. It is here that after four years of leading his people through the Egyptian desert, Moses overlooked the Promised Land and eventually died at the age of 120. According to Jewish belief, Moses is also buried on this mountain. At the top is a memorial church for Moses.

In any case, the view of the Promised Land is great, especially on this very clear day where we can easily see Israel and Palestine. And if I mentioned the perfect place to try to understand the situation in the Middle East before, that certainly applies here.

From the East Bank we  have a perfect view of the West Bank. With from right to left the Palestinian cities Nabluz and Ramallah, the Israeli cities Jericho (also the oldest city in the world) and Jerusalem and a bit further but too far away for us, the Palestinian city of Hebron. A jumble of Palestinian and Israeli cities mixed together. It is clear that this situation is immensely complex and will probably never be resolved. A perfect visualization of the deep crisis in which both countries are entangled.

A little further is the city of Madaba located, the episcopal seat for a while during the Byzantine period. The attraction is a beautiful mosaic in the Greek Orthodox church, but which belongs to  the foundations of the Byzantine church that used to stand here. What is so special about the mosaic is that it is the oldest map of Palestine and dates from the 1st century AD. The mosaic was damaged because pieces were removed, but the remaining mosaic is more than worth it. Beautiful how cities, towns and roads are depicted and named. For example, you can still clearly see the Dead Sea and Jerusalem.

The King's Highway continues through what is called the Grand Canyon of Jordan: the wadi Al-Mujib. At the vantage point, the comparison with the Grand Canyon is obvious.

Kerak is home to an impressive 12th century crusader castle, perched on a high plateau. It is a gigantic structure with a labyrinth of corridors and rooms. 

The castle is partly carved out in the rocks and has a total of no less than seven floors. The lower floors in particular have been well preserved. You can take a look in the kitchen and wander through corridors with impressive vaults.

And then it's time to rejoin the King’s Highway. The royal road is also one of the three connections between Amman and the south. It is not the fastest connection, but undoubtedly the most beautiful. And this road not only leads through beautiful natural beauty, it also leads to the royal pinnacle of this journey. But that's for tomorrow.