Hubby & kids in front of Qairwan Hotel
9.00 a.m - Arrived at Karak Castle but we had no chance to enter since the opening hour was at 10.00 a.m. Hubby decided not to wait as we are supposed to go to the Dead Sea and the journey would take time. Took a few pictures outside the castles before headed up to the Dead Sea.
Karak Castle was constructed in the 1140s under Paganus, the butler of King Fulk before taken over by the Arabs. It was also called Crac des Moabites or 'Kerak in Moab' by the Crusaders. Because of its position east of the Jordan River, Kerak was able to control Bedouin herders as well as the trade routes from Damascus to Egypt and Mecca. During the Ottoman period, It played an important role due to its strategic location on the crossroads between Arabia, Egypt and Greater Syria.
Karak Castle was constructed in the 1140s under Paganus, the butler of King Fulk before taken over by the Arabs. It was also called Crac des Moabites or 'Kerak in Moab' by the Crusaders. Because of its position east of the Jordan River, Kerak was able to control Bedouin herders as well as the trade routes from Damascus to Egypt and Mecca. During the Ottoman period, It played an important role due to its strategic location on the crossroads between Arabia, Egypt and Greater Syria.
Us with the Ottoman canon
Karak Castle
9.30 a.m - Continue our journey to the Dead Sea. Took us 1 hour to reach there even though it look so near from the top of the castle. The side of the roads was full with tomato farm. I cant resist but to ask our driver to stop by at the road side to take some photos. The tomato was so fresh that I felt like taking some back home. Tapi kang makan hasil curi pulak.
The ripening tomato
10.30 a.m - The driver stop by a cliff overlooking at the Dead sea to take photos before heading to the public beach. If you can see from the pictures, the water was so clear and beautiful. No polution at all. I was amazed with the beauty of the ocean. How wonderful Allah created it. In the pictures below all the white stuff was all the mineral salts. The amount contain 4 times the amount of sodium chloride as is found in normal ocean, making it unsuitable for plant and animal life and also u could float by yourself. The formation of the mineral salts look similiar like coral. It was also told that the water can help in treating skin problem. Don't know how true is that.
Dead Sea is the lowest point on the surface of earth. It was once told that it was the land the Prophet Luth lived. The people of the towns and cities were sinful for their acts of homosexuality, raping men, robbery and murder and had therefore been given a punishment for such deeds. The punishment arrived when angels in the form of beautiful men were sent down by Allah as guests for Luth to host. When Luth's people heard of the men, they rushed to Luth's house to misbehave and rape the men. This was their final test which they failed so the angels raised the land where the prophet's people lived, tipped it upside down and threw it back on earth, causing the ground near the impact to cave in. Thus, the lowest land on Earth was formed because of this punishment. The non-believers were destroyed and the followers were saved.
The salt deposits on the cliff
Beyond the cliffs is Israel
Us at the beach - Ehsan tempted to swim
Monastery Complex - under construction
Us at the stone mark
The Brazen Serpent sculpture
The craftmen designing for a table top
St. George Church
Dead Sea is the lowest point on the surface of earth. It was once told that it was the land the Prophet Luth lived. The people of the towns and cities were sinful for their acts of homosexuality, raping men, robbery and murder and had therefore been given a punishment for such deeds. The punishment arrived when angels in the form of beautiful men were sent down by Allah as guests for Luth to host. When Luth's people heard of the men, they rushed to Luth's house to misbehave and rape the men. This was their final test which they failed so the angels raised the land where the prophet's people lived, tipped it upside down and threw it back on earth, causing the ground near the impact to cave in. Thus, the lowest land on Earth was formed because of this punishment. The non-believers were destroyed and the followers were saved.
The salt deposits on the cliff
Beyond the cliffs is Israel
Us at the beach - Ehsan tempted to swim
12.30 p.m - Since none of us swim, we continue our journey to Mount Nebo. According to the Bible, Yahveh had told Moses to climb so that he could see the promised land before dying and it is here that Moses was buried. A cross signs the spot chosen to commemorate his death. Now the place are use to display all the mosaic design by the mosaic craftmen Soelos, Kaiomos and Elijah and some say it is still been used for pilgrimage by the Christians.
Monastery Complex - under construction
Us at the stone mark
The Brazen Serpent sculpture
1.45 p.m - We went down from Mount Nebo to find our lunch. But on the way back we saw alot of craft shop making mosaic, so we insist the driver to drop us for a while. Eventhough the craftmen are handicap but they are talented. The mosaic made are not only to be frame for display but also they made into furniture like table top for dining table. But the bigger mosaic are the cheapest one compare to the smallest mosaic. This is because the smallest one consume time, neatness and patience. We did bought one mosaic for our new house in KD - our house number.
The craftmen designing for a table top
2.45 p.m - Had lunch at a restaurant in town and headed to Madaba Church.
3.30 p.m - Arrived in Madaba to look at the most famous floor mosaic design at St. George Church, the Greek-Orthodox church. It was a sort of geographic map of Palestine created for the benefits of the pilgrims on their way to the Holy Land. It was a huge map that I guess about 3 meters long.
3.30 p.m - Arrived in Madaba to look at the most famous floor mosaic design at St. George Church, the Greek-Orthodox church. It was a sort of geographic map of Palestine created for the benefits of the pilgrims on their way to the Holy Land. It was a huge map that I guess about 3 meters long.
St. George Church
Mosaic design of Palestine map
The explaination of the map
4.00 p.m - Spent half an hour at the church and start the journey again back to Amman. The journey to Amman took about 1 hour before we reached at our apartment. This is the only time we got back to the hotel at early time. We also been introduced to our new tour guide, Ust. Said as Ust. Zaid had to go to Syria to guide the next group to arrive tomorrow. We had nap upon arrived at the apartment.
8.00 p.m - Later that night we went to a shopping mall since hubby desparate to have his McD. Got some toys for the kids and 2 pairs of blouse for me. Bought some vege from Carrefour to bring back to Khartoum. Had a wonderful night got to be in a surrounding similar to Malaysia. At least terlepas rindu nak jalan2 kat shopping mall.
10.30 p.m - Headed back to our apartment and started to pack our stuff as tomorrow another hectic day to come.
8.00 p.m - Later that night we went to a shopping mall since hubby desparate to have his McD. Got some toys for the kids and 2 pairs of blouse for me. Bought some vege from Carrefour to bring back to Khartoum. Had a wonderful night got to be in a surrounding similar to Malaysia. At least terlepas rindu nak jalan2 kat shopping mall.
10.30 p.m - Headed back to our apartment and started to pack our stuff as tomorrow another hectic day to come.
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