Ways to keep occupied on a car trip

I find that taking public transportation can be both a lovely way to see some of a new country and also one of the more monotonous parts of a trip. To keep myself from nodding off and accidentally landing on my neighbor I decided that I'd use the trip back from the Israel border to try to learn what the Arabic numbers look like. This was only doable because many of the license plates have the plate number written in both forms (I get so confused trying to figure out what to call each type of number as technically the US uses Arabic numbers and Arabic uses ??? Hindi ???). By then end of my hour and a half drive I was pleased to be able to say that I knew the symbols for all the numbers except for 4 and 6 (which Nathan quickly filled in for me). Now I just need to learn to count to ten out loud so that I can add another counting language to my repertoire.

For pronunciation
For writing the numbers

A new food

While in Jordan I've been introduced to a new food that I've discovered I quite like (thanks Nathan!). It's called labneh. I had to go online to find out exactly what it is since the only ingredient listed on the package is cow's milk. Basically labneh is an extremely soft cheese (about half way between yogurt and cream cheese). It's light, fresh and a bit mild. I found directions on how you could make it, but I'd be much happier if I could actually find it in Turkey or the US. I highly recommend you try it if you ever get the chance!

Karak Castle

One of the things I love about exploring sites in non-Western countries is the utter freedom you have to explore. Sure there might be a fence around some portion of the place, but just as often a guardian will lead you through a hole encouraging you to explore (just as happened with us at the "closed" Lot's Cave). Karak Castle, south of Amman in Jordan was another one of those places. We were free to follow all the small dark stone staircases we found, occasionally arriving into a lower cavern often lit with only a few small holes of sunlight. No where was off limits. Sure, there was an area with some barbed wire around it, but then another path just led right around that (makes one think that they weren't so serious about the barbed wire). We scrambled up onto the keep, climbing until we were on the very top - literally looking down over a hundred feet to the city below - and could enjoy the distant view of the Dead Sea (or the Died Sea as a few signs proclaimed). Having such freedom to explore really makes you feel like you are discovering a site. That even though it has been excavated and cleaned up there is still enough of a sense of adventure to allow you to make some sort of claim of the spot. After all, as the pristine snow we tramped through revealed, no one else had been there, at least not that day. I can definitely say that I saw (or experienced?) Karak Castle, and all the side rooms, dungeons and tunnels it contained.

Differences

The more I travel, the more I seem to be surprised by the little things. When I'm in a new country the big new sights are things that I expect, are in fact a good portion of why I chose to go to that place. But it always seems to be the little things that make an impression on me and stick in my mind. I'm currently sitting in a friend's apartment in Amman, Jordan and except for the snow, things are pretty much how I remember from my brief trip here last year...except for this one thing that I seem to keep noticing. In the dead of winter there is a truck that rolls around the streets of Amman playing music that reminds me of an ice cream truck in the US. What??? Surely not. Why would people be going out to buy ice cream when there is at least an inch of snow on the ground (snow that they normally don't see)? Well it turns out that the truck is announcing its presence for those who want to buy gas. It cruises the streets waiting for patrons interested in changing their gas canisters. While it seems a bit of an odd way to deal with it, I have heard it often enough to think that a house wouldn't be too long without gas if they were waiting. And it does seem a bit more welcome in the middle of winter then ice cream would be.

Desert Castles

Desert Castle
Originally uploaded by pollhup

Each of the desert castles east of Amman in Jordan has its own unique characteristic to make it worth seeing. Yesterday Nathan took me out for the day to explore three of these castles - Qala'at Al-Azraq, Qusayr Amra and Qasr al-kharana. I have to say that the first was by far the most fun to explore. One of the joys of traveling outside of the "Western world" is that you are not as limited in where you can go within a particular location. The rule seems to be just don't be stupid enough to get yourself hurt or into trouble. I must admit that Al-Azraq provided plenty of places where I could have easily fallen to the ground, but luckily the gods of balance were with me yesterday. Al-Azraq is an old castle that is built entirely of black basalt. And I mean entirely - roof included. I'm often amazed at the constructions earlier period could complete. Natural stone arches supporting a fully stone ceiling. Oftentimes it appeared that the ceiling stones could just to come dropping down at any moment, but I guess that there enduring placement is proof enough that they are well wedged in. The highlights of this fort? The basalt door at the main entrance. Each side constructed from a single stone, they had rudimentary hinges comprised of an extra protrusion on the top and bottom which fit perfectly into shallow bowls and on which the door could swing. I found myself surprised that I could move such a heavy door with a single hand (of course the more modern addition of grease probably helped a bit). What a piece of work! More fun though, were the staircases on thin air. Seriously. I felt like I was walking up to the sky with very little support. The ingenious construction involved long pieces of stone anchored into the construction of the wall, jutting out over the ground. Each step separate from the others, and often a bit of a long reach, the reassurance of the wall to grasp was an appreciated presence. But clambering up them did make me wonder if perhaps this is what a stairway to heaven would look like. In any case, the desert castles of Jordan are well worth a day trip to see.