madepercy

We had an eleven hour stop-over in Bangkok and took advantage of a government stop-over tour of the Grand Palace.... read more

Originally built by Saladin circa 1184 AD to contain the growth of the Latin Kingdom in the north of the Jordan Valley, Qalat (Castle) Ajloun was later captured by the Mongols, the Mamluks and finally the Ottomans.... read more

We will soon start the PADI Advanced Open Water Course at Aqaba Adventure Divers (AAD). Last night, we were treated to a traditional Bedouin dinner. All the mattresses, pillows and camel saddles were laid out near the pool with a large table containing the fire placed in the middle of the square of mattresses. Only the men sit around the fire, with the women sitting at the tables and chairs about 10 metres away. The meal was swordfish with rice and pine nuts - it was absolutely brilliant! But we had eaten a similar dish with lamb with the AAD crew earlier that afternoon! The food is served in large platters (like mensaf) and everyone sits or kneels around the platter (which is placed on a low table). The freaky thing is that everyone eats with ... read more

Overnight at the Olive Grove We left Aqaba on Wednesday afternoon, heading to a friend's parents' farm house near Jerash, an ancient city which was once part of the Roman Decapolis. Look in my older posts to see some photos of the ruins there. We drove from Aqaba to Amman and the sky was amazing. We took the King's Highway through the desert. We organised a room at a friend's hotel, the url=http://www.travelnow.com/hotel/propertydetails/210842/;jsessionid=C1E00FBD960952C1E18F4FBFB9A5A868.tn01tc01?currencyCode=USD&cid=54073 Dove Hotel in Amman. It was a quaint old place with lots of character, and an Irish Pub which had a great feel to it. It is only a two-star hotel, but the bed was comfortable and we were looked after very well. I had a meeting at Princess Sumaya University for Technology, and then we recommenced the road tri... read more

First visit just before closing time... We arrived at Qal'at el 'Aqaba 5 minutes before closing time, so we didn't have long to see the sites. The Aqaba Museum next door was also closing, and rather than pay the JOD 1 fee each, we decided to come back another day. Anyway, we had a chance to take a few photographs and to look around the area. The following information was provided on a noticeboard at the castle. All grammatical and typographical errors are in the original: UNIVERSITY OF GENT (BELGIUM) UNIVERSITY OF LYON (FRANCE) DEPARTMENT OF ANTIQUITIES OF JORDAN In collaboration with ANDREWS UNIVERSITY (USA) UNIVERSITY OF COPENHAGEN (DENMARK) AQABA CASTLE PROJECT Prof. Dr. J. De Meulemeester Director of the archaeological excavations (2000-2008) The Aqaba Castle Project. New excavation facts It was probably not until the ... read more