See that witty title there….I’m sure it may confuse many of the non-pommies reading this- I guess this country is wearing off on me! So, Jordan …….ah now you get my fiendishly clever title!
After a fantastic trip through Egypt I was exhausted but rearing to go on the next part of the big adventure! Jordan! An early morning and Emma and I were off to the airport to make our way across to Jordan. Our taxi driver this time was not as crazy as the last one, but he didn’t need to be I suppose, traffic at 5am in Cairo is merely busy, not as bonkers as it was when we arrived. His cab did seem to be held together by string though. Nethertheless we arrived safely at the airport and had a traditional Egyptian breakfast before we boarded out flight. I think Emma had the Hotcakes and I had some hash browns. It was a quick flight across to Jordan and the views of the desert and the Sinai Peninsula from the plane was lovely.
We arrived without event in Amman. Our official meet and greet person at the airport was about 15 minutes late so we wandered about the arrivals wondering what to do. Eventually we were met by a disinterested young man who put us in a nice taxi with Jack, who turned out to be our driver for the rest of the tour. I can’t express enough at this point already how different Jordan was as compared to Egypt. It was as clean as Egypt was dirty; it was as ordered as Egypt was chaotic. Who would have thought that 2 countries so close to each other could be so contrasting?
After a lazy journey to our quite swanky hotel we were left to our own devices until the following morning. Emma took immediate advantage of this and put a bag of washing through to be done and went straight to bed. Poor bugger was exhausted, I however, was mildly hyperactive at the prospect of being in a new country that already seemed a whole lot cleaner and hospitable than I had previously been in and went out for a little explore. I managed to successfully find an ATM and to buy a bottle of water, all without being accosted by strange people trying to sell me things or make me go in their store. The only thing that did happen was that I got checked out by some builders nearby, but that was ok because I was perving on them too!
I went back to the hotel and was debating the merits of whether to have a nap or a ridiculously long shower (I still felt sandy from Egypt) and there was a knock at the door. I answered it and it turned out to be a top guy named James who was on our tour with us. I have to admit he made a good first impression (chirpy, energetic to the point of being hyperactive) and we made plans to go exploring for dinner. So, the three of us set off a little later to explore downtown Amman. It was a bustling happy place and we had a great time wandering about trying to decide on dinner. We ended up going to this classy kebab joint which we were so impressed with that we even filled out the customer satisfaction survey (sorry Laura but if you get some mail from a random kebab shop in Amman that might be because of me….). As it turned out there was only 4 of us in our group and the other person was named Russell as far as we knew. We decided Russ, as we already decided to call him, would be a top bloke and James would had a lad on the tour with him. As it turned out we got a bit of a shock when we got back and there was a girl in James’ room. Turns out that Lisa Russell was a top chick and a brilliant addition to our group, and that James was now the token male!
The next morning we went down to meet our tour guide. To put it nicely, he was a little older than I was expecting. But he knew his stuff and was happy to let us sleep in most days so that was a big tick in my book. So off we went to explore the sights of Amman. Firstly we went to a big citadel ruin thing right in the centre of town. It was at the top of a big hill and had great views right out over the entire of Amman. Here too they had a museum with lots of really old stuff. The highlight was definitely some of the actual Dead Sea scrolls. I never thought I would ever get to see them- bloody amazing!
Next we went to this really big roman amphitheatre. It was great and in really good condition, apparently they still hold concerts there- it would be great to listen to good music in such a beautiful setting (hmmmm…. I’m thinking an Acoustic concert, maybe Pearl Jam? Well a girl can dream!) I, of course, climbed right up all the stairs to the top- I am going to have an arse of steel after this trip with all the hills, stairs and sand dunes I’m climbing! Then it was 2 more little museums right next door then we left Amman, via what we were told was the snobby rich embassy area (oh for a few million Dinars…) First stop after we left town was this really old fortress type building which seemed to be in the middle of the desert. Turned out this was kind of like the ancient equivalent of a truck stop. I think it’s called a caravanserai. People would apparently stop here on their journeys (it was a main pilgrimage and trade route or something) for McDonalds and refuelling of their camels- or something to that effect! After a quick cuppa with some of the locals we continued on to this Roman bathhouse place. Inside there was all these beautifully preserved paintings which I guess were nice to look at while you were having a bath or a steam sauna. They were pretty cool considering how old they were.
Next stop was a quick photo stop in front of a road sign. We begged for Jack to stop and I now have photographic proof that I have been 58km from Saudi Arabia and 240km from Iraq. Well I thought it was pretty exciting- I think it’s as close as I will get to these places for a while!
Then, we went to this old fortress thing where Lawrence of Arabia lived when he was in Jordan. I honestly never realised he was a real person, I thought it was just a movie (proves how stupid I am) so it was kind of surreal going into what was his bedroom! Finally we headed back to Amman for the night, absolutely exhausted from a very long day of sightseeing. Dinner was at this fast food place called Popeye’s. I feel it’s important to embrace the food of a different culture and I think my Popeye’s kid’s meal did this. It was hilarious in the store. The guy who served us was a bit rude to James, perhaps because it was quite obvious he wasn’t a local, but when he served me he couldn’t have been nicer and he and the other guy serving were ever so helpful and stood there behind the counter smiling at me the whole time I was there! Looks like I’ve still got it!
The next day we were in the car again. First stop was to our tour guides mums house. A little out of the ordinary yes, but it was really nice to go to the home of a normal family, sit and drink tea, and chat. His mum was about 90 and was so sweet. She spoke about 3 words of English bus was so welcoming and kind. We had a little tour of the olive gardens and orchard around the house and then said goodbye. Then we went to Ajloun Castle which apparently was of great strategic importance during the crusades. It had fantastic views over the surrounding valley and you could see all the way to Israel. All through the castle there were guys in traditional guard’s costume who you could have your photo taken with (for free!)- I now have an excellent photo of a guy trying to shoot me with a bow and arrow. This took a little convincing but I got it in the end despite our guide saying something about it being inappropriate- the guard didn’t seem to mind all that much!
After this we headed to Jerash- an ancient roman city. The sheer size of the place is the first ting that hits you. It really is the ruins of a whole city. One of the best bits was the massive amazing amphitheatre, which could apparently seat 3000 people. The acoustics are amazing- if you stand in the centre stage bit and just talk normally the sound carries so well that even if you are sitting right at the top at the back you can still hear everything perfectly. At the time we were there, there were some people playing traditional instruments and is was just fantastic (and eerie) hearing them. By the way- lots more stairs….arse of steel!
Next to the amphitheatre was the hippodrome, which apparently has nothing to do with Hippopotamuses, hosted the chariot races and gladiator type stuff- while we were there, there was a couple of guys practicing fighting in full costume- very fit…even better than Russell Crowe I’d say- very nice to watch and um appreciate the historical significance and stuff of their glistening and sweaty muscles under their fantastic period costumes…
The good looking men and great acoustics notwithstanding, Jerash was an absolutely amazing place. The entire city, although in various stages of ruin, was on the whole fantastically well preserved- the colonnaded “main street” still had the ruts made from the chariots which passed along the street over 1000 years ago. Just outside the complex was Hadrian’s Arch, built to commemorate his visit in 129AD and still in great condition. It is crazy to think how far this guy’s rule extended. Think of Hadrian’s Wall in England- a very long way from the middle of Jordan!
Next we went to Mount Nebo, which is according to legend the place from which Moses saw the promised land- Israel. Personally I think he could have done better. It was a fantastic view but not exactly a land of milk and honey if you catch my drift. But then again maybe climate change has made some of this dry up or something. (Sorry to anyone I might be offending here but I say it as I see it). We had a group photo here, and another few with a bunch of young guys who said they were from Iraq or something (I’m not entirely sure who they were but they must have been important somehow going on all the “minder” type people they had with them!).
After this we headed on to the town of Madaba to see this church which has what is thought to be one of the oldest maps in existence. It was this mosaic on the floor which showed Jordan, the Nile valley, Sinai peninsula and the Dead Sea and Israel. It was pretty cool! Next we went to a place that is known as the Grand Canyon of Jordan- the Mujeb Valley which is over 4km wide and 1km deep. It was honestly one of those places that I put on my list of places that took my breath away! It was absolutely indescribable- the best I can say is bloody big, and bloody amazing!
Next stop Karak Castle, apparently one of the most famous in Jordan (I hadn’t heard of it)- it had great views, lots of steps, and a store just outside that sold fantastic pistachio ice cream.
After this it was straight on to Petra for the night. A dinner of dodgy kebabs and great nights sleep in quite a swanky hotel. The next morning we were up early to go to the only thing in Petra really worth seeing- the Ancient city. We rode horses down to the entrance- for some reason the guy who gave me my horse assumed I knew what I was doing on a horse (my horse riding experience was limited to the donkey ride in Egypt and once when I was about 9 or so) and just let me go off by myself while everyone else got led slowly. I’m proud to say I didn’t fall off once and it was really nice (albeit nerve wracking) riding down by myself while everyone else had guides. Happily even Emma managed to stay on her horse!
After leaving our horses we walked into the narrow Siq (apparently this is what the path in the rocks is called). The rock formations and the structures carved into them were unbelievable- it would have been an amazing place to live- according to my tour notes that put it much more eloquently than I ever could: “Although inhabited earlier, the current structures, hewn out of the sheer rock face date from the 3rd century. Petra’s importance grew due to the caravan trade, but with the development of sea trade its importance dwindled and by the 14th century it was effectively lost to the west, only being rediscovered in 1812.”
It is hard to believe a place like this was “effectively lost” for nearly 500 years. The absolute best part is the bit I call the Indiana Jones temple. Mainly because it is the temple in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade that he goes into to find the Holy Grail. I think I must have been humming the theme tune half of the day! It was crazy amazing and I’m absolutely stuffed if I know how they managed to build it!
The rest of the Rose City (as they call it) was equally amazing and so well preserved because of its sheltered position. It kind of reminded me of the Flintstones with all the carved rock houses. There really is no other place on earth like it (prove me wrong!). The colours in the rocks were beautiful and as the day went on they seemed to change as the sun hit them at different angles. It was absolutely, unbelievably gorgeous.
That evening we went to a fantastic cheap restaurant (where the guys who worked there all seemed to love Lisa) and had a huge and more importantly cheap meal!
The next day we made a quick trip to a place known as little Petra- strangely enough it was just like Petra, but little! It was no where near as crowded as Petra was the day earlier and we were allowed to climb up into some of the houses. We drove on to a rest stop and changed cars to a 4WD to go out into the desert to a place called Wadi Rum- this area is famous for being the base for the Arab revolt during WW1, and also as the area where ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ was filmed. It is a maze of rock-scapes which rise from the desert floor to a height of up to 1750 metres. It was a great place- and a vastly different type of desert to that we saw in Egypt. We had “fun” climbing what felt like the worlds steepest sand dune (arse of steel!) and I was going ok until I managed to swallow what must have been one of the only flies in the entire country about 2/3 of the way up- the rest of the climb was spent gasping, coughing and spitting trying to get rid of it! The best, and easiest, part was running right to the bottom of the dune- I got down a lot quicker than I got up!
We then made our way to the tent city we would be camping in for the night. I don’t know if camping is the right word for it- there was certainly no DDBB! I spent the evening relaxing and wandering about the camp. I climbed up this big rock thing next to the camp and got an amazing view of the campsite and the surrounding desert. It was such a nice view that I climbed all the way down, got the camera, and then climbed back up again to get photos. I wasn’t quite as quick a climber as I’d hoped and unfortunately just missed the sunset over the desert. Either way, it was absolutely worth 2 climbs and amazingly relaxing sitting at the top of a big rock looking out over the desert in the evening twilight.
Dinner was a traditionally cooked affair with slow roasted lamb an vegies, breads, salads and sticky sweet desert things- all of this followed by dancing and singing around the campfire. Life is good!
The next day was the highlight of the whole trip. We went to the Dead Sea. It has been one of my lifelong dreams to go swimming in the Dead Sea- ever since year 7 German when Mrs Allen told us about the Dead Sea and how floaty it was. I had a brilliant time, and yes it was very floaty and bloody salty! It was really surreal just bobbing about thinking- I’m in Jordan, at the Dead Sea; over there is Israel… bloody hell!
After our lovely salty swim we continued on to the Israeli border. Lisa and James were both continuing on to Israel, while Emma and I were heading back to Amman. It was really strange at the border (I suppose this has something to do with the political situation). Emma and I were not allowed past the checkpoint and were basically unloaded, with our bags at the border with all these guys with big guns and told to wait there- we’re not sure how long this will take. So here we were at sunset, surrounded by men with big guns, on the Israeli-Jordan border crossing- not know how long or ride would be. We thought it was a good time to crack out a game of cards (UNO) to amuse ourselves. This got a bit of a shocked reception from the men with guns. There was something about 2 young girls, sitting on the border with their bags having a very loud and argumentative game of cards that was a little out of the ordinary for them. We certainly had a lot of interested onlookers!
About an hour later our car came back. As we were loading our bags back in one of the guards (the one with a really big gun who looked like he was in charge) came over to us and said something in Arabic. Naturally we had no idea what he said (my Arabic is limited to thankyou, no, and breath in and hold your breath). He repeated himself and stood there quite imposingly with his big gun. Our guide came over worried and he repeated himself- turned out he said “can we please have your pack of cards we’re a bit bored here”, of course I am not going to say no to a man with such a big gun and I duly handed over a pack of cards to which I got a big smile and a thankyou from Mr big Gun and a wave from all the other men with guns- just making the world a safer place I suppose! It certainly was an experience I will never forget- sitting on the Israeli-Jordan border, surrounded by men with guns, playing UNO.
It was with a sense of sadness we headed back to Amman, minus one pack of cards, but with a lot of new and fantastic experiences to talk about and remember. Tomorrow we head back to London for a week off, a wedding, and then a trip to Ireland.
