Joined Maxine (Oz), Mat (Brit) and Christine (German) in a taxi tour of the Desert Castles. The inanimate landscape of black gravel, yellow sand, dust devils and pylons passed by as we chatted about travels. The women have vast experience, and are only a little older. “Disneyland” is the group euphemism for Israel, and it fits the incongruity of the place in the Arab Sea.

Azraq, or what we saw of it, was dead. There is nothing to suggest an oasis or even a spring, just houses and buildings. In their midst was the rubble of Qasr Azraq, which I had longed to see since reading Seven Pillars [of Wisdom by TE Lawrence]. The guardian who showed us round is part of the site:a Syrian Druze of 70 years, with blue eyes, waxed, curled moustache, and a red kaffiyeh. He showed us the one ton basalt doors, the drawing of TE Lawrence, the row of paired pock marks in the ground which is an old board game. The stables were presumably where the Arabs lived (in Seven Pillars), with the corbels barely hanging together to form a roof. But TE’s own room was magical, being the best preserved, with lovely arches, and window seats where we sat and talked about him.

Qasr Amra I had looked forward to since reading about it in Madaba museum. This is out in the desert, but it certainly isn’t a castle. In fact it has a futuristic but naturalistic look about it. The outside looks good (restored) but much of the inside has been vandalised. There are enormous murals all over (must have been claustrophobic), and they are very diverse – hunting scenes, portraits, stories. The celestial dome is small and damaged, but it was certainly accurate and the oldest there is, apparently [but inverted, so not strictly accurate!].But the idea of a hunting lodge and sauna complex out here is beyond belief.

Qasr Kharameh is the most imposing of the lot, actually looking like a fort at least, but apparently it wasn’t! Just a fancy caravanserai (probably). Shame the rooms are so bare, only 2 had decorations (pillows, arches, medallions). Finally Qasr Mushatta had a wide tumble down wall, but again, nothing suggestive of a castle, and it was intended as a palace. Instead of trucks grumbling by, there were planes from the airport. Many of its arches were still standing, which gave high ceilinged but windowless rooms, but it was hard to imagine what it should have looked like, given another storey.

Back in Amman, allow myself kunafeh (beautiful), and a stuffed pastry (drippy). Also saw a trolley booth serving cornflour sweet, topped with coconut and orange syrup. The phone office was almost identical to the Nairobi one, crowded, dusty, ceiling fans. But the man playing the plugs did an excellent job, and the line was good.

Had tea last night with George, a cigarette hawker who claims to originate from Los Angeles. Says he can sell 200 packets of Marlboro a day. I was pleased to see that the Azraq guardian who shared his photos of TE and his father with us, refused them.

Ate a Cairo style restaurant, where you take a seat, order from a waiter, and the man at the front of the shop ladles prepared food into plastic bowls. Fast food, mostly meat, but at least you get to eat rice rather than bread.