Blogs from Jordan, Middle East - page 86

1 Sep - Ramadan starts. Officially on my own now...ho hum. I gave Nafis my mobile number so he keeps calling. Finally, I pick up and agree that he can drive me to Madaba. Found a great, cheap wee hotel online. Nafis has difficulty finding it but eventually, we find it and he drops me off. After various conversations that he thinks of me as his sister, if I have any problems I call him and that I should find a husband when I get home. What a guy! 2 - 5 September - v relaxing week just chilling out in this great, family run hotel. Read loads, email, get the blog up to date, sort through my photos (even manage to get them onto disk!), eat two nights in the hotel on their terrace and ... read more

25 Aug - after crossing into Jordan, our 10th and final country for this trip, we drive to Jerash. This is one of the best preserved cities within the Decapolis / Greco ruins - it's reminds me of Pompeii and Herculaneum, only MUCH bigger. It's an amazing site with forum, main street, shops, ampitheatre (with Jordanian bagpipe band??!!) and a temple to Diana - the goddess of hunting, with the incredible moving Corinthian pillars. It's early evening before we arrive in Amman, the capital of Jordan and check into the Toledo. Nice hotel, shame about the room...ours appears to be getting rennovated. Helpful man on reception though puts us in another room though immediately. I'm amused by the 'kibblah' on the ceiling - this is a sticker showing the direction of Mecca, to keep Muslims right ... read more

Jordan vet sannelig hvordan. Det er kveld i Midtoesten, solen har just gaatt ned, og alle er i full aktivitet med aa fylle opp tomme mager og roeyke inn tomme lunger etter nok en lang og varm fastedag. Siden forrige gang har vi forflyttet oss ganske langt. Og dere som frekventerer bloggen vaar, vet at saa snart vi flytter paa oss, kommer det gode historier. Denne gangen er intet unntak. Mandag morgen pakket vi sekkene vaare, sa ha det til alle vaare nye venner fra Paris (her i Midtoesten treffer vi av en eller annen grunn mennesker fra Paris) og trasket bort til busstasjonen. Vi gikk selvfoelgelig feil, og sto plutselig midt paa en voldsomt traffikert bro. Men vi snudde, saa paa kartet, tenkte oss om, og fant fram. Planen var aa finne en saakallet shared ... read more

Here is a test post to see if I can get pictures up... read more

Initially, we were considering heading back into Petra early in the morning before getting the bus up north. But our feet were killing us due to a full day of walking the day before (my blisters from Kili still haven't gone away), and waking up at 7 am was a lot less of a good idea once the time actually came. We also managed to see everything in Petra on the first day sans a hike to the top of a cliff that overlooks the Treasury. So we slept in and then went down to the bus station. We found out there was no bus that goes directly to the Dead Sea, so instead we booked a bus to Amman and were told to get off near some airport in the middle of nowhere, get to ... read more