Jordan off the beaten track, part 1

After a wonderful traditional Jordanian dinner together on Sunday night, I bid farewell to my tour group on Monday morning. I had organized a private tour for the rest of that day; the first stop on this being Shobak castle.

Shobak apparently doesn't get as many tourists as Kerak castle. In fact, it's considered more of an active archaeological site than a tourist attraction. So instead of buying a ticket, I just needed to sign in on a visitor's form at the gate.

I managed to find most of the sites of interest listed in my Lonely Planet by just wandering around (there are no signs, maps, or marked tour routes). I was unable to locate the escape tunnel, though (the one mentioned in a previous post), so I decided to seek out some help. I found a couple of archaeologists measuring the distance between carve marks on the stones in one of the rooms. One of them had an official looking badge and spoke English.

"Hi," he greeted me.
"Hello... I'm looking for the tunnel. The escape tunnel?"
"Hmmm, yes. Well, it is very dangerous."
"Really? Oh..."
"Do you have light?"
I pulled out my maglight from my pack, "Yes."
"Oh, that's good. Well, you can go see it, and then decide if you want to go."
He walked over with a binder, flipping to a plan of the castle. He pointed out the spot, and an easy route to it. "Ok, be careful. It is dangerous and long."
"How long is it?"
"Over one kilometer."
"Oh, ok. Wow." I wasn't quite expecting that. "Well, I will go see if I want to go through with it then."
"Yes, go see it. It is very interesting. Then you can decide... go, or come back."

I set off, and found the entrance without delay this time.
The stairs led down steeply, and were uneven, broken in places, and covered in a fine dust. I could see what he was getting at with the dangerous bit, now. After the first corner, the flashlight was on.

I wanted to experience the tunnel. I climbed down for a few minutes, until I had put a few corners between myself and the entrance. At this point, I stopped and turned off the flashlight.

Black.

The kind of black that makes a crow teem with colour by comparison.

Silence.

And that was enough of that. I wasn't seriously considering doing the whole thing after what the other fellow had said, but now I was utterly convinced that this wasn't something you did without, at the very least, an extra flashlight and, frankly, a buddy.

Here's a photo of me climbing back out, nearing the top.


... and the same shot withouth flash...