Karak

Karak Castle
Awoke to the morning prayers of Madaba and playful calls of children on the streets.
  It is school holidays here, so where
ever we have travelled we have seen many children
who have proven to be very playful and welcoming.
  We decided to have Abu Samir take us on our days journey again.
See here in Jordan its near impossible to travel by public transport
Which is very costly. So we have spent much time discussing how we're
going to travel to each place for maximum efficiency.  On the road again,
listening to Romanian club-mixs (which I now kmow the words to) we head to
Karak castle.  A town further south of Madaba built sloped down the hill, whereon
sits the castle.  circling the castle again is a dried up moat which separates
the scrawny and joyous streets (one way, with cars going two-way) from the spacious
and desolate kingdom.
  The castle made me feel quite powerful as I looked out onto a panoramic view of Jordan,
and I was not surprized to discover that its know as a spot for casting wars.
  Many have reigned from the castle over the years (as it was
built BC) but the story of Salah al-din (Saladin) is the most famous and interesting.
  Around 1140, While the crusaders were having some weird crisis in the middle east,
a leader named Richard was assuming control of Karak castle and would throw the locals
out of the windows (their heads in wooden boxs so theyd hit the ground conscious).
Salah al din, a Sunni Muslim, stuck up for his people always and fought against the crusaders
(he was quite a shrewd and gory fighter, a leader too)
So He was cast into Richards dungeon. Although, Saladin was such a nice guy that he
became friends with many of the crusaders including RIchard, so he was eventually released.
I think most of the people here could get out of dungeons, as they all seem so sweet.
Anyway so we had our first meal that wasnt (delicious) bread homos and falafel or shwarma.
We shared Okra and kofka with rice! (made by Abu's cousin) And found Abu Samir getting his hair cut next door.

We then took off towards the sun to Dana, where the springs trickle down hills of trees which
rustle with birds snakes and horned dears.  The village sits amidst the trees down the slope of the hill looking
over a great weaving valley to the west (where, ofcoarse, the sun goes to sleep).
  The village was founded by a beduin family tens of years ago and is made entirely by huge white stones.
Today, the same three families still live here anf use their land to preserve the natural
flora and fauna specific to the Middle East.  My insect collection is growing.
Abu Samir took us to his cousins hotel where he said we could camp cheaply, however as the
tents are "under renovation" we were put into the rooms for the same price.  As the sun set,
we were offered dinner.  Oh my Golly.  After so long of petty food dinner made me choke:
It was a banquet!!  A mountain of rice with a variety of curries salad and meat to serve yourself
as you fancy all cooked with VEGETABLES!!! After being taught it so many times, I finally
remembered how to say the meal was delicious in arabic.  A quiet evening of backgammon led us to a
lazy morning and I've been writing, drawing, painting laughing and singing under olive trees by the spring ever since.

We may spend a few more days here before we hit Petra.