Dear Jordan,
Please find a big garbage bin and use it.
Love,
Kazza
So very early morning this morning. First at breakfast at 6:30, then on the bus by 7:20. Arrived at the King Hussein border crossing a little after 9am. Here we said goodbye to our Israeli driver and guide and went across the border into Jordan. As much as I was frustrated with the hurry up and stand still pace of our guide, at least he was very well organised and coordinated everything for us beautifully. We crammed a *lot* into our Israel trip with him.
Minus 300m sign (I missed the sea level one!)
Palm tree plantation near Gilgal
Arid hills near Shlomtsiyon
Photo by Dad
Crossing the Jordan River
Took a little while (over an hour) to get through the rigmarole of passport control on one side, then crossing the Jordan, then passport control and security on the other side. But they let us all through so all good.
Continued driving north.
This is where we really started to notice the differences in countries. But the saddest thing was the run down nature of all the homes and businesses, and the *rubbish* lying all along the sides of the road. Very sad.
The country does seem pretty friendly though - out in the country areas *lots* of people waved to us which was pretty cool. Other than the fact that they have some pretty heavily armed military check points, an armed guard on our coach, and metal detectors and xray machines on the hotel entrance. Not sure if I feel safter or more threatened with all that. Safer because they have it, but less safe because of the need they have for it.
Other observations:
- Their highway system is pretty good. Dual carriage way in a lot of places. But city streets don't have lane markings so people just drive wherever. They also park wherever they like and double park all the time.
- Noone seemed to be in any real hurry - we overtook *lots* of cars. Maybe because it was their weekend and a lot of people were out having family picnics.
- Families have one car, no matter how big their family. This usually means a bunch of kids in the back seat (no seatbelts) and often another kid on mum's lap in the front.
- They love the king here and his picture is everywhere (admittedly he's a very cool king!)
- Street-side vendors selling food and pots and stuff are everywhere.
- Vendors at the tourist places are a lot more aggressive than in Israel. But still probably nowhere near as bad as Egypt will be.
So anyway.
Wadi Arab Dam
Guys riding on the side of a ute
Photo by Mum
Our first stop was Gadara, an ancient Roman city with a cool colonnaded street and theatre and a great view over the Sea of Galilee to Tiberias. Really didn't spend much time there before we had to leave.
Roman theatre at Gadara
Photo by Dad
Streetfront shops
View northwest towards the Sea of Galilee and Tiberias
Columns at Gadara
Photo by Dad
Ancient church at Gadara
View northwest across Gadara towards the Sea of Galilee
View northwest across Gadara towards the Sea of Galilee
Mosaic
We had a late lunch in Jerash. This was pretty good actually. They assured us that the salads were safe to eat because they were washed properly, but we all bought drinks as the water is not the best for drinking.
Then we went up to the ruins. Another ancient Roman city, but this one was *huge* and they've been putting in a lot of effort to restore things, including gates and temples and collonaded streets and a couple of theatres. Had a decent amount of time there which was great.
Arches at the southern end of the Hippodrome
Stonework on the top of the gate at the southern end of the Hippodrome
Gate at the southern end of the Hippodrome
Photo by Dad
South Gate at Jerash
Photo by Dad
Columns around the Oval Plaza
Photo by Dad
Looking up to the Temple of Zeus
Stage of the Southern Theatre at Jerash
Photo by Dad
Seating in the Southern Theatre
Southern Theatre at Jerash
Photo by Mum
Southern Theatre
Bagpipers and drummer playing in the Southern Theatre
Photo by Mum
Southern Theatre at Jerash
Southern Theatre at Jerash
View towards Cardo Maximus
View north at the cross roads
Pedestal at the cross roads
View north at the cross roads
Building in ancient Jerash
Photo by Dad
North Tetrapylon at Jerash
Northern Theatre at Jerash
Photo by Dad
Northern Theatre at Jerash
Photo by Dad
Northern Theatre at Jerash
In a walkway under the Nothern Theatre
Temple of Artemis
Temple of Artemis
Temple of Artemis
Temple of Artemis
The Jerash Nymphaeum
Photo by Mum
South Gate at Jerash
Photo by Dad
Then we headed for Amman and our hotel.
Signs asking people not to litter - not very successfully
Hotel is pretty average. At least we have plenty power points (with a mix of both UK and Europe sockets). But the waiting staff at dinner were pretty hopeless. And dinner wasn't great either - the hot food was lukewarm at best. I didn't eat too much because I wasn't feeling the best and we'd had a big lunch. Plus we got rejected by people at various tables who claimed that seats had been taken. But I think they just didn't want us there, and me being a single certainly screws up the whole system of paired seats :(
Did a bunch of underwear washing before dinner as well as last night's photo sorting, and finished today's after dinner. Time for bed!
Distance covered on the GPS: 276.9 km
Steps walked: 17161
Photos on the Canon: 275
Photos on the Sony: 41
Videos: 15
NIS Spent: 22.5
USD Spent: 9
JD Spent: 3