Blogs from Amman, North, Jordan, Middle East - page 7

Salam aley kom!! Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is the official name of Israel's eastern neighbour country. In 1994 both countries signed a peace-treaty, therefore it's possible for people to cross the border from one of the three crossing points. Jordan uses the Jordanian Dinar as its currency, which has almost the same value as the Euro (1 JD = EUR 1,03 these days). The head of state is King Abdullah II. From Nazareth I took a bus towards the bordercrossing called "Sheikh Hussein". Nobody told me we'd change buses at the border. I left my big backpack on the bus when we got off in front of the Jordanian migration building and then I needed to go through a security check in another building. When I finished I couldn't find the bus! I got a bit ... read more

8 months ago booked, the departure day finally arrived on October 17th. With broken sleep and nightmares of under-packing my underwear and over packing my overcoats, I woke early and headed to the airport with Inder the taxi driver from Blue Cabs. Unusually a driver of few words, we engaged in small talk about emigrating, ascertained he was from Punjab region, and most importantly that he could drive safely which is what I cannot say about Jordanian drivers...more later. He bid me a kind farewell and we shook hands, passing on the high 5s. These gestures I am informed are for the Hellensville golf course veterans only. Check in was smooth, the airport quiet and the Koru lounge access a bonus for flying premium economy. Plenty food and coffee to awaken later, and the flight left ... read more

DRIVE TO AMMAN - DAY 13 - FINAL DAY We left Petra and drove up the King’s Highway before merging on the Desert Highway to make our trip north to Amman, the capital of Jordan and prepare for the transfer to the Queen Alia International Airport. The highways followed the oldest continually used trading route in the world. Some interesting sites were seen along the route, but the overwhelming vistas were desert. About half way through the ride, we took a pit stop at the MidWay Castle, a restaurant and souvenir shop. As we approached Amman, our tour guide Madji explained quite a bit about Jordan’s role in the Mid-East political, economic and geographic situations, both currently and historically. Tour Director Matt, the best ever, commented on the Tauck experience and summarized the events of our ... read more

Desde mi primer dia en esta casa, la Familia Zeidan, comandada nada mas y nada menos que por el gran Jeque Saed-Zeidan Amo Abu-Mousa, me comenzo a introducir a lo mas profundo de la cultura Jordana. Por los primeros dos dias, el caos y la prisa de los varios miembros de la familia me paso incompredido. Al inicio, no supe distinguir si era mera rutina, o si algo especial acontecia. Tras uno o dos dias de duda, y con una urgencia por saber cual debia ser mi rol y actitud en la situacion, me decidi preguntarle a mi hermano Omar. "Ahki, por que la gente se nota tan estresada?" La llegada de Muhammed occurrira en dos dias. Al escuchar esto me quedo frio. Muhammed es el nombre del profeta del Islam, tal como Jesus lo es ... read more

Here we go again! Wake up call at 6.00am, breakfast at 6.30am and on our way to the airport by 7.15am. I hate cleaning my teeth before breakfast, but it's either before breakfast or not at all with the these early starts and having to leave our bags outside our room before we go to breakfast. We only found out that we were being dropped at a different terminal from Meredith and Alex as we neared the airport. There was no opportunity for a long, emotional farewell as Amal bundled us and our luggage out of the minivan while Meredith and Alex stayed on board. Meredith and Alex have been wonderful travel companions and the four of us have really enjoyed each others company during the last 20 days. Amal escorted us into the airport, but ... read more