View all the photos from Amman
It is probably some people’s worst nightmare to travel for three weeks with their (de facto) parents-in-law, especially travelling around in a rental car intensively. I’m lucky that Sarah’s parents are such great travellers and actually made the trip easier than it would have been otherwise. Rick takes after Sarah (or most likely the other way around) in organisational skills and proactive navigation which definitely came in useful on this trip. Jackie provides in depth analysis of the stories and scenarios surrounding the people we meet which keeps intrigue high. We got into a few scrapes on the trip, stayed in a couple of less than stellar accommodation and walked our feet off but Rick and Jackie were nothing but pleasant company through it all.
On arriving in Amman I made a beginners travelling error. When the random guy carrying our bags two metres to the taxi boot asked for baksheesh I got my conversion wrong and gave him a $7 tip. He probably does pretty well out of weary travellers. The taxi ride sure woke us up. The driver seemed to take whatever the speed limit was and double it. He was driving a mercedes with super soft suspension so even the speed bumps didn’t slow him down that much. We arrived at our suite in super fast time to be greeted by Rick and Jackie in a nice two bedroom suite in the fifth circle of Amman (not related to the circles of hell in any way).
Amman doesn’t get a great write up in the guides and I can kind of see why. There is nothing spectacular about the architecture. The buildings are new but not particularly interesting. It’s a lively and friendly city though. The next day we got into town and just wandered around until we locked in on the citadel, the most impressive part of the city for a tourist. Despite these ruins being a baby in size compared to what was coming up, we were duly impressed at the time by the massive Roman columns perched on one of the many hills that make up the city. As in many places in Jordan, restoration work is underway, so what you see is a mixture of crumbling ruin and partially restored stonework. For citizens of the new world it is a physical reminder of the empires that roamed the earth long before us. The effort that went into these buildings seems ridiculously exaggerated. Who were the Romans trying to impress in this far flung (but important for trade) part of the empire?
The museum on site had further examples of the many civilisations that called this part of the world home. The highlight are some ~6500 year old statues that look more like aliens that humans but are just mind boggling when you put them on the scale of the modern world. The point at which humans had enough time to be making art and jewellery rather than just surviving is the point where we became something different from our ancestors. The middle east is really where this all started (according to Jared Diamond in Guns, Germs and Steel at any rate, a book well worth a read on this topic).
The Romans knocked up a 3000 seat theatre while they were at it. To aid acoustics the walls would have encircled the highest seat making unamplified performances easy for even the cheap seats to hear.
With the sun going down early we headed back to the apartments but not before a detour through the fruit market behind the mosque. Evening prayer was underway which the speakers attached to minarets lit with neon green lights made loudly clear. There was great produce in the market: dried apricots, figs and dates, fresh apples, oranges and bananas. Rick negotiated a few orders (in retrospect paying a bit over the odds, but as we’ve seen from the baksheesh issue mentioned earlier, it takes a little while to get your money bearings in a new place where prices are nowhere marked.)
Back on the main street we jumped in a taxi only to be pulled over by the police. We’re not entirely sure whether the taxi driver was pulled over because he let people out in the middle of a busy street or because we jumped in while he was holding up traffic. Either way he had to produce some ID and go off for a little chat while we waited in the warm taxi. The nights in Jordan in November are chilly and we were quite content warming up while the taxi driver waited his fate. Luckily for all of us he came back in good humour and we headed back to our suite. For dinner we walked to a nearby restaurant. We were staying in the fifth circle which is outside the hectic downtown. Amman is divided in seven circles based on how far you are from the centre. The fifth circle has some large hotels and roads but not so many pedestrians. The restaurant was fantastic and we got started on our love affair with hummus, tabouleh and lemon mint drinks. We got in a habit of over-ordering at first, the portions were so generous of kebabs and grilled meat, hummus with pomegranate seeds, fresh warm turkish bread, babaganoush. The restaurant labelled itself as Lebanese and we never really did get to the bottom of what the difference is between Lebansese and Jordanian food. The best I can tell it just varies in a few specific dishes but I couldn’t tell you what those dishes are.
Well fed we wandered back to the hotel and lay in wait for the 4.30am morning call to prayer which disturbs less and less and you become accustomed to the public wake up call blasted out everywhere. In the morning we collected a fairly beat up Mazda 6 rental car which was delivered to the hotel featuring a wet boot (we didn’t probe that issue too closely). We gave a credit card imprint and drivers details, then the delivery guy insisted that we give him some money so that he could go and fill the car up for us. I guess this was a kind service but call us cynical, we had some doubts as we watched him drive off. The guide maintains that Jordanians are scrupulously honest, and despite some small baksheesh incidents we did find everyone extremely helpful and friendly. We got the car back and headed into the maelstrom of the Jordanian highway system.
View all the photos from Amman
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