Qasr Mushatta

Continuing west you’ll move through more expanses of desert, dotted with Bedouin tents. To reach the castle take the highway or any turn-off to Queen Alia International Airport. Hitchhikers often hire a service taxi from the village of Muwaqaar in the north to reach the castle. The castle is on the left as you approach the airport from the north, but the public access road turns off to the right and loops about 4km around the airport. If you’re walking from the airport, don’t take this marked turn-off. Instead, continue to the left of the airport, past the Alia cargo terminal, until Mushatta appears on the left (a Yz-hr. walk).

Soldiers and guards at checkpoints will ask to see your passport. The facade of the 8th-century castle beckons at the entrance with wonderfully carved flora! designs. Most of the carved stones, however, were delivered to Kaiser Wilhelm as a gift from Ottoman Sultan Abd al-Hamid II, and only fragments remain at this site. From Qasr Mushatta and the airport you can catch a taxi or bus to Amman; hitchers find it an easy trip back into town