Oryx spotting in Azraq

  Azraq Oasis, Jordan
Thursday, March 16, 2006

Whilst we were sharing a few beers back at the ranch in Madaba, Charlie and I got talking about the chunk of Jordanian desert territory that lies directly east from Amman and continues off into the distance for hundreds of kilometres all the way to the Iraqi border. He'd heard that there was some interesting stuff out there and offered to take me out on the back of the bike if I'd like to come.

Syria was beckoning but another foray into the wastes was too good to refuse. We were enjoying each others' company and the adventure would do us both good. So off we went into the pale blue yonder, detouring around the capital and quickly leaving the greenness of the central plains behind to find ourselves in yet another region of Jordanian 'outback'.



This (above left) is pretty much it for miles as you take the eastern highway, which fallows a very shallow wadi bounded by low lying hills on each horizon (when looking left or right from the bike). Occasionally a kink in the road, a higher hill or a semi trailer blasting by slows progress but on the whole it's eerily reminiscent of the Australian Outback - right down to the whirly-winds blowing dust into a air at regular intervals (you can faintly see one behind the truck in the pic above right). I felt right at home :)



Qasr al Harrana is the first main sight you come to. It's a splendid fort type structure that was built around 710AD by the Umayyids and actually served as a Caravanserai (Inn) for most of its long life.

The slits in the walls do look like an arrow could be fired from them but they were designed to provide light to the internals of the building. The magnificent architecture continues on the inside, with graceful arched supports in most of the rooms making for an attractive and sturdy structure. One of the back turreted corners is crumbling a little but apart from that she's in very good condition, so I'm surprised some of the local Bedouin haven't moved in.

We bypassed a smaller ruin a little further on and headed to our target - Azraq Oasis - a 12,000 square kilometre lake and wetland area that the Jordanian government (in their infinite wisdom) decided to suck dry in the 1980s to provide drinking water to the capital. Now only about 12 km square of lake remains, ringed by the rambling town of Azraq, which is the junction for highways that head south to Saudi Arabia and north east to Iraq.



One main attraction here is the black basalt Azraq castle. Originally built by the Romans, subsequently expanded by the Umayyids and later garrisoned by the Ottomans in the 17th century, its most recent claim to fame was that Sherif Hussein and Lawrence of Arabia used it as their base in the winter of 1917 to launch the final assault on Damascus during the Arab Revolt of WWI. Lawrence lived here for four weeks and describes the room he took on the second floor above the southern gate in detail in his Seven Pillars of Wisdom.



Unfortunately the castle came to grief during an earthquake in 1927, but some of the structure has been rebuilt by the Jordanians and the result is an impressive ruin. You can visit Lawrence's room which is spacious and would have been quite comfortable with a few rugs on the floor. The cantilever roofs (long central beams each supported by two short stones projecting from the walls) are a little disconcerting but obviously very stable, and carved stones from most earlier eras are in still in evidence across the site today.



Other features of this ruin I hadn't seen before include a number of one and three tonne stone doors, installed on hinges by the Romans way back then and that are still very functional today. Amazing to you can still push and pull them into place. Also, some sets of protruding rocks that act as stairs run up the walls and are still safe to climb. Finally, in the northern end of the compound, is a long arched room that used to be the Stables. Feed troughs run along the walls and multitudes of holey stones, used to tether the horses, are still laying about. This site is definitely good value on the small details!



Ten kilometres down the road towards Saudi Arabia is the Shaumari Wildlife Reserve. We'd heard the mystical Arabian Oryx could be found here so stopping in would be an added bonus to an already worthwhile trip, especially considering they would throw in ostriches and wild donkeys as well. The ostriches draw you in first, bizarre critters that they are, pecking at each others' backsides and bopping around in an unusual manner. Unfortunately not one buried his head in the sand while we were there - obviously neither of us looked frightening enough!



Up in the viewing tower the Oryx became evident. Around 100 individuals roaming in a number of herds live here now and through the binoculars provided you can see why they were prized by the hunters that sent them almost to extinction. I don't condone hunting for sport but they look pretty tasty and all mature Oryx heads sport long tapered antlers that some would think look great on a wall. Don't expect that you can come down here for a bit of blood sport - it's a conservation reserve after all.

All in all a nice little reserve that you can actually camp in during the summer season. Would have been good to know that the night before as it is a much better option than the two expensive hotels we found back in town.



The final highlight of the journey was that little stone structure we zoomed by earlier on the way out - Qasr Amra - which is now actually a UNESCO World Heritage site. The baths are all that remains of this desert resort built again by the Umayyids in the 8th century AD. It doesn't look like much from the road but the internal decorations of the Bath Hall would have been absolutely spectacular in their time, with a variety of scenes still discernable across the walls and ceilings. I couldn't get many good photos due to degradation and poor light, but the picture above right gives you an idea of what it was like - very colourful and detailed in the finishing.

It took less than 24 hours to get out and back so we were in Madaba well in time for a cold beer to slake the desert thirst. Not the easiest place to get to unless you have your own transport, however it is well worth a day if you do. Just fill the tank before you head out and watch out for all the big trucks and expensive saloons hogging the road out of Saudi Arabia!

Next entry -> Bosra, Syria

Great Brands of the World - Jordan

Once again a mobile phone network provider comes to save the day.

Umniah is a strange looking and sounding brand that actually grows on you to the point of wanting to switch providers, even though you still have credit on your current SIM card!



I'm not sure what the name means or whether it is doing well in the marketplace but I like its style - it looks to be a tasteful and classy operator that could comfortably sit alongside other quality brands on the world stage.