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Middle East » Jordan
December 3rd 2009
Published: December 10th 2009
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Our first stop in Jordan was the desert castles. The first castle we saw was Qasr-Al-Harrana. According to posted signs it was most likely one of the first inns of the Islamic period. It pays to leave early as we were the first people to have been there. Sara was given the key to the castle which made her queen. It was quite cool that morning and gloves would have been good only we didn’t have any. Technically it is winter in Jordan and therefore much colder than what we had been accustomed to in Abu Dhabi. We toured the two floors of the castle. One thing that struck me was the vandalism…people had written on all the walls and had ruined the experience somewhat but it was still amazing to imagine the history of the place. We left and were confronted with a squat toilet when we had to go…luckily the other stall had a regular toilet. We then went into a large tent where we were invited for Arabic tea with a Bedouin man. It is pretty delicious but they have a tendency to put the tea in glass cups which makes it hard to hold without burning yourself.
Our second castle was Quseir Amra which has been inscribed on the World Heritage List as a site to be protected. It was built in the early 8th century and was a hunting pavilion used sometimes as lodging for members of the ruling Amayyad family. This site was much better preserved than the first. We entered the castle and a man was sitting by the door. He asked us if we wanted a tour. Once done, he said “Aren’t you going to give me a tip?” This began what was to be tip after tip. I think my biggest expense was the tipping…we seemed to tip for absolutely any reason, any small service. It is expected. You get the impressions that some people only make their money through tipping.
In this particular castle there were wonderful paintings on the wall. It was impressive. At the same time as us, were two men taking pictures who were there to preserve the paintings…how? I’m not sure, possibly for a future preservation on-site or just taking pictures as they are slowly disintegrating.
Our third castle was Quasr Al Azraq. This castle was built by the Romans and rebuilt by the Arabs during the
key to castlekey to castlekey to castle

Sara was given the keys to the castle as we were the first to arrive that day.
crusades. We had a guide who was very enthusiastic. He claimed to have a lineage dating back to Lawrence of Arabia. We went through two sets of stone doors where he dared us to push on them. I pushed hard and moved them so he said I was strong like Hercules…what a flattering comparison! After exploring for a while,
we then got into the car and were driven to Jerash. On our way, we stopped at a very small store in a little village on the way. I was the first in the door. The look of surprise on their face was priceless. Apparently, they do not see tourist’s ever so when four Canadian women walked through the door, it was a little shocking to say the least. We loaded up on Turkish coffee and bought several oddly named chocolate bars. Andrea loved her Good Time and not to mention her Pop Cok.
Jerash is known to be one of the best preserved Roman provincial towns in the world. It was hidden under mounds of sand and it took 70 years to uncover. Our guide was fantastic in his knowledge of everything about the history. In the hippodrome, a massive
Inside the castleInside the castleInside the castle

The courtyard of Quasr Al Harranna
arena that held 15000 spectators. Each seat had a Greek letter of the alphabet (I think it’s greek) stamped at the front of the seat so that people could find their assigned seats. They had a back stage where the actors would prepare for their parts and several places where they could enter the stage. In the exact center on the floor below the stage and before the seats, there is a spot that amplifies sound perfectly. Step one pace over and the sound is completely different. It is pretty amazing! Another interesting thing is that the columns are always in motion. He put a spoon in a crevice on one column and we saw it dip up and down. It was amazing to see the modern city of Jerash sprouting out of the ruins of the old. They are most likely living on parts of the ancient city which have yet to be discovered.
One note about the “tulip” hotel chain is that when staying there, especially in Jordan, DON’T. Go 5 star all the way. The country’s standards are not the same as western countries and really it is more of a 3 star or rather 2.5 if
Bedoin manBedoin manBedoin man

We drank Arabic tea with them...they were very friendly. I have to say Jordanian people are the friendliest I have encountered so far.
there is such a thing. Before bed that night, I set my alarm to wake up at 6:30. Andrea and I woke up feeling exhausted, like we had hardly slept. I took a shower and she got ready and she commented on how hungry she was. We had asked for a wake up call and they didn’t even call us. We figured we would wake up the other two girls with us as they probably had not had a wake up call either. Andrea called and I could hear her saying “Oh my god…Really!” I thought we were really late by mistake. Turns out…I had forgotten to set my timer back two hours. We had actually gotten out of bed at 4:30 am! We laughed for quite a while about it. No wonder I had been tired! We had actually gone to bed at 1:30 am the night before. Can’t explain why Andrea was so hungry though! Lol.
The next morning (at least I was dressed and ready), we drove to Madaba. It is a really pleasant little town and visited the contemporary Greek Orthodox church of St-George. It has a 6th century Byzantine mosaic map showing holy sites. We
Quseir AmraQuseir AmraQuseir Amra

This castle has many paintings inside on walls.
then went to Mount Nebo. This is the supposed site of Moses’ burial. From the top you can see the valley, the Dead Sea Jericho and Jerusalem. There is an early church there which was built in the early 4th century and is still being explored by archaeologists. Pope John Paul the II visited here in 2000. He is my favourite Pope. After, we went to Karak castle, a stronghold for the Crusaders. Apparently, the movie “The Kingdom of heaven” had numerous scenes shot there. It is amazing although I would bring a flashlight if I ever went back…there are many passageways and tunnels you think twice about entering as it is pitch black. I would flash my camera just so I could see ahead of me.
We then transferred to our hotel in Petra which was another “tulip” hotel and just as bad as the first. Take note…if staying in Petra get a hotel that surrounds the entrance to the ancient city. You can be first to avoid the crowds. That night, I decided to walk around and met a Bedouin seller of sand art. He offered me tea and I think he wanted to practice his English…he said
Our guideOur guideOur guide

Here is our first tipping experience. He actually asked us for a tip.
he was a English Literature student who was in his last year of University. I asked him which book he studied and he said he didn’t read any books. Not sure how he managed it! I asked him what it meant to be a Bedouin. He responded, hospitality, friendship, family, tradition and heritage then he got up and pushed his product hard to some French tourists that happened by. He forgot to mention “salespeople” as the Bedouin are masters of pressuring people to buy their products.
The next morning, we left early for the ancient city. We met our guide, Hani, and he was an unforgettable character. He claimed to be 94 but actually looked to be in his late 60’s. He stopped often to show us little details that he assured us other guides would not take the time to explain. He explained that we should only buy items from the Queen Noor foundation as the money goes to the poor children of Jordan. I have a feeling he had an agreement with some of them as well but no harm done. We started our journey on a horse…me included. I was so busy being scared on the horse
Quseir AmraQuseir AmraQuseir Amra

Here are some examples of the paintings. These were on the ceiling.
that after five minutes I asked to get off. We arrived at the Siq, the long hallway into the city, which is a narrow opening between the rocks. Once we got to the end, the most magnificent site awaited us. I could only stand there in awe. The Treasury in all its glory. I can’t even imagine how they managed to chip and chisel this magnificent façade into the rock. There were a lot of men with horses, donkeys and camels that were offering rides dressed in a certain way and with makeup on because, as our guide explained, they thought the women would be more receptive to them. Look at the picture and guess which actor they wanted to resemble. We noticed there were a lot of dogs and puppies running around the ancient city. Our guide told us that the Bedouins had heard that Obama was coming to visit the area…and also, that he was looking for a dog. A lot of them went to Egypt and brought back puppies. When Obama never came, they released their dogs to roam wild as they could not feed them nor want to take care of them. There are at least
Quasr Al AzraqQuasr Al AzraqQuasr Al Azraq

The third castle we visited that day.
a thousand dogs there and soon to be more with all those puppies running around. He was a very interesting man and I think I could have sat and listened to him for hours. He talked about his American girlfriend back in Florida and that he could not wait to go back to Las Vegas. He told us he was in the Indiana Jones movie, he was the guy who rides across the the Monastery on a horse. Also, as this is a canyon, flash flooding is always possible. He led a group of 15 tourists into the ancient city once and there was a freaky flash flood. Only he and another woman survived when they managed to climb up high enough. Everyone else, including his assistant died. At one point, he asked us if we wanted to follow the easy path or be taken off the beaten track. We chose to climb and saw things from heights that many of the other tourists did not go. In front of the urn tomb, sat an elderly Bedouin gentleman. He was selling his wares and when I happened to show interest in a metal carving of the Monastery he said to me, with much conviction in his voice, “I dig”, making a shovelling motion with his hands but pointed over to some other items saying “Made in Taiwan”. I bought it, but before I left he through in an “authentic Greek coin” that he dug up as well as a piece of rock that was obviously sheared from the rock. This of course is very bad…tourists could devastate the area if chipping away at the limestone was allowed. I through it away over the canyon. He also, said to me that he had two wives and then he picked up a vase showing me an obscene image of a couple having sex doggy style. Dirty bugger!
After a few hours, our guide said goodbye and I started up the 850 or so steps to the Monastery. It was a gruelling climb, the steps being jagged and extra large so one step was really two. All along the way, Bedouin women and men were selling jewellery and trinkets. Very annoying when you are constantly begged to stop and buy when all you want to do is breathe. Children were everywhere selling things as well…calculating the price of things off the top of
Our "Lawrence of Arabia" connectionOur "Lawrence of Arabia" connectionOur "Lawrence of Arabia" connection

This guide said he was a descendant of T. E. Lawrence.
their heads, sometimes converting money if necessary. I took one picture which says it all…a 6 year old at best riding a camel full speed while pulling another one behind him. A feat I could not perform in a million years. I have to say that it is a good idea to go for several days at a time as I hiked for 8 hours and was exhausted by the end.
Petra’s beauty was stunning…I could have sat and looked at these spectacular carvings in the rock for hours. It is one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen made by a human’s hands. If you go nowhere else in Jordan…go there.
The next morning, after another uncomfortable stay at the Golden Tulip King’s Way, which had the touchy feely bellboy, we went to Wadi Rum. Once the tour company dropped us off, our ride into the desert landscape, which was supposed to be in a jeep turned out to be on the flatbed of a truck with benches not so securely fastened to the back. Let me say, it was pretty cold but thankfully the sun was shining. We were brought to a place that has some of the oldest recorded petro glyphs (some were 4000 years old). The most interesting place we were brought to was a crevice or canyon cut in a mountain with petro glyphs low to the ground so I could actually run my hands along them. A perfect description comes from a guide book I once read that said that T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) visited Wadi Rum and wrote that it was “vast, echoing and God-like”.
We transferred to a new town, where the Dead Sea was. We arrived just as the sun was setting and it was spectacular. In the bible, under the Dead Sea is Sodom and Gomorra. Salt’s wife was petrified in the story and I got a picture of her. All along my trip, I kept reminding myself about the unbelievable history that I was treading through. Places that Moses and Jesus roamed. Crazy! From our hotel, we could see the lights for the city of Jerusalem. The hotel here was fantastic because they are new but keep in mind how water is in extreme shortage here. Much needed water had been diverted from other places to supplement these hotels which are springing up everywhere.
My first view of Jerash-the Roman city.My first view of Jerash-the Roman city.My first view of Jerash-the Roman city.

These are the best preserved Roman ruins in the world.
I felt really bad about that and couldn’t help it being a preoccupation. Andrea and I got up really early in order to get to the Dead Sea as soon as possible. Once at the shore, it looks just like any other lake until you actually get in. You literally bob like a cork. After a while, we decided to rub the mud all over us. My skin has never felt softer. It is really amazing! At some point I forgot that I was in the Dead Sea and splashed water in my face…big mistake! Luckily I was led to the shower to wash it off.
That afternoon, we took a taxi to Bethany. This is reported by scholars to be the site of Jesus’ baptism by John the Baptist. We followed a tour group and ended up by the Jordan River staring across it at Israel, Jericho to be exact, that had their own place of worship celebrating the site. What was amazing was that many different religions were represented there. A Catholic church was being built, a mosque had been built, a Greek Orthodox Church and so on. Any religious denomination that applied could be represented. It was
Jerash-the old next to the newJerash-the old next to the newJerash-the old next to the new

The ruins actually had been discovered by accident and were buried underground. They beleive that there is actually a lot more to be uncovered under the modern city.
unexpected to see them coexisting peacefully only a stone’s throw from each other. Also, there were ancient churches that had been erected on the site (approximately the earliest being 750 to 800 years after Christ).
This last site we visited was an excellent culmination to a fantastic trip considering it is one of the most important Christian sites.
P.S. Make sure you see all 76 photos. Scroll down all the way to the bottom and look at all the pages of them (I think there are 4 or 5)






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shops at entrance to Jerashshops at entrance to Jerash
shops at entrance to Jerash

They push a hard sell...beware...to keep you there they will quickly wrap you up in a scarf..quite tightly in fact so you can't get away.
tourist policetourist police
tourist police

They are there, not to control the tourist' but to protect them. In the 80's, several hotels were targeted and bombed. In order to bolster their tourism and to instil confidence, the tourist police were installed in every tourist site in Jordan. There has been no trouble of any kind since.


12th December 2009

WOW.....
Sheri, Thank you so much for including me on your blog, I will never have the opportunity to visit these wonderful sites unless I wil the Lotto!!(fat chance). The Pictures are wonderful, and the background you have given with each site makes me feel like I was there with you....keep enjoying the sites, you will be home before you know it... Thanks again, kathy...and take care
19th December 2009

hi \sherry, i am so happy that you went to see Jordan, i love it. why you did not go to lebanon? keep in touch i love petra too, i visit it 4 times and it is still the best place ever. kisses and hugs we miss u
22nd December 2009

my private e-mail
Hi, did you receive my private e-mail? Could you send me your hotmail address? Noelline

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