One for the family - proof that all limbs are intact in Jordan..... and yes, that is a wedding ring....
.....well, what an interesting day I've had.
I awoke at 4:14am (criminal!) to the joyous (read: monotonous) sounds of the call to prayer after finally getting back to sleep with the help of my good friend Stilnox at 3:45am... and then, it happened at again at 5:15am... I think. The Stilnox cloud does tend to distort things a little.... so unfortunately it looks like I'm experiencing my first bout of jet lag....
Everyone had been very welcoming though - surprisingly the first thing said when I walk in somewhere or get in a cab is a hearty "Welcome to Jordan" - and I had my free pick of tastes of the produce at the market today, and freebies in most shops (drinks, sweets). And, no strings attached which is even nicer...
I do miss 9th Street Espresso in my New York Neighborhood. The lads that made my daily caffeine fix sent me off with a freebie on Sunday as a farewell and a carrot to come back to New York soon. Not bad for only a weeks work on my part.....
Funnily enough I was so used to speaking Spanish - even in New York I had to use it a couple of times (stereotypically on cleaning and wait people) that I've come out with a few "que significas" and "no etiendes" since I've been here accidently - of no use whatsoever.
On the streets of Amman, Jordan...
I got up at 9am and after a delicious breakfast (being only slightly sarcastic) of a cold boiled egg, flat bread and cheese and jam, hit Amman. And, soon came to a grinding halt. I decided to wander round to find a travel agent or hotel who could hook me up with some tours. There is no such thing.... For the princely sum of like, $40AUD I could get transport to one or two places IF at least 3 other people signed up too... I checked out the public transport options and the word "hitch-hiking" was used far too many times for my liking. As was the term "up to a one hour wait for the bus to fill up before we go anywhere"..... So, I decided to hit up the Tourist Information Place. I started walking there. Man, this place is in the Desert. So after losing my weight in sweat, and walking past the Iran Embassy, the Iraq Embassi, the Saudi Arabian Embassy (more heavily fortified than anything I've ever seen) I got a cab - a much better idea. For 60c AU I was delivered to same.
Oooops. I actually went to the Ministry of Tourism, and it was too late to undo by the time I got in the door. I ended up with Kahled, the Head of Communications and International Relations, who reports to the Minister of Tourism. I apologised and got up to leave, and he explained that in the absence of other available information sources in Amman (noting that this and the general lack of accessible public transport were two negative points about his country), the role generally falls to him. (Sometimes, it does pay to go straight to the top.) He explained my options:
a) hitchhike and take the limited and time consuming public transport - adding about 4 days to my chosen itinerary.
b) get a cab everyday - at great expense as I'll be over a barrel in the middle of the desert.
c) find a private driver.....
So guess which one I chose?
Rahoun and I are going to hit Jordan. Rahoun doesn't speak English. I have a list in English of where I want to be, when, and Kahled has kindly translated this into Arabic for me to give to Rahoun, who picks me up at 9am tomorrow morning to begin our grand adventure. I hope Rahoun doesn't smell, and is pleasant. Many thanks Kahled or I'd be on my date in Amman for the next 14 nights!
Rahoun and I have some adventures ahead. Here's what I've decided to do:
- Jerash and the desert castles around Amman
- Seeing Mose's burial site at Mt Nebo and the Baptism site at Bethany-Beyond-the-Jordan on the Dead Sea Highway
- Staying overnight at the Dead Sea. And swimming in it.
- Checking out the ruins at Karak.
- A couple of days hike in the Dana nature reserve - really looking forward to this bit.
- Petra
- Wadi Rum desert camp, hanging out with the Bedouins and eating testicles. Yep, testicles.
- Aqaba - beach. Will hopefully get to Eilat in Israel (an hour away) as well while I'm there....
I'd love to go to Syria, and Jerusalem and Bethlemen, but I think that would add a level of complication that I'm currently unequipped to deal with mentally, and financially.
This is a relatively expensive option, but one that means I won't be robbed, murdered, cut up into little pieces and fed to the Bedouin's camels somewhere in the desert. It also means that I can go anywhere I like, whenever I like, without having to play "Memory" with Arabic symbols and matching them to the signs on buses. LOL even when I get a taxi in town, I have to pick the nearest landmark that's written in Arabic - I can't even go where I want to go as even though there are signs in English - no one understands them!
Speaking of which, I'm a bit tired of Arabic music already. Those tunes get in your head, and once they are there, you can't get them out. The music is everywhere and I got in bed last night and it was like ringing in my ears.... Also, I've taken up smoking. Not literally, but given the cloud of it that is everywhere - all shops, taxis, the hotel, even the waiters in restaurants - so I'm pretty sure I've smoked half a pack since I've been here.
The food is seriously fabulous though. For about $3 AU you can get an awesome meal of felafel (nothign like in Australia), hummus, bread and checkpeas and salad and mint tea and lemonade.... it's pretty good (and I haven't died yet).
Cool little knick knack shop, opposite the mosque....
After hitting up the Ministry I came back into town (via the hotel, LOL, as I have a card written in Arabic so it's like, the only place Downtown I can actually get to) and wandered around. First stop was for some traditional kanafa - really strange but nice - fresh mozzarella covered in shredded wheat and baked, and then served with scorching hot syrup... not sure if I like it or not - it was very rich (recipe for a heart attack).... then I headed through the streets towards the mosque and the Roman theatre and Citadel.
The mosque.... Yes, they are speakers on the spires that broadcast the call to prayer, day and night....
It was quite late by this stage, as I needed some time to assimilate (read: sitting in a cafe, typing on the internet and talking on Skype, and watching Downtown Amman go by.....) so luckily it had cooled off though. More stairs here than Machu Picchu though - which was an incredible shock for the system after having my snout in the trough in New York....
I looked for a Hijab/Burkha but there were just so many wonderful designs that I simply couldn't decide.... maybe tomorrow.....
Now, I saw a pile of what looked like gingham teatowels - in every shop. Then I realised that they were these - keffiyes - the traditional headpiece we normally see on the news relating to activities in Iraq. I'm now very used to seeing them on the local lads.
I wandered through the fruit and vegetable markets - everyone was pretty happy to have their photo taken (I did ask first)....
So far, I like Jordan. It has my three favourite things to photograph (in the absence of my Nephew) - People, Fruit and Vegetable Stands, and Archelogical sites....
Here's the Roman theatre.... Sunset didn't make for the best photos but it was gorgeous in real life. It sat 6000 people in it's day.....
From the top of the seating in the Roman Theatre (the cheap seats!) looking down over Downtown Amman and across to the Citadel.....
I got a cab to Abdoun Circle for dinner, and then realised how spread out the town is (1.8M people flat, not in high rises, takes up a lot of room). It's on hills, so it feels deceptively small from the Downtown area - from the top of Jebel Amman, it's sugarcube houses spreading all the way out into the desert..... I'll try and get a pic, but here is Downtown Amman from the Theatre:
Will have to ask Rahoun to take me to hit up the Citadel tomorrow, as I ran out of time.... We're also going about 50km north to Jerash, and several nearby places (that are in Arabic).....
Have decided to live it up at least once along the way - everything here is divey, really divey; a 3 star is -490 stars by our standards, so will book a swanky resort at the Dead Sea so can really enjoy it, esp the Sunset over the Israeli side.... I look forward to it....
Happy to find a camera store in Amman as well to burn my card to disc - one tight f*cker in NYC wanted to charge me $100US and the other one $50US to do it. I'm back in the land of cheap data transfer... yay. (Solution in NYC: buy a $12 memory card at "Staples" - the Officeworks equivalent. NO wonder our environment is screwed with all the WASTE).
I also think I'm nearly ready to start talking about my Bolivia-Peru border experience. In the absence of something interesting to write about tomorrow, I'll impart my experiences upon you.
And, credit where credit is due to my parents for not freaking out about my location/situation. I know I'm 31 but the lecture everytime I left Shepp for Melbourne about overtaking big trucks only stopped a year or so ago. Although my Dad's advice on the today to go with the Private Tour and buy the burkha, well, I could read between the lines there.
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