Penang

We have the opportunity to visit Penang  again in September last year when Connie was called to be a witness in the High Court of Malaya at Penang. So we flew to Penang  from Singapore compliments of our client.

Lunch in Changi International Airport

Touching down in Penang

Wusdi

He was our driver during our stay in Jordan. We were at the Queen Alia International Airport for our flight home.

Lunch at Azraq Palace Restaurant

We stopped here for lunch on our way to the airport.

Upside Down Chicken

A typical Jordanian dish

The drivers playing backgammon

Qasr Azraq

This Roman fort was built in the 3rd Century and rebuilt in the 12th Century. It remained a military outpost throughout the Byzantine period and in the 7th and 8th Centuries, the Umayyad came here to hunt.

Lawrence of Arabia spent a winter here in 1917

This mosque has a cylindrical projection to accommodate the mihrab, the prayer niche inside the mosque that faces Mecca.

These are the steps to the roof

More frescoes from Qasr Amra

Qasr Amra

This castle was made a World Heritage Site in 1985.

There is a museum at the entrance to the castle

Dome depicting the constellations

Qasr Kharana

This one of the three desert castles we visited. Desert castles are castles or fortresses built between 660 and 750 during the Umayyad dynasty  in the desert to the east of Amman.

Although this two storey building looks like a fortress, it was in fact a caravanserai. The "arrow slits"  could not have been used by archers as they are of the wrong height and shape. Instead, they are for ventilation. 

Note the slits in the wall which are too high