Amman
The plan was to drive my way down the country from Amman to Aqaba then back up past the dead sea and as much as i could fit in in between!
After this trip being cancelled twice before due to tensions and conflict in the middle east it felt like if i didn’t make it on the third time of asking maybe it wasn’t meant to be!
Success!! I was on a 5-hour Royal Jordanian flight from Stansted heading to Amman, I still had a valid Jordan Pass from my earlier atempts which included my visa fee and entry included to pretty much every attraction in Jordan for £80 (visa alone is £40- and 2-day entry to Petra is £35) so a great deal. I arrived at Amman about 11pm and got in the queue to get my visa and stamp. There seemed no hurry to this at all and inbetween stamping they liked to stop for a chat. Having cleared this obstacle it was time for passport control, of the 8 or so desks there was 2 people checking passports and there was a big line now, every time there was a problem which seemed to be every other person they would be taken into a room for a few minutes with the passport man as well leaving just 1 desk working, I waited here about 40 minutes and a little worried as I had checked luggage to pick up and was being met by car hire people. After what seemed like a simple passport stamp for me, I walked down the stairs to the empty baggage hall. By this time none of the belts were running and no obvious sign of where my bag might be but after a look about, I found a heap of bags on the right-hand side, I found mine and another scan of my stuff I was out! I headed towards the car hire man holding up my name and he tells me we are waiting for someone else, 20 mins later and about 1.30am we drive to the car hire office and I sign all my bits and jump in my Kia hire car, being late, tired and now very dark i didn’t take too much notice of where i was, this will come back to get me later on! With my Maya E sim working well, I put my hotel address in google maps and set off. Driving down what was either a 3 or 4 lane motorway, anyone’s guess as they dont seem that big on lane marking and you need to be quite alert as there are speed bumps at what seemed random places marked by some small signs on the side of the road and it being pitch black and unlit made for an interesting journey! Entering Amman itself after a half hour drive the bumps became even harder to spot as now, they’re not marked at all. Being a city i made sure the place i booked had some sort of parking and just behind it was a small car park for about £3.50 a day. I got in my room in The Boutique Hotel Amman booked through Booking.com this was £69 for the 2 nights and shattered, crashed out!
Next morning i headed up to the roof terrace for breakfast, tourism has been hit really hard because of troubles with neighboring countries and it’s not that busy so sitting alone in a large dining area I was then given enough food for 3 people. Checking google maps i made my way up some very steep hills to the citadel and the roman temple of Hercules. From here there are all round views looking down onto Amman and the rows and rows of apartments crammed into every available space and the tallest flag pole and flag ive ever seen. Walking round the citadel and the ruins nothing is behind fences, you can go into any building or ruins, and put yourself in amongst history, the same with the impressive ruins of the roman temple of hercules. A couple of hours here is enough and included in the Jordan pass. Everyone you come across asks you where you’re from and then “welcome to Jordan” and that interaction will happen with most people on your journey in Jordan! Outside the citadel I found a cab driver called Waleed and for £7 he drove me to the impressive king Abdullah 1 mosque, he walked round with me and answered any questions then dropped me at the Roman theatre. Politely refusing him many times to take me to Jerash which looking back I wish I had done I give him a good tip as he was very nice and helpful. The roman theatre again is included in the pass and your free to climb it sit anywhere you want with out anything fenced off, from the top you can see down into the Odeon just next to it which you can also go inside. There is a little museum here with information about the theatre and its history, A hour here is enough. I Took a walk through the streets of Amman on my way to rainbow street. Amman is a hectic place, full of colours, smells of spices and restaurants and cars constantly beeping. Theres not much you couldn’t buy here! It’s very hot now about 2pm and walking is becoming hard work and to get away from the centre its stairs, lots and lots of stairs! I found rainbow street which was not as colourful as it had been described in travel books etc but still worth a look. I stopped for food at a lovely restaurant called Sufra on rainbow street, I had a couple of bottles of Petra lager and Sajeyet jaj, a chicken dish with spices, onions and pine nuts and it was delicious and came with a big flatbread. This place has to be visited the food is something else and the first of many amazing dishes i tried in Jordan. Not looking forward to my walk back i set off back towards the centre, at least its downhill now! I got to my air-conditioned room and just chilled for a while, today has been tiring. Sitting on my balcony before heading out it seemed to keep getting busier the later it got, the streets are now full of people talking, having coffee and doing business. I went in a restaurant called Hekayat Balad cafe and sat on the balcony overlooking the busy street below, here I had another very tasty dish, it was a chicken spiced sort of casserole in a clay pot covered with bread dough and cooked. As you break through the crisp bread on top the smells hit you and so full of flavour, im loving Jordanian food!! Its now 1am and no sign of Amman going to sleep, but I had to, I had a lot of driving tomorow.