Makawir - One of Herod's Hilltop Fortresses

I thought that since so many of you have not visited Jordan and may not get the chance, that I would use this blog to take you on some mini tours of some of the sites, history, people and lifestyles of Jordan.  

A couple of times in the last 6 weeks, dad and the boys have hiked from Makawir to the Dead Sea and back up.... a drop/accent  of 3,000 ft.  Makawir was one of King Herod's hilltop retreats.  Others include Masada and Herodium where Herod was buried.  Makawir was made famous as the site where John the Baptist was beheaded in about 30-31 A.D.  This site is not as well preserved as Masada, which some of you have visited.  

 Hopefully you can see how steep the decent is in places.  Jordan has not had much rain so far this year.  Usually it would be a little greener by December.  Jordan is the 4th driest country in the world and water is always a concern.  For instance there is NO water infrastructure, even in the modern city of Amman.  All houses, and buildings have water storage tanks that are filled on a monthly basis.  Short showers is the order of the day in Jordan!

 2 tired hikers...I think it was at about this site that they all lay down for a rest and saw buzzards hovering overhead hoping for lunch.  They had a good time joking about what the buzzards must be thinking..."Ummm, Hey, Hank... how about you take the one on the right."  The flies were incredibly annoying.  Maybe you can see a few on Jeremy.  Somehow they didn't like Jared as well.  Maybe Jeremy was wearing cologne?

 Here you can see what little remains on the hilltop... Just a few Roman columns.  The wall is mostly gone.  Herod had a commanding view of the Dead Sea. The fortress would have nearly impossible to assault.

This was the first hike with fellow scout hiking merit badge counselor Harold and his son.  Once again you can see that it is a very steep decent in places.  The guys are anxious to find a route that requires rappelling!

 They made it!   I think it took dad a couple of days to recover...but by the next week he was ready to go again.