Arrived at Amman in the evening and were spotted by the taxi drivers before we even got off the bus. They started jostling and fighting amongst each other trying to get our business. It was intense so we just walked away...and they followed. Eventually we chose one and got a ride to a hotel which we had already chosen. He cheated us with the I don't have any change trick and then followed us into the hotel which didn't make us happy so we just left the hotel and started looking for somewhere else. We weren't happy as we had heard that the taxi drivers get commission for bringing in clients then it gets put on your bill. We returned later and checked in as the hotel was convenient.
Day1. Desert castle loop. Hmmm. The hotel arranged a tourist driver called Jamal to take us and two other for the 100+ km loop from amman. The castles were more like houses in the desert. The only interesting bit was the frescos in one which had naked women which is at odds with islamic principles. Guess the religion was in it's early stages in 700AD... I became quite sick during the day and was glad to get back and flop into bed.
Day2. Took it easy. Walked around the souqs buying fruit and vegetables which were pleasantly cheap. Found more yummy tangellos for my cold. Vanessa also has picked up a new version of cold. Maybe from me...
Day3. Decided to go to the dead sea despite both of us being sick. Tried to use public transport as per the lonely planet but only got one step in the sequence of buses before realising it would only work if we could read and speak arabic. Gave up and caught a cab. The driver was a lovely old muslim who acted more as a father than taxi driver. We went out to the dead sea and went for a float and applied our dead sea mudpack with 3 UN indian soldiers we met. The water wasn't cold and yes it was super buoyant. Hot tip - don't taste the water! Yuck! Think it has a high concentration of potasium sulphate and 30% sea salt content. Mud didn't smell. Nice day out.
Day 4. Heading to Petra via the Kings Highway with two others. Would be much cheaper to go via the desert highway but less scenic. The two germans didn't take luggage which was good for us so we fitted into the car and the familiar driver Jamal.
Bye.
David & Vanessa
