The Clean Air

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Geo: 32.3339, 35.7524

After lunch, we proceeded northwest, about 15 miles to the small town of Ajloun, which is home to one of a series of very-well-preserved Crusader castles which line the upper ridge of the Jordan Valley from Syria down to the Sinai. Unlike in Jerash, which grew up around the ruins, in Ajloun the castle remains that the top of the highest point, well above the town. As it sits at the top of the valley, several thousand feet above sea level -- let alone Dead Sea level -- there is a constant breeze as air is convected upwards. It means the air is very crisp and exceedingly clear. It forms a little microclimate, and the castle is surrounded by large pine forests. They are, in fact, the southern-most pine trees in the northern hemisphere.

We had a fun time climbing through and around the castle, but there were far more nooks, crannies, and dungeons than we could ever hope to discover. Given more time and a more stable situation in Syria, we would have headed a little further north to another Crusader castle -- this one at Um Quais -- which overlooks the Golan Heights of Syria, which Israel has occupied since 1967. We did not, though we would soon see evidence of the Syrian civil war.

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