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Published: November 16th 2021
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Do it now before later becomes Never.
A perfect title for this blog and seen on a t-shirt yesterday morning at breakfast. Chris and I got back from Mexico just before the first lockdown in Spain in March 2019 and as most of you know had our Christmas 2019 plans scuppered by the pandemic. We did get back to the UK in April this year and again in June for the summer. We have been waiting to continue our travelling as the world begins to open up. Chris still has not been able to do his bike trip to Rajasthan and our bucket list isn’t getting any shorter. Last year we used our travel budget to install solar panels on the house and given the rising electricity prices it was a good move.
Amongst all of this is also the issue of climate change and whether we should travel at all and we have had many conversations about it. I think in the future if we do travel we will have to think much more carefully about sustainability. Beautiful as Jordan is we have stayed in hotels with individual bath products, daily changes of bedding and towels, endless small
plastic bottles of water etc.
Setting all of this aside we knew that Jordan was on the green list for the EU with no restrictions on travel back to Spain. Entry only required a double vac certificate and a locator form- no PCR tests at all. We looked at using a UK travel company in a small group with a mini bus but then Chris found a Jordanian travel agent offering a more flexible tour with a car and driver. We decided for our first post COVID-19 trip to play it safe.
We set off from Mula by bus to Murcia city and then train to Madrid via Alicante. We had an uneventful overnight in Madrid before we set off for Amman the capital of Jordan. Chris paid to upgrade to business so we had the pleasure of using the VIP lounge in terminal 4S then excellent service in very large comfy seats on the flight. One downside was the amount of time wearing masks, bus, airport, lounge , flight......
We arrived in Amman and quickly got through the first checkpoint in the vaccinated queue, there were plenty of PCR testing stations for those who weren't. We
were met by our travel company and fast tracked through passport control, exempt from paying a visa fee due to our tour. We then met our driver Youssef (Joseph) who took us to our hotel. He had worked and learned English in Houston Texas so you can imagine the accent !! Y'all know what I'm saying.
Our room in the Bristol Hotel was fine and we were ready for sleep. Next morning we had a leisurely breakfast in the covered courtyard beside the pool before exploring a bit of Amman on our own. We visited the Jordan museum which gave a really good explanation of the development of the area. Jordan was only formed in 1946 and this area “ the Holy Land" has been occupied and ruled by so many different cultures.
We wandered a bit through the streets amazed at how clean it was. We headed to Rainbow street and had a good salad for lunch. In the evening we went to the hotel bar and it was grim, smoking is still allowed, one of my pet hates. The couple at the next table were clearly a paid arrangement. Dinner though in a nearby restaurant was
amazing Baba Ganoush and BBQ lamb.
Youssef picked us up next day and we set off on our first day trip to the crusader Atjlan castle and the Roman city of Jerash. The castle was interesting but Jerash was mind-blowing and came alive by the commentary of our guide Sami. It is a complete Roman city, covered over by years of sand and earthquake damage and still only partly restored. It was refused UNESCO world heritage status which is staggering. It was a long but enjoyable day. We made the mistake of ordering a mixed grill with two weeks worth of meat on one plate.
Next day we packed our bags and headed for the Dead Sea. But first we had a city tour with Youseef, the heritage sites of the Citadel and amphitheatre were fascinating and we had another good guide at the Citadel, a retired Army officer who had learned English in just 3 years. It was Friday the Muslim day if prayer so we were in the centre of Amman when Youseff went off to the Mosque, some of the streets were cordoned off to allow prayer in the streets. For me though the highlight
of the day was five lots of street food. Spleen sandwich and lambs tongue sandwich. Then Arias which is a flat bread stuffed with a thin layer of spicy minced lamb, the final one was mince formed into a flan base and baked till the edge was crispy and filled with spicy tomato and onion. Finally, dessert was kunafeh an almost indescribably yummy dessert.
Then we set off for the Dead Sea, the lowest point on the planet and a place where you can float on the surface of the sea. We were staying at the Holiday Inn, what a disappointment it was apart from the free upgrade to a suite everything else was terrible. We quickly got changed and walked through the complex to the beach ( made from builder's sand) and had our float in the sea. It was a strange but enjoyable sensation and we then had a quick dip in the pool before it closed at sunset- 17.30 ! We expected a restaurant so got showered and changed and sat in the lounge to have a drink. The prices were crazy, thank heavens for happy hour, and the service was woeful, the bar manager shouted
at Chris.
We found that most guest were on a package which included a buffet dinner, it was like a works canteen; minimal service, grumpy staff and mediocre food which you couldn't help yourself to ! We had to be away at 7am next morning and breakfast was ten times worse. One member of staff trying to look after 5-6 different sections. We just grabbed what we could and headed out. Having read some of the online review I think others were in a different place.
Our early start was due to the trip down the Kings Highway to Wadi Musa, and Petra. We spent a great day stopping off at Nebo Mountain, where Moses looked out onto the Promised Land. The wind was wild and whipped up a dreadful dust storm, the Church at Nebo is run by Franciscans. Then a trip via two other churches looking at amazing mosaics before a trip to Karak, another Crusader castle. A huge place but not very well maintained.
By we got to Petra we were pretty weary and had a short rest, a shower, a beer in the 2000-year-old cave bar and a lovely refreshing meal of veggie mezze. We needed an early night as our Petra trip was starting at 7am.
But more of that next time
Norma x
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