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Published: March 8th 2010
The tour ended well . On our last full day we went and saw the mosaics at Madaba and were suitably impressed . I can't say that floor mosaics of the 600's are as wonderful as the one's in Istanbul but they are interesting . The main feature was a map of the Holy Land and it's biblical placements. It is believed to be the first map of the area. A Byzantine church was built over/around the original floor to protect and preserve it .The town of Madaba is a pleasant place . The streets are blocks and cobbles that are authentic not tourist created. Jordan is working hard to develop tourism and they are restoring when possible . There is so much that dates back through many influences over the last 2000 years... more on that later.
We then drove into Amman ,about an hour's drive through a wonderfully green area of wheat and either mustard or canola. After the desert and desert-mountains it was exciting to see things growing. Riyad said that Jordan had been the bread basket for the Rome Empire . (It was also interesting to find out that Potash and Phosphates are the minerals that the country mines and the economy relies on .)We also went through the suburbs of the city and saw MANY wealthy looking places . Like much of this part of the world construction sites had shut down @18months ago but there are signs that the are slowly getting back to it . Jordan has 18% unemployment at the moment and things are a little tight for many people . There has been considerable inflation that some believe started in 2005 when many Iraqi refugees with significant amounts of money and purchasing power arrived .Such is life.
Meanwhile back on the bus we toured around the city for a few hours .There is a Citadel that overlooks the city and has ruins of the Romans , Byzantine and Ottoman eras. At the foot of it is a Roman Forum that is still used today . There are 2 million people that live here and the city is spread out over 19 hills/mountains . The population is DENSE...and city is white! Limestone and concrete blocks are the building material of choice. As it is not in a desert area it isn't as dirty as Cairo but it sure is monotonous...
Finally we headed to our last hotel and like in Petra it was far away from any thing interesting to see or do .What a drag . Our last supper together we had at a Saudi Fast food place much like a Mcdonald's .It was quite anticlimatic. 4 of the group left at 9 that evening (flights are cheaper earlyon a Saturday .2 left for Jerusalem at 6:30 the next morning and Douggy,Anne and I had breakfast together then shared a cab downtown to my new abode and said our goodbyes. As I said it was all a bit anticlimactic .
And the new adventure has begun . As I expected I am/was tired of the packing repacking every day or 2 and it has been really nice to not do that. Amman has museums , souks and "tours" one can do . The hotel is comfortable ,international and the internet is in the meeting area where travellors gather to have breakfast , watch TV and plan and organize their adventures. I like it . Yesterday I did a tour of Northern Jordan going to a Roman city in the far Northwest (2 1/2 hour drive) that overlooks the Sea of Gallilee ,the West Bank , Syria and the Jordan valley .It was quite fascinating and the drive was through agricultural land with ditches full of spring wildflowers . I liked it a lot.
Next stop was a castle that was built to protect AGAINST the Crusaders. I was amazed at the size of it and the size of the rooms inside . It was neat . From there we headed to Jerash another Roman City which Lonely Planet says is possibly the best remins of that time outside of Rome . It is magnificent.
It was a long day 8-6pm but there was no packing or unpacking involved and I slept in this morning...until 7:30am ... but was able to lay about for another hour. Life is good.
Tomorrow will be my last day in Jordan as on the 10th I will head to Israel and again go through border crossings. This one may be a bit more complicated as I understand there is a 2km area that is kind of a noman's land. We'll see.
Hope all is well with you . I haven't had any comments the last few days. Sorry that I haven't been able to attach photos . I have tried on several occasions but have had no luck...maybe later.
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R&C
non-member comment
Glad all is well
Hope your border crossing goes fine. Don't need any problems now. Sounds like you prefer to make your own way in the world. That is good. Enjoy. Nettie is coming back here tomorrow. Bryon may/will be back later. They will go home late Mar. or early Apr. I guess they did not tke their car when they went home. Things are fine here. We are starting to think of packing. But we are holding ourselves back. Still have 2 1/2 wks. Have a good day. Love, R&C