Jordan & Egypt 2

Jordan & Egypt 2

4th February

The weather was bad in the night, very windy, and we were travelling North to Amman, which we expected to be cooler and wetter. We boarded the coach again and headed for another day of history. Our route took us along the King's Highway, through a string of ancient sites, passing through Wadi Mujib, a canyon 1km deep. Fortunately our driver was a very careful one. We stopped at Karak Castle, imposing, huge and absolutely freezing, not helped by the violent wind. It's a twelfth century castle, built on the old Silk Road trading route. I'm afraid much of the history passed me by as I concentrated on staying on my feet and controlling my chattering teeth.

Then on to Madaba, city of Mosaics. We visited the lovely 19th century Greek Orthodox Church of St George, which houses a vivid 6th century mosaic map of the Holy Land, much of it still clear. Next was Mount Nebo, presumed to be the site of Moses' death and burial place. Inside the memorial church are more beautiful 6th century mosaic floors, very detailed and still colourful. The weather was so bad that our photos didn't come out very well but we could see the Dead Sea, Bethlehem Jerusalem and Jericho.

We then carried on to Amman, capital of Jordan, and the Amra Crowne Plaza, our base for the next two nights. The hotel was lovely, extremely comfortable and hot baths were very welcome. We met up for drinks and dinner with a couple of new friends, Alison and Brian, choosing to eat in the hotel's Moroccan restaurant, Shehrazad, all having tajines which were delicious and far more reasonably priced than we were expecting. It was a pleasant change to have something other than buffets.

5th February

We were out at 8am, in the pouring rain and cold, off to the Eastern desert, just along the road from Iraq. The photos make it look a perfect day, bright blue skies, rain had stopped. But again, it was absolutely freezing. We stopped at Qasr Kharaneh, a caravanserai, a lovely old building full of corridors and doorways and a bit of a maze. Shame there were no camels around. And next was Qasr Amra, an 8th century hunting lodge/bath house known for its decoration, which includes eroticism forbidden by Islamic law. Both were in the middle of the desert, very strange to suddenly come upon them.

Our next stop was at Qasr Azraq, a large castle complex in which TE Lawrence lived during 1917. No sun to help ease the winds this time. The guy in the photo on the left is a very cold Ahmed, our guide. His grandfather fought with Lawrence and is mentioned in the first edition of 'The Seven Pillars of Wisdom'.

The next leg of the journey entailed a very long drive to Jerash, an extensive Roman city. the rain was hammering down so there wasn't much to see en route. But Jerash is incredible, as impressive as Petra in its own way. The city is remarkably intact although there are still vast areas of ruins and is considered one of the best-preserved province cities of the Roman Empire. How about this for a surreal moment? We were heading for one of the buildings when we were regaled with the sound of bagpipes! Bagpipes, drums, freezing rain, was this really Jordan or had we strayed into Scotland? These Jordanian soldiers had done some of their training in Scotland! It was great - and then we had a reprise whilst looking at one of the theatres. I have few photos as only 1 camera was weatherproof and it was still hard to avoid the huge raindrops! I would love to see this place again in better conditions.

We warmed up with mint tea and coffee and arrived back at out hotel at 5.30pm, hoping our wet clothes would be dry enough to pack the next morning. We ate again with Alison and Brian at the Moroccan restaurant, and again had a delicious meal.

6th February

We left at 8am for another full day, starting with a tour of Amman and a visit to a Mosque, something I've wanted to do since studying Islam a few years ago. Only one, the Abdullah Mosque, permits non-Muslims, and all the women had to dress in long black robes with hoods. Not very flattering! And we all had to leave our shoes outside, jostling for the driest spots as it was still raining hard. It was huge and beautiful, despite its simplicity. Next came the Citadel, the ancient acropolis, which would have been much nicer had it been warm and dry. Some areas were flooded and slippery. On site is the Archeological Museum, housing relics form all ages, from the Stone Age to more modern Islamic eras. And a complete surprise to me, the original Dead Sea Scrolls! From the Citadel you can see the old Roman Theatre, which has been very sympathetically restored and is still in use for cultural events. We visited the theatre and its two museums of costume and folklore, both of which I found particularly interesting.

And then we moved on for our swim in the Dead Sea, driving through the Jordan valley. What should have been a highlight, was a bit of a disappointment. It had stopped raining but the sea was very rough and not everyone could face going on. We did but it was really tough. Perhaps because the sea level is dropping, the shoreline is covered in masses of stones and rocks and this made it incredibly difficult to get into the water without injury. The wind was strong and it was hard to stay on our feet - some people suffered bad cuts after being knocked over. My feet were in agony but I couldn't give in - and finally made it. When you see photos of people in the Dead Sea, they are reading books, drinking, relaxing. For us it was quite different. We were simply trying to stay alive, being buffeted around by huge waves. And because of the salinity, you can't just swim out of the way! But at least it wasn't as cold as it looked. But the showers were icy! We rewarded ourselves with lunch and some goodies from the Dead Sea Gift Shop. Our long drive back to Aqaba along the valley was quite scenic but we were tired and dozed some of the way. A film about Frankincense, made by Emma Freud, was shown, which was an interesting diversion,. It even included her meeting with 'the beautiful Ahmed' which created a roar of laughter! We finally arrived at the Aqaba Gulf Hotel where the week-only guests would be staying for their last 2 nights. We would be off to Egypt the next day, returning 6 days later for our last 2 nights. We went out with Alison and Brian again, this time to a restaurant recommended by Ahmed, Ali Baba's. The best restaurant in Jordan, according to him. It was nice - but not THAT good.

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