Day 14: November 18

The castle has been almost completely rebuilt, but I like how they did everything. There is beautiful lighting here. The castle itself is very spacious; we walk from room to room, go up the steps, pass through corridors, and I lose track of where I am.

After the castle, we head to Yarmouk National Park. I thought we’d be able to walk around there; from the photos online, the nature looked beautiful. Through Godforsaken villages where it seems no tourist has ever set foot, we arrive at the national park’s “Visitor Center.”

A solid building on the edge of the village with an information board — but everything is closed, and there’s no one around except the guard. It’s not clear where to go; there are no trails, no signs. There are no trails on our maps either.

Beautiful mountains all around, but somehow it feels unwelcoming. We decide to move on. Maybe you need to come here in the morning, with plenty of time before dark. But today we definitely won’t be going anywhere else.

I had another stop about ten kilometers north of the park, with a beautiful scenic lake, and we’re heading there. The border with Israel is very close. Literally every couple of kilometers there are checkpoints, and at each one we are stopped and our passports are checked.

Two kilometers before the lake, at the last checkpoint, we are stopped again. No one here speaks English. We try to explain that we are going to the lake, but the checkpoint guard looks tense, repeating the same word over and over. We can’t understand what he is saying. Volchiy decided that it meant we were allowed to pass, and we slowly start moving. The guard whistles after us, and I realize that all this time he had been saying “No” — we are not allowed through. So we were left without the lake. We head to the hotel. The scenery along the way is very beautiful.

The first thought when we got to the hotel was: we need to run away, but where to? There are very few hotels in this area, and there’s nowhere else to go. The hotel is set back from the road, among half-ruined sheds. Packs of dogs are running around. It’s already evening, and it will soon be completely dark. The nearest hotel is far away. So after a little hesitation, we stay.

The hotel owner gives us a warm welcome. We have coffee together on the hotel terrace with a beautiful view of the dam. The owner talks about his sons. One works in Dubai, earns a lot, and helps his father build a second hotel nearby. The owner himself worked in the army all his life and is now retired.

The room in the hotel is very, very simple, everything is old, the light bulbs are dim and unpleasantly cold in color, and it feels unwelcoming. I have always been surprised how such hotels manage to get high ratings on Booking. Probably the owner’s hospitality charms everyone.

I sit on the balcony and write in my diary. Then we drive to the nearest town in search of food. We find a shawarma place and buy two shawarmas to go.