Visit Kerak, Jordan

For over three thousand years the route from Amman south to the Arabian Peninsula has been busy with pilgrims, merchants and conquering armies. Winding through sheer wadis, and along precipitous ridges, it passes numerous important historical sites.

For the modern visitor, it begins with a visit to Madaba and Mt Nebo, before heading south to the crusader castles. The most impressive of these is Kerak, whose solid crusader walls, refined by the Mamluks, sit on top of a steep outcrop, making this an almost impregnable position.

An altogether older fortress sits at Mukawir, on an isolated cone of rock overlooking the Dead Sea — it was here that Salome danced for Herod in exchange for the head of John the Baptist.