Middle East - Anthony Ham [303]
Stepping gingerly into the clinically white foyer, I expected to be routed by the security guard. Instead I was offered a mint tea, given a spa bag to stow boots and notebook, and shown to the pristine changing rooms. The spa experience starts in the cradling waters of the Dead Sea saltwater pool (27% salt), followed with a foot spa and a float in the Damascene-tiled Jacuzzi. Then I stepped outside for a bullying with jet sprays that exercised parts they probably shouldn’t have. Best of all were the little pots that bubble when you sit in them and really ought to be X-rated.
Luxury of this kind is an extreme sport, and by the time I reached the spa’s private infinity pool, I was so seduced by the ambience I hadn’t the energy to try the saunas, steam rooms and tropical sprays. I laid under the oleander by the pool, sipping a chilled carrot juice, and wondering where the next tough assignment would take me.
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Other options include the Ibex Trail (JD9.5), a half-day guided hike that leads up to the Nubian ibex enclosure.
Guides are compulsory for all but the Siq trail and should be booked in advance through the RSCN in Amman (Click here).
The reserve operates 15 chalets ( 079 7203888; s/d JD84/95; ) on the windy shores of the Dead Sea. They are very popular so book in advance. Each chalet has twin beds, and freshwater showers are available in the communal shower block. The small restaurant serves early breakfast (7am to 8.30am) for hikers. For JD25.500, chalet guests can also order a lunch or dinner of chicken, salad and mezze. A share of the profits is returned to the running of the reserve.
There’s no public transport to the reserve so you need to rent a car or take a taxi from Amman, Madaba or Karak.
THE EASTERN DESERT
The landscape east of Amman quickly turns into a featureless stone desert, known as the badia, cut by twin highways running to Iraq and Saudi Arabia. It has its own haunting if barren beauty, partly because it seems so limitless: indeed this is what 80% of Jordan looks like, while supporting only 5% of its population. If you stray into this territory, you’ll be surprised to find you’re not the first to do so. A whole assortment of ruined hunting lodges, bathhouses and pleasure palaces, known collectively as ‘desert castles’, have lured people into the wilderness for centuries. Accommodation and public transport is almost nonexistent out here so most travellers visit the region on a tour from Amman. Alternatively, hire a car and make a thorough job of it by staying overnight in Azraq.
UMM AL-JIMAL
The strange, ruined basalt city of Umm al-Jimal (admission free; daylight hr), only 10km from the Syrian border, is known by archaeologists as the ‘Black Gem of the Desert’. It is thought to have been founded around the 2nd century AD and to have formed part of the defensive line of Rome’s Arab possessions. It continued to flourish into Umayyad times as a city of 3000 inhabitants but was destroyed by an earthquake in AD 747. Much of what remains is urban (as opposed to monumental) architecture, including houses, reservoirs, various churches, a Roman barracks and the impressive Western Church. Umm al-Jimal is one of the region’s most captivating sites, and the opportunity to scramble across huge basalt blocks warmed by the heat of the desert sun is simply too good to miss.
It’s possible to see Umm al-Jimal on a day trip from Amman. Take a local minibus from Raghadan station to Zarqa (20 minutes), a minibus from there to Mafraq (45 minutes) and then another minibus 20km on to the ruins (20 minutes).
THE DESERT CASTLES
Most of the so-called ‘desert castles’ were built or adapted by the Damascus-based Umayyad rulers in the late 7th and early 8th centuries as desert retreats or hunting lodges, rather than actual castles. The most popular ruins can be visited in a loop from Amman via Azraq. It is just feasible to travel this loop in one long day using a combination of public transport and hitching,