Blogs from Jordan, Middle East - page 99

Landing in Jordan after a 7-hour flight over a large portion of the Middle East was a bit of shock. I had such a lovely family/home situation going on in India that it left tears in my eyes when I left. I literally left a piece of my heart there but lucky for me I’ll be going back in a few weeks to reunite with what I’ve left behind. On our second day in the first Arab country that Dad and I have ever visited we chose to visit the ancient Roman city of Jerash and the partially demolished Crusader castle of Qala’at ar-Rabad. In its heyday Jerash had more than 15,000 residents and was a fully functional Roman city with beautiful theatre, column-lined promenades and temples dedicated to various gods. Apparently the city rose to ... read more

4-12-7 gave reggae 100 and flag. flew to cairo. got long bus ride which went under canal (didn't see it), past red sea resorts all the way to sharm el sheik. seven hour trip took eleven, ten security checks en route. arrived dahab midnight, owner saying he had only sand beach in town and i'm thinking we're aussies, he's selling ice cubes to eskimos and i find myself dreaming of mollymook, mooloolaba and scotts head. we've certainly damaged the land in 200 years. these peopole have been at it for millenia and it shows, not a level spot that hasn't been crushed, dug, scraped, piled up, torn down or pissed on. that's why the mountains are so appealing. their gnarled and eroded flanks defying us. 5-12-7 resort breakfast. kate slept and i sat immobile for hours ... read more

Hey all, I hope that everyone is doing well and enjoyed my last entry. I am slowly winding down my time here and will probably only post one or two more times before I head back to the States. My studies are going well and I feel like I am really advancing in the language both in the Jordanian dialect and the Modern standard and apparently look confident enough wandering around on the street that I was asked for directions which was awesome. One of the main events that happened recently must have been a first in the history of Amman. One of my friends here, Willow, was supposed to do a half Marathon down in Aqaba at the end of the month but then found out that she had to go home early and was ... read more

Out of Syria, across the border and before you knew it we were "CROSSING JORDAN". Amman is the capital and the inevitable first stop for most tourists rolling in from our direction. Amman is hardly your quintessential exotic Middle Eastern city but there were enough distractions in and around to occupy us for a couple of days. There's nothing particularly wrong with Amman but nor is there particularly anything right with it. Petra, on the other hand, is THE must see and everyone who visits Jordan does see. There's a reason for that. Petra is (I'm trying to think of an appropriate enough non-cliched superlative but it's just not happening) out of this world. (That will have to do). Someone asked me how I would rate Petra relative to the other great archaelogical sites we've been ... read more

The blank desert scenery flew past my window as I headed north through Jordan. I knew that just beyond the flat, brown expanses along the road, the fabled crusader fortress of Shobak Castle, rose up in the distant hills, but, despite a strong urge to see it, that wasn’t where I was headed. After six days of wonderfully active exploring in the canyons and mountains of Petra, I was exhausted and I just wanted to rest, so I reluctantly decided to skip the remote, mountaintop citadel. Instead I was on an overcrowded bus bound for Amman, Jordan’s capital. My journey through the Middle East was down to its last week and I no longer had the luxury of an itinerary-less existence on the road. Amman was the end of the road for me, but there were ... read more