Destination Iraq: 241 km

Yesterday was heading East into the heart of the desert to the Desert Castles - which is a lie, they aren't castles, but a bunch of buildings in the middle of nowhere throughout the desert that were built over the years and used hundreds of years ago as inns, rest houses, baths etc on the path through the desert; some on the pilgramage route to Mecca.

Haroun rocked up looking smug in the morning - in the back was an esky that he was BURSTING for me to open... he'd bought ice, soft drinks, and sweet snacks - the things he'd seen me eat the day before (when it was really hot, I was eating ice creams that I considered putting in my arm pits to cool me down). He bought orange drink as he'd seen me drink it the day before (but only because it was the only thing cold!) - even so, I was very grateful. He laughed when I showed him I'd packed a hat and sunscreen - I got fried the day before, and on the way home one of the guys commented on my "Jordan tattoo". Courtesy of Jerash....

It was only about 20 minutes drive out of Amman that we hit the desert - a shock after the Valley in the North the day before. And it's a black basalt desert, so it's grey, not sandy like I was expecting.

Yep, that's what desert looks like....

First cab off the rank was Qasr Haranna (or Kharana - translating Arabic into our alphabet is an inexact science which is confusing... there are many many versions of the same thing). Really cool - great building, and fun to wander around in. They don't know what it was for, but it was built in about AD710.

Inside Qasr Haranna .....

Now, I know I'm in the Middle East, but I nearly died when I saw the road sign that said "Iraq: 300km". And we just kept getting closer..... I knew Jordan was next to Iraq, but Iraq has always been this far, far, far away place where bad things happen. I asked Haroun if he'd ever been to Iraq, and he said "NO. NO. Kaboom! Kaboom!" with a lot of big hand signals and mad gesticulation.

Needless to say, there were a lot of military installations throughout the desert, and a tank (well, I saw at least one then I decided to read my guidebook). I think this is why I am not sleeping so well....

Another thing to get used to is the police and/or military checkpoints every 10kms, and getting pulled over nearly that often. I generally have to produce my passport (well, the copy, I'm not that dumb) and yesterday the policeman was making kissing noises through the window at me as we drove off. Charming. I'm not overly impressed with the the police, the lads on the street are more polite.

At one checkpoint yesterday in the desert, Haroun got in trouble for not having his taxi sign (the one with the light) on top of the taxi. Haroun had to explain that that was because 10 minutes before an Iraqi truck coming the other way created such a vacuum that it blew off through the window and clocked him in the head. I had to read my guidebook again as it was funny enough when it happened that I didn't need to see him do a slow motion replay with the actual taxi sign. LOL. The policeman let us go on our way.

Next stop Qusayr Amra - cool frescoes - this building is all that's left - the bath building, but it used to be a complex that had a whole bunch of stuff and was part of a caravanserai (resting place in the desert).

The frescoes....

I just loved this dude in the desert police outfit, and happily he posed for a pic. Unfortunately the Italian who took this shot couldn't find the zoom.... I'm in there though....

After that, it was tea with Haroun's old mate. A young guy, who is a tour guide at this site now, who has lived in Spain and Italy and speaks four languages - pretty cool. Sitting in the middle of the desert drinking Cardamom coffee (so so) and Mint tea (delicious!) with him, when he said he'd never leave now because he doesn't fit in anywhere else, I could kind of see why.... He gave me the heads up about Petra: "Don't go with any travel guides. Don't trust any men. They'll offer you a free tour, and a night in a Bedouin tent, and I don't think you need me to explain any further....". No problems there - I'd already had that potential problem covered..... Hmm, and I didn't need to explain that not trusting men is a core competency of mine.

Lastly, was Qasr Al-Azraq. Lawrence of Arabia holed up here for a while. Cool.
On the way Haroun thought it would be HILARIOUSLY funny to tell me to get my passport ready, because we were on our way to Iraq.

Trying to take interesting shots of rocks, rather than just piles of them.....

Then, back to Amman to the Citadel, on top of the highest hill in Amman. Great views of Amman, and luckily I just never get sick of old piles of rocks.....

But I decided to add in some stunts, in case you are....

And, that's a money belt, not an appendage....

Superb view of Amman city from the Citadel... that's a plane I hope, and not dust on my sensor...

A peep at some of the actual Dead Sea scrolls.....

The oldest scupture - and first sculpture ever....

Some kids I found to spice up the view of Amman in the back.... their mother thanked me for taking their pic LOL. I wanted to take her pic - she was stunning, and in a cool hijab, but she said no. I know the boy on the left is Ahmed, but I'm not sure of the girls' names.

This is Sarah... her Mum is holding her, but didn't want her picture taken...

I'm in the middle of the Holy Land in Amman... close to Jerusalem and Bethlehem...

In the Odeon, at the foot of the Citadel....

I had a Kofta for dinner (the waiter couldn't be bothered explaining the menu to me - he decided that that's what I wanted and wasn't hearing anything to the contrary) - and I'm pretty sure I haven't seen the end of it..... (addit the next day: all fine with the Kofta. I didn't die, as I expected). Strange, but really good though - a spicy lamb patty cooked in a metal tray, covered in baked potatoes and cream - a cross between Bretty's heart attack potates, and... Shepherd's pie.... Loving Jordan.

South America flashback - my brief stint as a flight attendant. I don't miss being blonde at all.....