Ok, I have googled now because I don't know anywhere else in Jordan. I think it's possibly Kerak which seems to have an archaeological site and a castle and is between Amman and Petra.
Where Am I? Game
Yes, it's Kerak castle in the Biblical land of Moab. It's one of the largest castles in that part of the world, built by Frankish Crusaders then besieged several times by Saladin, finally taken by his nephew in the 1180s and subsequently 'owned', extended and improved by the Ayyubid, Mamluk and Ottoman dynasties.
Your turn, Irene. :-)
[ Edit: Edited on 8 Jul 2023, 07:35 GMT by leics2 ]
OK, thank you. I knew there was a famous crusader castle in Syria, but did not realise there was one in Jordan, too. It looks very interesting.
So where am I?
This place has a black sand beach,
some traditional houses with balconies,
lots of historical buildings,
such as fortresses
and nowadays lots of new buildings mixed in with the old.
I'll put up a few more clues before heading to bed.
This place is on a river and on the sea.
The food here is very good and a wide range of cuisines are available. We always try and have a plate of the dish shown in the picture when here.
The wine is good too and even has its own museum.
There are different religions and religious buildings here: such as this church
and this temple.
These clues will literally give it away.
A Grand Prix is held here and there's a museum about that, too.
However, nowadays this place is best known for its themed hotels, like this
and this
also its shows, many of which are excellent,
and its disgustingly huge number of casinos, which as someone who does not gamble, I don't like.
However, fortunately this Las Vegas of the Far East still has some traditional culture, too.
That looks like it might be Teddy Yip's domain...
Macau. They've had a Grand Prix there for many years. One of my friends was chief mechanic for P H Wong in Singapore and one day an old Lotus 20 turned up. P H Wong phoned Geoff, "I want you to prepare that Lotus for a friend of mine for the next race." And so Geoff did. Later in the day a chauffeur-driven limousine pulled up and a little man emerged from the back seat and introduced himself as Teddy Yip.
Geoff did his usual top-line job on the car and they took it to the race meeting.d P H Wong and Teddy Yip were sitting around drinking something strong as the practice sessions rolled on. Then there was a call over the public address - "Could Teddy Yip please go to his car?"
And so Teddy, all by himself, drove five or so laps of the circuit. When he pulled back in he congratulated Geoff on the job he'd done with the car. "It has never gone so well before, thank you!"
And went back to his table with P H Wong and resumed relaxing with their drinks.
Yes it is Macau. Well done. Your turn Ray.
And now that I look at the photo of the race cars, it's most likely white one in the is the very Lotus 20 Geoff prepared.
"Theodore Racing" was Teddy's team's name when he went into European racing sponsoring a number of drivers, right up to Formula One.
This is a family day out...
Most will quickly conclude this is Australia, so I'll simply say so in this initial stage. It took place over nine years ago and we went to a popular spot for a bit of adventure. Being so long ago, it means that my late wife is a part of the scene...
Janet out for the day. The scrubby trees and the rocks are opened up to the public here by walking trails like this one. But Janet would only go so far.[/b]
...but not for all the exploring. Her eldest son, Ashley, wanted to climb this edifice:
Tempting us to climb.[i] Steep and tall, this monolith attracted Ashley and his son, Lachlan, would go with him, as would I. The girls stayed at ground level.
I will always remember that climb. I would stop and rest periodically (I was, after all, in my mid-sixties) and at one point Ashley turned to me and said, "You're not going to peg out on me, are you?" Of course I wasn't!
The steepness of the climb shows here:
Steep climb. No wonder I was running out of breath! This kind of exercise wasn't on my list of everyday activities.
...and yet, we weren't alone:
A native inhabitant. Lizard or little goanna? I don't know, but he was hiding among the flaking rock. I'd say his stubby legs made climbing here easier for him.
We reached the top and took in the marvellous views...
Lachlan looks into the distance. Each direction had a different view, looking this way featured hills covered in rocks with farms further away.
More rugged countryside. A local road and the highway are seen in this shot, as is the distance we were from ground level.
...before we descended to once again join the girls.
Steep descent too. Ashley begins making his way towards the lower level, probably thinking about having something to eat after this exercise.
We found Janet and Lachlan's younger sister, Bethany, near where the rocks have fallen to form a bit of an arch:
Awaiting our return. I don't know what Janet thought of Bethany's colour combinations, the green hat and the pink backpack would not have inspired the very dress and colour-conscious lady.
But, after all, Bethany was the only granddaughter she would ever know.
We moved along towards the busier area on the lower ground, through the arch:
Still carrying that stick! I don't know where or why Janet picked up that stick, but she still walked with it through the arch.
The stream flowed over the rocks near the picnic grounds...
Where the water flows. Ashley and Lachlan examine the flowing water and the rock pools, one of which brought me to grief.
...and I slipped on a mossy point and my camera went down with me. I didn't realise it at the time, but the outer lens element popped out and I guess it went into the rock pool as I didn't see it anywhere. This marked the end of my using the 3mp camera and I went to the car and got the 6mp camera for the rest of the day.
After a snack we went to another corner of the park, flatter and where it showed signs of having been ravaged by a fire. One tree had been hollowed out by the fire and, surprisingly, Janet wanted to get inside it:
A burning desire? I think not. Janet inside the burned-out tree.
There was a lot more rocks in this part of the park, but not the tall ones like the one we had climbed. A stream ran beneath some at the base of this formation:
Sculpted by nature. Similar to the famous 'Wave Rock', this rock seemed to attract young Lachlan and that caused Ashley to get nervous about his son's safety.
It was time to wander out and find the cars so we could drive home. Along the path this plant attracted our attention:
Pretty flowers. You never know what you might spot in a place like this, beauty has its way of shining out in our sight in the most unexpected places.
A lovely day, we retired to the home we so loved. A shame Janet's time to continue enjoying it was going to be cut short.
I believe there are enough clues in the pictures and the dialogue for a good start to be made in identifying this spot where we were on this day in the summer of 2013. The timeless grandeur of the park will remain as it is, and that's yet another clue.