Madaba

We had a big decision to make: desert, kings or dead sea highway! Google said all about the same time of 4 hours, but we knew not to trust that already. In the end local advice swayed us back the route we mostly came along the dead sea, although interesting we peaked at only 36C, considerably lower than the 44C last week.

We stopped off at Karak to visit the old crusader castle. We weren't expecting much but it was pretty amazing to have unfettered access to this ancient place and imagine the knights enjoying the coolness behind the thick stone walls. We could have done with a couple of hours here but we were a little tight on time so rushed around and did the final couple of hours push to Madaba, only half an hour from the airport.

Unlike us, we visited lots of churches. The first had the remnants of a 6th century mosaic map of the entire holy lands and beyond, the second a massive mosaic floor, and the third a rickety bell tower plus some amazing catacombs to explore.

A well earned sunset beer was enjoyed on a roof top, with the local pigeon fancier providing the entertainment. We wrapped the evening, and the trip, off with a lovely local meal in a restaurant set in a cave, accompanied by some local wine that was so full bodied it could have climbed out of the glass by itself!Read more