Past Sunday

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The day trip on Sunday was not as adventurous as the day before. The day was devoted to visiting old desert castles. It was neat to see the desert; it is a very desolate place. The castles themselves where not truly castles except for one. The first was an old retreat for the princes in like the 7th century. It was even equipped with a bath area with heated water. The main feature of the place is its murals on the walls. Some how they have survived through the ages there in the desert. Considering the number of visitors who carve their names on the walls, this was surprising. They are quite ornate murals with human and animal figures. This was a scandalous idea considering Islam forbids the depiction of God's creations because it can be considered an act of hubris.

The next "castle" on the trip turned out not to be a castle or even a fort. It was called qasr al-harraneh. It is thought to be an old inn that was used by caravans. This was possibly my favorite because you could climb up three stories and have a clear 360 view of the desert.

The next castle was Qasr al-Azraq. This was an actual legit castle where Lawrence of Arabia had stayed. It wasnt in the best of shape and it seemed one room in the castle was a human litter box. However, it was still interesting to see this old (possible roman fort). They didnt use concrete in the construction so all the stones stacked up pretty well to create a structure.

The final castle turned out to be a surprise visit. We were only suppose to go to two castles but our bus driver (who wore a cowboy hat) knew of yet another old place. This place seemed to be history in the making. Leading up to the door was the outlines of an old city place with the footers and such of buildings. Around the castle appeared to be rubble, but turned out to be construction stones. The castle was being rebuilt into what was believed to be its original form. Even though the stones didnt match and inscriptions on the stones were not correctly displaced (ie sideways), it was cool to see this representation of a "castle." The looming giant crane was also an interesting thing to have stalking your visit through the grounds. A neat exhibit in the grounds was an old mosaic on the floors. Who knows if they were recently made or not. I tracked all over them and the guards didnt care one bit. This was unlike Greece where 3 hidden guards appear to descend from the sky when one gets too close to an old fallen column.

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