de-DEen-US
de-DEen-US

Kerak

From Amman, we continued on to Kerak. The route took us through small Jordanian villages and long, deserted roads. We kept pointing out the beautiful landscape to each other. And then the crusader castle of Kerak suddenly appeared in front of us. It is one of the largest castles in the region and watches over the town from atop a mountain. Crusaders from the Kingdom of Jerusalem once lived in the castle. Today, only (well-preserved) ruins remain. So let's go and visit the castle, shall we?

 The castle

The castle complex is large and interesting! We were able to visit the castle for free thanks to the JordanPass. Exploring the many corridors and levels of the castle was really exciting. However, my highlight up there was the magnificent view over the city with its beautiful landscape!


 Where to sleep

We stayed at the Cairwan Hotel. The staff were extremely nice and helpful. The hotel was perfectly fine. It even seems to be one of the better ones in the area. Unfortunately, it was only very cold in Meike's and my room at night... I would still stay here again!


 How life plays out

Unfortunately, some of us didn't feel quite so well. The many unfamiliar spices upset our stomachs. So we took it easy for a while... At some point, we managed to pull ourselves together and made our way to the castle. To do so, we drove through the “city center” of Kerak. There are a few stores, restaurants and market stalls there. We quickly realized that life here is very different from ours. The inhabitants have much less to live on than us middle-class Europeans. Our living conditions are much more luxurious than those of the (average) inhabitants here in Kerak. And yet somehow they seem to be happier. The children laugh as they play soccer in the street with an old tin can. On the street corner, an old man passionately sings his song. Most people seem happy. It shows me once again that it doesn't matter how much you have in life, it doesn't make you any happier. On the contrary! It's often the simple things that make us happy...