Kiya, Michael and I took advantage of our Labor Day holiday and decided to do the Desert Castles loop. Five Castles, One Day. Here we go.
Our first stop, Qasr Kharana, was pretty short and sweet. Qasr Kharana was an 8th century convention center of sorts, a place where the Ummayid caliphs could get together and schmooze. We took some pictures and sneaked past a "do not enter" sign to get an amazing view from the roof.
We moved on to Qasr Amra, an Ummayid bathhouse that was once attached to a larger hunting lodge complex. Sadly, the awesome murals were under restoration and largely blocked by a giant scaffolding system. When we turned the corner, to see the "first zodiac painted on a domed ceiling", we discovered a dessicated creature who dominated our conversation for the rest of the day. At first we were just horrified, as we thought it was curled up in death throes. Then Kiya threw a rock and it convulsed, leading me to jump 10 feet in the air and scream like a diving hawk. It had a beak, 10 furry legs, and a body that was separated into distinct sections - spider? or mutant ant? (later google images taught us it was a camel spider....terrifying)
Next stop was Qasr Azraq and the Azraq Wildlife Preserve. We actually saw water buffalo this time (maybe Willy scared them away last time?). So many of them...including one that was swimming along, having the time of his life. We also got introduced to an extremely aggressive wasp. I took one for the team and let him sting me, to save Kiya and Crew from being attacked (I had visions of it stinging the baby as I heroically flung my hand up). The sting felt like fire traveling up my arm and itched for a good month afterwards.
Last stop was Umm al-Jamal. We hit it right at sunset and the setting sun on black basalt was golden, warm and made me wish I had a reason to do a photo shoot. Umm al-Jamal is open access - we climbed all over the ruins and took lots of pictures of one adorably happy baby. And then went home, tired, hot and happy.
Our first stop, Qasr Kharana, was pretty short and sweet. Qasr Kharana was an 8th century convention center of sorts, a place where the Ummayid caliphs could get together and schmooze. We took some pictures and sneaked past a "do not enter" sign to get an amazing view from the roof.
We moved on to Qasr Amra, an Ummayid bathhouse that was once attached to a larger hunting lodge complex. Sadly, the awesome murals were under restoration and largely blocked by a giant scaffolding system. When we turned the corner, to see the "first zodiac painted on a domed ceiling", we discovered a dessicated creature who dominated our conversation for the rest of the day. At first we were just horrified, as we thought it was curled up in death throes. Then Kiya threw a rock and it convulsed, leading me to jump 10 feet in the air and scream like a diving hawk. It had a beak, 10 furry legs, and a body that was separated into distinct sections - spider? or mutant ant? (later google images taught us it was a camel spider....terrifying)
Next stop was Qasr Azraq and the Azraq Wildlife Preserve. We actually saw water buffalo this time (maybe Willy scared them away last time?). So many of them...including one that was swimming along, having the time of his life. We also got introduced to an extremely aggressive wasp. I took one for the team and let him sting me, to save Kiya and Crew from being attacked (I had visions of it stinging the baby as I heroically flung my hand up). The sting felt like fire traveling up my arm and itched for a good month afterwards.
wrist sting
dastardly wasps
Last stop was Umm al-Jamal. We hit it right at sunset and the setting sun on black basalt was golden, warm and made me wish I had a reason to do a photo shoot. Umm al-Jamal is open access - we climbed all over the ruins and took lots of pictures of one adorably happy baby. And then went home, tired, hot and happy.
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