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Published: April 3rd 2008
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Hi guys! Well here we are in long awaited Jordan - we have been so busy, making the most of our 11 days in this amazing place.
Our overnight flight was uneventful (thanks to those little pink pills) and we even managed to get a bit of sleep in our cramped bmi economy class seats. As promised, a taxi driver was waiting for us at the airport, holding up a sign for ‘Mr Hawkes’
After sorting our visitor visas and getting into the taxi, a strange thing happened. Our taxi driver actually charged us the pre-arranged amount! He was very kind and polite too so a big thumbs up to Jordan so far. This has to have been our most pleasant ‘airport - taxi - into town’ adventure yet.
The first thing that I noticed about Jordan was the level of security. Four policemen armed with huge machine guns were standing outside our little hotel. They kept an eye on us as we unloaded our packs and made our way inside. The next morning they were still there and they continued to patrol the streets all day. So yes Mum, in response to your concerns “is it safe?”
Yes it is very, very safe! How many nights have you slept with armed guards outside your window?!
It hasn’t just been the armed police that have made us feel safe here. People have been overall, extremely welcoming and friendly. Walking around the streets we have had shopkeepers and random people quietly coming up and proclaiming "Welcome to Jordan - Welcome to our country" The shopkeepers have been gently encouraging but not overly pushy like some places. Even the fierce looking, armed (they have huge vehicle mounted machine guns!) policemen at check points, always finish with “Welcome” and some even made jokes about our pronunciation when we explained that we were “On our way to Petra’
We spent the first two nights in Madaba which has been a nice gentle introduction to the country. We spent the first sleepy morning on the private roof terrace, overlooking the streets in a bit of a daze. Even at 8am, our pasty British looking skin was in a state of shock. It has been so long since we have been in proper sun that our eyes couldn’t cope - we were almost blinded and needed a few hours to get used
Along the King's Highway
As you can see, the traffic was a nightmare... to it again! So far it has been very hot here - about 30 degrees everyday which is a shock to the system after leaving London in a chilly 6 degrees.
We spent our time in Madaba exploring the usual sights - the famous church mosaic and the archaeological park where interesting enough. But of course the most interesting thing has simply been wandering the streets, watching the locals go about their daily lives. Roaming the streets was great, but of course, there is no disguising that we are foreign. Despite wearing long trousers, shirts and covering the neck, people are still keen to have a good look at us. I am starting to get used to it now. I have seen a few westerners in shorts and sleeveless tops which just seems plain crazy!
Yesterday our rental car was delivered (thanks to the helpful owner at Moab Land hotel who translated for us) so we packed up and headed off down the King’s Highway.
First stop was Mt Nebo - one of the most important biblical sites in the country. After trekking about for 40 years, this is the place where Moses stood on the mountain
and looked out over the promised land... (I had to look that up - shameful I know)
Unfortunately the promised land probably looks a whole lot better early in the morning or at sunset. We did however, manage to make out the Dead Sea and the valleys below in the haze. We would have liked to visit the Baptism site but we weren’t too keen on driving into Wadi Musa (Petra) in the dark so we left this one out and continued down the amazing King’s Highway.
After passing some amazing rural desert scenes, our ears popped as we wound our way down towards the Dead Sea. Our aim was to stop for a swim at ‘Amman Beach’ - a public beach (although ‘public’ does not mean ‘free’) where there are facilities so visitors can take that legendary dip in the Dead Sea.
Finally the signs for Amman Beach loomed ahead of us. Jumping out of the car into the heat, we organised our cameras, passports, towels, video camera, money, sun screen.. and then made our way to the entrance to pay our entry fee.
“That’s 10JD each please”
“Huh? 10? The book says only
Street Scene
Downtown Madaba. 4 each!”
“Argh - the book.. the book is… argh… (sweeping hand gesture) For 10, you get the showers, the beach, the changing rooms and the pools”
And pools there were. Huge sweeping pools that appeared to float above the sea, complete with bridges, umbrellas, sun lounges and little groups of bikini clad western tourists.
We are definitely at the WRONG Amman Beach. The Rough Guide never mentioned anything about pools or sun lounges or bikinis but we were so hot by this stage that we didn’t really care. So this is how we came to have our swim in the Dead Sea wearing our normal swimming costumes at the big, sterile and westernised ‘Amman Beach’
The swim was one of the weirdest things. The salt content of the water makes it impossible to swim so we spent our time floating on our backs and enjoying the blue sky. Once floating, it’s a mission to roll over and get your feet back onto the sea floor - such a weird feeling. I also made the mistake of rubbing my eyes and accidentally swallowing some of the water. I’m not sure which was worse! Chris enjoyed trying
Looking Over The Promised Land
A sparrow checks out the view from Mt Nebo out our new underwater camera case while I poured bottles of fresh water into my eyes.
After waving goodbye to Amman Beach we passed through many checkpoints and followed the road south. Mountains towered on one side and the Dead Sea lay on the other. The great thing about having our own car meant that we could stop anywhere have a look at some of the amazing salt crystals down on the shore.
After leaving the King’s Highway, we decided to take the small roads towards Wadi Musa. The mountain roads were amazing and provided our best glimpse into rural Jordanian life. Interesting enough, we saw very few girls out on the streets but the children were so friendly, all waving and smiling and even blowing the odd kiss as we drove past. I’m so glad we managed to see this side of the Jordanian people as I don’t think Wadi Musa doesn’t exactly give visitors the best impression of this country.
More about that later.
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