Blogs from Amman, North, Jordan, Middle East

Began our holiday with a visit to the Roman amphitheatre in the old city. It seated 6,000 people and was used for musical performances. Nearby is the much smaller Odeon which seated a mere 500. Strolled around the downtown area of the old town following the guidebook’s walking tour, didn’t take long, up and down steps and sloping streets. Amman is set in a series of steep valleys so it looks attractive with sand coloured houses up the slopes but that means that all walking requires going up or down steep flights of stairs between buildings or walking along the less steep roads. Traffic is quite manic with lots of cars, honking horns and little application of the rules of the road. Shared a big pitta bread covered in goats cheese for lunch which we ate ... read more

Dinner last night was a great success. I rounded up three from our trip (Kathy, Andrew and Michael). We were joined by a Monitor couple who are colleagues of Andrew’s . We ate at the “Living Room” a very westernish restaurant about 15 minutes from the Crowne Plaza. Jennifer ordered about six dishes and we all just dug in. This morning we spent in a three hour meeting. Local staff at RTP told us about the local operations in Jordan. Then we drove 15 minutes through Amman to a Community Centre to take part in a session organized for teenage girls (and observing moms) by the Jordan Chechen society. Turns out that these Islamic Yugoslavians were driven out of their own countries by Stalin , and others, and were taken in by the Jordanians. Nevertheless they ... read more

My first blog This is all very new to me. ...But it is important to make learning a life long adventure. So I have adopted the non de plume given me by Francie and the site Katherine used on her big trip. This trip is my introduction to the NGO Right to Play. I wont spend a lot of time describing it because the web site is pretty complete. this trip is focused on Jordan with a side trip to Beirut and a route home through the occupied Territories . Then home through Israel. Now I am going to see if I can figure out the picture thing. Then meeting the team for dinner.... read more

Our last day in Jordan found my roommate and I getting up early to do all of the “touristy” Amman places in the morning, which all open at 8 AM. Our first stop was the King Abdullah Mosque. Named after the late King Abdullah, not the current one, this mosque stands out in the skyline of Amman for its turquoise blue dome and high minarets. It is also the only mosque in Amman open to foreigners. For two JD (approx.$2.83 US) you can explore the grounds of the mosque and the mini Islamic History museum attached on the side. The prayer room is always a sight to behold. Women have to cover their hair, and the mosque provides a covering for you if you forget a scarf or are wearing short sleeves. Before you enter ... read more

I'm on a one week group tour with Exodus to Jordan which was fixed at relatively short notice, well about 4 weeks ago. I realised that I hadn't had a holiday since Easter, only business trips, and England is getting cold and depressing..... So after trawling through the usual suspects online (Exodus, Explore, Adventure Company) I settled on this one week whizz round Jordan. As ever I found my own flight and got the best deal ever with Royal Jordanian -- £266 return. OK, they’re not exactly Emirates but the plane was new, G&T cold and the service friendly. Great service from the local Exodus agent: he was waiting before passport control and helped me with the visa and immigration chores, then straight off to a waiting car. I arrived one day before the rest of ... read more

It is quite hard to write this post. Tomorrow Tad and I will depart for Egypt, and this is the end of my time in Jordan on this trip. It has been quite a time, and I have enjoyed it immensely. If Tad comes back to Jordan in the future I will be sure to pay him a visit. Tad and I have done quite a lot, from climbing waterfalls in Wadi Weida, to an ex-pat party in Amman, to spending time swatting flies and killing ants in al-Mazra. There have been many quiet periods, which has been nice, and many adventures as well. Most of all it has been great to spend time with Tad. Watching him teach English in Arabic and being so patient with his students is a great inspiration to me. We ... read more

From Petra we made our way by local bus to the capital city of Amman. We based ourselves there for 6 days and did some planning and day trips to other cities. The hotel was amazing, run by an English woman, it was immaculate with a nice common area with free wi-fi and free breakfast. After a couple of days we met back up with Toni and Bernie and decided to rent a car to explore some more of the country. Jordan is a little bit hard to get around by public transport and most people take a taxi, which is not only costly but not nearly as fun as having your own car and freedom. Our first stop was Mt. Nebo, the place where Moses was said to have seen the Promised Land, he was ... read more