http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Jordan/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Middle East , Jordan en-us Thu, 03 Dec 09 00:48:34 +0000 Thu, 03 Dec 09 00:48:34 +0000 Well I think I've broken my personal record for length of time between blog posts.It's been a bit rough lately in terms of my tolerance for the annoying little things that happen every day although it is getting better with the idea of a short break for Eid alAdha the feast that celebrates Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son for God. We actually watched a video of the Quranic story toda http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Jordan/North/Amman/blog-455470.html So after my opulent dinner I left the next day for Petra. Again bypassing all the taxidrivers for one of those adventurous minivans. Actually I wanted to take the real bus from Jett which is supposed to be very comfortable and fast but I missed that one by 15 minutes. S off I went to the normal busstation. Is cheaper as well and more authentic. The Jordanians do it like this as well. In the bus http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Jordan/South/Petra/blog-455420.html I landed in Amman on Monday evening. During the flight I sat next to a lady from Palestine who told me a lot about Amman and the rest of the country. Together with her friend we shared a taxi to the city where I checked in my hotel. The hotel looked like it was built in the sixties and not maintained since then. Well what the heck I was tired and I couldn't care to find another hotel for the t http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Jordan/North/Amman/blog-455419.html Whew it's been a really long time since I've written last I apologize for that. I don't really know what else I've been busy with other than everyday life. I guess life here is beginning to seem ordinary. Maybe that's a good thingAnyways last Friday was a very lazy day. I hung around the house and did basically nothing. It was so nice Saturday however was a little more eventful. It was a bi http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Jordan/North/Amman/blog-451584.html Jordan was amazing not only for the history but also for the landscape. The first stop in Jordan was Wadi Rum which is an old caravan route and is mostly famous for Lawrence of Arabia. We spent about four hours in the desert climbing hill sand dunes and exploring the terrain. That night we bushed camped in the middle of the desert and passed the time by making pyramids and doing other stupid http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Jordan/South/Petra/blog-449718.html Yesterday was a pretty full day although it didn't seem like it at the time. I headed out to the post office in Wast alBalad to pick up the camera my parents had sent me. I tried reading the signs as I stepped inside and well I could obviously sound out the words but they were all unfamiliar to me. I asked someone behind the desk and he told me to go to the second floor. Well there was a set http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Jordan/North/Amman/blog-449443.html I have pictures this time My camera was very wellbehaved. HahaAnyways today was my first optional CIEEorganized trip and as you probably guessed it was to the Biblical sites in Jordan. I can't begin to say how excited I have been this whole week. I was the first person at the front gates and on the bus this morning at 730Not so promptly after 800 we headed off to BethanybeyondtheJorda http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Jordan/West/blog-447820.html If I said to you ldquoWe are going to Jordanrdquo what would your thoughts be Think for a second because we had a fairly good idea of what to expect with all the other countries on our Middle East trip but not so much with Jordan. Turkey The country where east meets west EU wannabe kebabs the Ottoman EmpireSyria Devout Muslim conservative spices DamascusLebanon Civil war Irish http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Jordan/blog-447792.html I got a lift out of Wadi Rum camp site by the lovely German couple who were been driving around Jordan with a hire car they where also headed to Aqaba and offered to give me a lift into town YES FREE RIDE Once in Aqaba i must admit i became a quasi backpacker and checked into a mid range hotel that had the luxury of a double bed airconditioning breakfast my own toilet and wait for it. http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Jordan/South/Aqaba/blog-447307.html I dont know whats happening to me Im sleeping in desert camps not showering for 2 days. No towel Thats okay ill use my dirty t shirts. Is this shirt dirty Wait let me do a smell test... MMM... still good I dont even care if i dont bursh my teeth gum will do This is the holiday me. I turn into some backpacker bogan... well... quasi backpacker the real deal would have been to sleep under th http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Jordan/South/Wadi-Rum/blog-446439.html I left Amman in the afternoon as i considered the day travelling to Petra a dead day. I left after lunch and just rocked up to the bus station as it now seems a task finding out what time buses leave. The taxi driver was kind enough to drive me into the station and drop me off at the exact terminal for my bus. This was a nice gesture as he could have left me at the front to walk through all the to http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Jordan/South/Petra/blog-445797.html Hm it's been a while.I have to start out by saying that I feel a lot better now than I have over the past week. I think if I were given the option to get on a plane home I would have seriously considered it. There are times when Amman just gets to me. Things I would take for granted like getting home just seem so much more difficult here. And I'm getting quite fed up with taxis.On Mondays I ha http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Jordan/North/Amman/blog-445545.html Journal Entry Monday October 12 2009 Time 1001 PMStarted the day with a very nice large leisurely breakfast then went for a walk didn't get lost but found myself at the gates of prince Hussein's residence on the Israeli border its that close the checkpoint phoned the gaffer and he invited me in for drinks as he likes England The captain was a very nice fellow and we had Arabian coffee http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Jordan/South/Petra/blog-445222.html Well im glad i didn't hop in the taxi to Beirut Welcome to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan Says King Abdullah II and his Palestinian Queen Rania as you cross the border Of course not in real life but on big massive propaganda posters The king really is amazing He can do anything Everyone loves him here There are so many photos of him and his family plastered around Amman Its really fasci http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Jordan/North/Amman/blog-444721.html Ostensibly I joined this expedition with a mad German to find a mysterious artefact and a lost body the lost body of some ancient personage that he has been looking for for many years with the help of some other mad German academic. Between them they felt this body would lead them to the great holy grail of all German expeditions but they did not want to identify to me what this holy grail was. http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Jordan/North/Amman/blog-444489.html So I visited Jordan on the way back from France and Dad's wedding which was beatiful congrats dad. I travelled with a couple of buddies from my course in Edinburgh who are studying here in Damascus as well. Jordan was quite cheap but all of the tourist towns which are ridiculously expensive. We paid 2 Dinars about the same as a Euro for eight falafel wraps in Amman the capitol but when we http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Jordan/blog-444436.html Journal Entry Friday October 09 2009 Time 124 PMmoved on from the Nile resort was very nice and the morning breakfast was something to behold i wont need to eat for days shame i cant take some of there coffee with me. Went to load the bike and the guy gives me my passport back i say no rush i have to pay yet he says no problem go to pay and he says no problem i say i know but i reall http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Jordan/blog-444115.html No pictures to show as usual but I definitely wish that I didYesterday I went to the Diplomatic Bazaar put together by Princess Basma who is the aunt of the current king Abdullah II. She had quite a show of security with her. It was a bit irritating to dodge around the crowds that tried to take pictures of her and the security guards who held them back. But people in suits didn't stop me from http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Jordan/North/Amman/blog-444103.html Getting to Wadi Mujib turned out to be something that should really be attempted with the freedom of a hire car a fact which we hadnrsquot realised would be the case when we decided to go from Wadi Rum rather than heading all the way up to Amman and back down again. After our night in the desert we ended up sleeping most of the bus trip back to Petra where we arrived to find a taxi driver who http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Jordan/West/Dead-Sea/blog-443261.html Now that I am back in the U.S. and having Hashem with drawl syndrome I spent a little time reflecting on my month in Jordan. After I finished my Arabic course my wife and I set out on a three day whirlwind tour of the rest of the country.We had a great driverguide who I had met earlier and Ahmed AKA Steve drove us from Amman down to Petra. One of the real highlights of the trip wasn't Petra b http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Jordan/North/Amman/blog-443129.html