Dead Sea spa resort comparison: which of the nine major hotels actually deserves your booking
Nine resorts, one strip of beach, very different price points and very different experiences. Practical comparison of the major Dead Sea ho…
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Karak vs Shobak: comparing the two big Crusader castles on the King Highway
Both built in the 12th century, both held against Saladin until 1188-1189, both sit on the King Highway. Practical comparison of which to v…
The Irbid archaeology museums: two collections at Yarmouk University, plus Tell Irbid itself
Two of the best regional archaeology museums in Jordan are on a single university campus 70 km north of Amman — the Museum of Jordanian Her…
Jabal Amman: a walk through the hill that built the modern capital
One of Amman's seven hills, never fortified, settled by the Hashemite-era elite from the 1920s. The deepest cluster of early-20th-century r…
Karak Castle: the Crusader stronghold that even Saladin had to siege twice
The 12th-century Crusader fortress that controlled the King's Highway between Jerusalem and Mecca — and held out under Reynald of Châtillon…
The Jordan Bike Trail: 730 km of MTB from Umm Qais to the Red Sea
Launched 2017 alongside the Jordan Trail, the Jordan Bike Trail is the country's first long-distance MTB route — 730 km of gravel + paved +…
The Jordan Trail: 40 days, 8 sections, 675 km from Umm Qais to the Red Sea
Established 2017, the Jordan Trail is a 675 km north-south thru-hike from Umm Qais to the Red Sea, divided into 8 sections that can be walk…
Eastern desert dark sky: Bortle-1 stargazing 80 km from any town
Beyond Azraq, the eastern Jordanian desert opens to one of the darkest reachable skies in the Middle East. No towns within 80 km, no Bedoui…
Qasr Azraq: the basalt fortress where T.E. Lawrence wintered in 1917
Black basalt walls, a one-tonne stone door that pivots on palm-oil hinges, and the only oasis in 12,000 km² of desert. Lawrence used it as …
Qasr Kharana: a perfectly square Umayyad caravan-meeting-house in the eastern desert
Built before November 24, 710 CE — the inscription is dated to the day. A 35-metre square fortress with 60 rooms around a central courtyard…
