Week 2 in Jordan: Amman and day trips in all directions

Here I am on my last day in Jordan, at the same Art Café where I wrote the first blog :-) Seems to be my creative place. And I can’t believe it’s already my last day in Jordan! Time flew! So what have I done since I arrived back in Amman?

Well the first day back I decided to do a day trip west: to the city of Madaba, the Dead Sea and Mount Nebo. Most people of the group were a bit lazy or preferred to stay in the city, so it was only Taylor and me who ventured west. First stop was the city of Madaba, which is known for some great archeological sites and especially for the mosaics that can be found there. We went first to the most famous one: a map of Jordan and the surrounding area on an old Orthodox Church floor. It was impressive, although the “translation map” was really needed to understand it. We were super lucky as we were nearly alone in the church. When we left, there were two big tour busses arriving, which just made the little church crazy crowded. We then went on for some other archeological sites, which were really cool, including a big Roman street. I think as a European, you are used to older buildings, but these here are just a bit older and still so unexplored! After a very yummy falafel (for 30 cents or so), we went past a liquor store to get some beer and wine. It was Jayke’s last night and we had planned to drink a beer or two, which is not that simple in a Muslim country. When we returned to the car, we unfortunately had a parking ticket. According to the hostel guy it’s 15 dinar. Let’s see if the rental company will charge my credit card.

Then we continued our way to the Dead Sea. It was quite cold and rainy in Madaba, but with the Dead Sea being the lowest point on earth (-400m) we hoped that it would be a bit warmer. And it was, the car showed around 70° Fahrenheit (20° Celsius according to google). Driving towards the Dead Sea was really amazing, I had no clue what to expect. It was a very rocky/hilly area and we had a beautiful view on it. When we arrived on the street going along the Dead Sea we were a bit surprised. I had heard that most of the area are hotels and I had expected something like the Italian coast. But here it was only a very little area with fancy hotels, the rest was emptiness. The problem: the street is still about 10 meters above the sea and long stretches have a fence and even some military posts as the Dead Sea is an actual border. We drove a couple times past the point where the online map said “public beach”. We asked at one of the hotel beaches: 25 euro entrance! So in the end we went back to the marked spot, asked rangers that were standing there and they confirmed: park here, go down there. So that’s what we did. After scrambling down the gravel path and through awful amounts of trash, we were standing at the “ stone beach”. It took me a little moment to get in as it didn’t feel particularly warm, but once floating it was great. Two essential tips: close your mouth and don’t splash even the tiniest drop into your eyes. Ouch! After we had floated enough, we went into the little fresh water river that came down the hill. Luckily it was mixed with a hot spring so the water was nice warm, even though they were really small pools. There we also found the typical Dead Sea mud and put it on. So soft baby skin afterwards ;-)

After that we went on to the third stop: Mount Nebo. I thought you can hike up there, but basically you just drive up. Unfortunately it started to rain, so we waited a bit in the car. When we decided to get out anyways, the little church on top had just closed. So we decided to walk a bit to have a good view on the sunset above the Dead Sea. And we were treated with an excellent one! On the way back to Amman it was already dark, which makes the pot holes and speed bumps even more challenging, but we made it back safe to the hostel. There everyone was happy to see us (and the beers). We drank them together and then went out. As this was the first beer for all of us in a while and the Petra beer has 10% we were already in a good mood. Somehow we skipped dinner and went directly to a bar. And another one. And another two. They were quite cool places, we played some Fußball (good for me) and Pool (that was embarrassing), had some midnight shoarma and said goodbye to Jayke who had to go to the airport.

The next morning was a slow one for all of us. Though we were not really hungover, we were all a bit slower than usual. We hung out in the hostel, which was a nice but somehow weird place: the grandpa at reception was sitting basically all day on the couch watching TV. And there was no real alternative place to hang out, but I avoided as much as possible to watch anyways. Around noon I finally made it off the couch and went to the city. I had seen a cool photography exhibition on Facebook and decided to go. I arrived at the National Gallery of Fine Arts, no photography. The guard pointed me towards another building. In there I saw the poster for the exhibition, but not the actual exhibits. I went through the full three floor gallery, there were quite some cool pictures, but no photo exhibition. When I asked a lady at the gallery cafe where to find it she just said “ground floor”. I really didn’t find it and downstairs there was no one to ask, so I gave up. A couple days later Guy told me he couldn’t find it either... Anyways, it was a nice and sunny day so I strolled a bit further around this part of Amman. The area of the gallery was a really fancy one with many westerners. And then I was suddenly next to the blue mosque and as I hadn’t visited one yet I decided to go in. After getting dressed up with a cloak I went in and just relaxed. For those who have never been in a mosque: it’s basically a big round room with carpet. I sat there and just enjoyed the silence. After a while I left again through the souvenir shops, where they successfully convinced me to buy some souvenirs.

After that I planned to walk back to the hostel and just walked without a map in the direction. It was a good 45 walk and strengthened with another nice street falafel I enjoyed the walk a lot. When I got closer to the city center I saw a nice looking alley with stairs. A girl coming down told me that there’s a really nice cafe up there. So I went and enjoyed the Art cafe and guess what: wrote the week one blog :-) when I left I realized that the street was full of cool street art so I took some pictures, including the little wings (we had taken photos in Nashville with big wings, so this seemed like the little brother) :-)

Back at the hostel it was only Jon and me left, all others had changed hostels. I finalized my blog, chose the pictures and struggled to get it online (stupid I-phone/blogger combination is just not working). We nearly skipped dinner as we were both lazy, but at 9pm we decided we still should go. So we went up to Rainbow street and had a nice fast food Indian dish.

The next morning I had decided it’s time for the next day trip. This time going east and I had a nearly full car. Taylor, Jon and Thorsten were all eager to see the sand castles. To be fair we all had basically no clue what to expect, but someone said it was a cool place so we went.

Jon and me were a bit done with the hostel, as the living room situation with the grandpa was a bit odd and suddenly there were plenty of mosquitos, so we decided to move. We found a place in the Nomads, where I had been already on my first day in Amman and moved our bags there before we left. As we then found out that the next day the Nomads was again fully booked, Jon booked us beds in the next hostel: my third one in Amman :-)

So here we go, me and three boys going east. We drove for a while and then arrived at the first “sand castle”: Qasr Sarah. It was a bit weird, just a fence around it, no one there and it looked quite new. Later we learned that it was an old bathing house that got renovated. So we moved on to the next one: Qasr Al Hallabat. We were welcomed by a guy who walked us to the ruins and explained everything. Although it was quite interesting as he pointed out a lot of details we wouldn’t have seen, he was the least motivated guide I’ve ever had :-) The ruins were a cool place made of a mix of light brown and black basalt stones. And again some quite impressive mosaics.

And then we are off again to the next place. We arrived in Azraq around noon and decided to eat first. It was a bit off a challenge as I didn’t want to eat in a place where the skinned goats or cow heads are hanging to dry. In the end we found a place (or seated me in a way I didn’t have to see it). The guys didn’t speak much English, so ordering was also a little challenge. We managed in the end to get some food and it was good. I think the guys ripped us off with the price a bit, but hey, that’s life. Then we went to the Azraq castle, which was a really cool stone castle in black basalt. Everything was made of stone, even the doors and roof, quite impressive and a bit scary. Here Lawrence of Arabia stayed (and nearly froze to death) during his battles.

Next stop was the Wetland Reserve, but when we were told it’s 10 euros entrance we decided to skip. The whole area actually has an interesting and sad story: the area of Azraq was not always a desert. But when Amman used more and more of Azraqs water, the eco system of the area collapsed and turned it into a desert. The reserve is an international project where they have brought the wetlands back to life and even settled oryxes and ostriches there. Anyways, we moved on to the next sand castle: Qasr Amar. According to my guide book one of the highlights, a UNESCO world heritage site. I have to admit I nearly drove past it, because it’s a tiny and not very impressive building. But when we went inside we understood: it was full of very old amazing and unique wall paintings. What makes them so different is that they show “everyday life” and also some nude women (what?), which was not very common in the area and time. We spend not too much time there as a big tourist group was there and the place quite small. So we went to the last stop: Qasr Kharana. It was another nice castle, with two stories and all rooms linked. It is not clear what the function was, but one theory was that it was an Inn, which would make it the oldest known Inn in the world. And then it was time to get back to Amman, another really nice day trip.

Back at the Nomads I received a lot of messages from people that replied to my message on the board for a trip north the next day. I walked into two of the girls that had messaged me and agreed with them to leave the next morning together. Then Jon, Thorsten and me went on another adventure: a guy I had met earlier at the hostel was helping out as a volunteer in a local community and invited us to an event. All we knew: for some dinars there would be food and conversation. When we arrived the place was packed and we were told that there would be a discussion about “women in media” first. We were sooo hungry :-) We got split up into different discussion groups. It was an interesting evening with a lot of amazing food and good intercultural interaction. I think I didn’t make friends though as pessimistic feminists who put themselves into a victims role make me angry and annoyed :-) Overall it was interesting though and we all definitely came out with stories to tell.

The next morning I started my trip north with Schnaider, a Brazilian girl I had met at the hostel. The guys and the other interested girl decided not to come. We had three attractions on our To-Do list: Umm Qais, Ajloun and Jerash. We drove out to Umm Qais first and then wanted to back track via the other places. Our map took us the scenic route, which was beautiful along the Jordan valley, but took us nearly 3 hours. It was a crazy difference to the days before. After all the sand and emptiness I could not believe to be in amazing green hills full of wild flowers! What amazing views. And one weird thing: in the middle of the hills we suddenly passed a stone that said: sea level. Funny moment :-)

When we arrived at Umm Qais we were impressed with the size of this place, it’s basically a full ancient village on a hill. It was placed at a strategic trade route and at its blooming times inhabited around 20.000 people. We enjoyed the place a lot, wandered through the ruins, took plenty of pictures and enjoyed the sunny day andbeautiful views. It’s crazy to realize that you are looking at Israel and Syria! We spent nearly 4 hours there and then realized it might be too late to do the other attractions still. So we decided to have a look at the city Irbid, which was on the way back and do the rest another day. We were amazed about how big Irbid is and learned it is actually a nice students city. We ended up driving through the city center which basically is a big market place, so it took us again a bit longer, but it was quite fascinating to see the daily city life.

When we drove back to Amman suddenly the weather turned. I couldn’t believe that it was hailing, and not only a bit. We had to shout to understand each other. Luckily it didn’t last for long and the rest of the way it was only rain. Still annoying to drive in the dark with so much rain, but we made it safe back. I checked in to the new hostel and met Jon and Guy there again. There we learned that it was a rainy day in Amman and we were really happy that we had spent a lovely day up North. I went to dinner again with Taylor and Jon. We went to a little alley where we have been before and the lady recognized us immediately. When the guys said they would prefer to try something new, she was very disappointed. The place we went was good as well, funnily they had to get someone from another restaurant in to get our orders as they didn’t speak English :-)

The next morning Schnaider and me left again for the north as we hadn’t made it to Ajloun and Jerash yet. Guy joined us until Ajloun and then caught a bus up to Umm Qais. We were again driving through beautiful hilly spring landscapes and saw the Ajloun castle from far away. It was a cool castle with nice lighting and great views. Unfortunately at the same time a big Italian group arrived, but as usual their schedule was tighter than ours, so after a little while the castle was quiet again.

On the way to the castle we had seen a sign for waterfalls and decided to try to find them. After a while the signs stopped and when there was just no further sign and our maps couldn’t help as well we gave up and turned around. We had a falafel at a local store. It’s crazy: 2 falafels and 2 drinks and that for about 1 euro. When we went to buy some fruits, a girl translated for us. We asked her why she speaks so well English and it turned out she is a PHD in computer science. Crazy to meet someone with that kind of education in a tiny village in the middle of nowhere.

After a short visit to a little church we made our way to Jerash. According to my guide book the number two tourist attraction in Jordan and many travelers had told us how impressed they were.

When we arrived around noon, we were a bit shocked about the masses of tourists. I guess the guide book was right. Driving past the place searching for a parking spot we realized also that it is huge! It is an old village and there are about 1000 Pillars, some tempels, a hippodrome, two theatres and a great long road with pillars on both sides, ending in two huge entrance gates. Quite some impressive buildings in mixed conditions. The theatre was nearly perfectly in shape (or restored), while other places were mainly ruins. And pillars standing or lying around everywhere. It was a beautiful sunny day and so we took our time to walk around and relax. When we walked further into the complex we relished that a lot of visitors are lazy and stay in the first part. I have to admit that at one point I noticed that I had seen enough ruins now. I’m glad we had done Umm Qais the day before as we went from a big to even bigger site. However, I have to say that I liked Umm Qais more. I think the main three reasons were: nearly no tourists, crazy to realize you are looking at Israel and Syria and most important: the wild flowers and green hills of spring time made Umm Qais just a lovely place to be.

On the way back we wanted to visit a place with rescued animals from war zones that Guy had recommended, but we couldn’t find it and therefore started our journey back to Amman. On the way we saw that the sun started to set over the Jordan valley and just stopped along the road. Luckily there was a coffee/tea place (suprise, they are literally everywhere) with a terrace and so we sat down there and relaxed for the next 30 minutes. We saw yet another gorgeous sunset, with nice mirroring of the sun in the Jordan river. Just stunning!

Back in Amman I checked in yet again in another hostel, this time again in the Nomads, the place I had stayed before. It is just the nicest hostel in Amman and the people there are super friendly. As I needed a place to hangout until midnight the next day I thought that’s the best choice, and it definitely was. I went to dinner with Schnaider and though the place they recommended us was full, we found a nice alternative. We were both quite tired and went to bed early after.

The next morning, my last one, I took it easy, re-packed and hung around in the hostel until noon. The greatest thing: the guy from the hostel, who had organized my car rental for me, managed that they will come and pick it up, so I just dropped the key with him and it was done.

The afternoon I went shopping downtown. As I was a bit annoyed on day one in Amman about the attention you get as a female traveler there (although in no way threatening or hasseling), I decided to just put my ear phones on and listen to music. It worked well, I still smiled and greeted people, but could ignore everything else. I really enjoyed the walk through the market. It is a fascinating atmosphere and funnily the whole downtown is arranged in little areas: here clothing, there the fruit and vegetables corner. Then a good 5-6 gold jewelry stores. Furniture, appliances, toys and one full street with makeup and stuff that was advertised by guys, standing on a podium and praising their products :-) I especially liked a little alley where the repair shops were. It’s great to see that there are still places, where things get repaired and not thrown away and replaced (I’ve glued my sunglasses twice during this trip by the way) :-) The guys were super excited to see a strange woman in this street and tried to talk to me. Unfortunately their English didn’t make it for more than “where are you from?”

I didn’t buy many souvenirs, but found a very cheap herbs mix for teas and one piece of clothing. They have beautiful dresses everywhere, but I was wondering where I’ll ever be able to wear it. I decided in the end for a kind of kimono that I really liked. Let’s see where I can wear it :-)

After the long walk I went back to the art cafe where I wrote my first blog and guess what: started to write this one. Such a nice place! Sitting there I was chatting with Florian, a German guy living in Holland. He and his girlfriend Haley were in Amman as she had a work project there. We know each other via friends and always wanted to meet up in Holland, but never made it. So why not in Amman? He had seen my blog and told me he is there, so on my last evening we finally managed to meet up. They were a nice little group with 4 European/Americans and two locals that they were working with. First we went and bought the standard Jordanian scarfs for them and then went out to dinner. Funnily it was the place in the alley again and the lady immediately recognized me and was happy to see me again. Such a lovely lady, shame I couldn’t talk with her as she practically didn’t speak English. After a great dinner we went to the famous sweets store Habiba, where we had lovely Knafeh, a local cheese sweet. Sounds weird, but actually tastes really great, just very, very sweet! Then it was already time to say goodbye again as they had to sort out their further trip. So I went back to the hostel, where I met some new people and later Schnaider and Guy joined. We played some Fußball (Brazil and Germany destroyed Norway and Germany-UK had a positive ending as well). We drank together the bottle of wine I had bought a week ago. It is definitely the most expensive bottle of wine I have ever bought (around 20 euros), still the cheapest they had. It tasted quite good and gave a nice touch to my last evening in Jordan. Then it was time to say goodbye to everyone and Guy and me made our way to the airport around midnight. My flight was at 4am and his at 8:30 (cheap people saving a night in the hostel). After checking in we made our way to the lounge and I was able to take Guy in as a guest. Way better to hang out there in the middle of the night. We had a beer together and Guy was so nice to stay up with me until 3 for my boarding. While he took a nap I got on my plane, 2.5 hours to Bucharest (lucky me having a row to myself so I slept at least an hour or so), then back to the lounge in Bucharest where I slept another hour and finally I'm on the plane to Frankfurt and around noon back home with my family.

I can’t believe this is it! 12 days in Jordan are over. I really loved my time here. Many travelers only do a couple days in Jordan and I think they are really missing out! I loved the diversity, from green hills in the north, to wide nothingness and desert in the east, the lowest point on earth in the west and spectacular nature of Wadi Rum in the South. There is a lot of history (biblical and building wise) about everywhere (Petra, Jerash, Umm Qais, Mount Nebo, Azraq,...) and lovely people everywhere. Obviously the Arabic culture is different to ours, but I was surprised that there was fewer hassling than I expected and in general people were friendly and open. Many women wear head scarfs, but by far not all and I never felt awkward without one. Public transport is possible but not great, so I would advise to rent a car. Driving is different than back home, but there are definitely worse places to drive. I’m not a fan of cities and usually prefer to be not too much there, but I have to say I liked the vibe of Amman. It is an interesting mix of really fancy places, poor areas and everything in between. The hilly setup makes it a real fitness program to move around, but also gives you great views.

What fascinated me as well is that I had all the seasons: summer days in the desert (and it would have been even warmer if I had gone to the Red Sea), spring in the North, windy/rainy/hail and thunderstorm fall days at times in Amman (including some major flooding), and snow in Dana. I think I was a bit unlucky as usually it seems already a bit more dryer and warmer around this time. I still enjoyed it and was happy not to be there in the main tourist season.

Some things that were strange for me as I’m not used to it was for example the military presence. Even after you’ve seen a couple of them it still feels weird to see the trucks with mounted machine guns on top. Even though Jordan is a safe haven, it is in an unstable region. The King of Jordan seems to be doing a good job in running the country and keeping it out of conflicts. The second strange feeling moment is when you pass by refugee camps. In the East we passed a camp that currently has around 30.000 people living in tents and can be expanded up to space for 130.000 people. Driving past it, it was huge! Jordan takes in masses of refugees from the whole area, mainly Syria and Palestine. People in Europe should be aware that only a very low fraction of refugees actually make it out of the region!

One thing that really annoyed me: trash everywhere. It is so sad to see. Everywhere. No exceptions. People just don't care and throw all trash on the street, in the desert or wherever they are. So sad! Although there are quite some warning signs with high fines or even prison, that does not seem to be enforced very well.

Well, last but not least, I can really advise you to get the Jordan Pass on the internet if you go there. With 2 days entrance you pay 79 JOD (around 100 euros), but included are your tourist visa (40 JOD), Petra entrance (55 JOD) and nearly every other attraction in Jordan (usually between 2-5 JOD). It made traveling very easy as you never had to go to a ticket office, often the even didn’t check your Jordan pass. They kind of expect every tourist to have it, as it is just a great bargain.

So this is it! 12 days of exciting backpacking through a beautiful and diverse country and making many new friends on the way. If you have thought about going to Jordan and weren’t sure so far: just do it. And don’t do a 5 days highlights tour, but really go and experience this amazing place with all its faces.

Mosaic map of the area in a church in Madaba

More mosaics in Madaba, showing animals that lived a long time ago in the region

We finally made it to the shores of the Dead Sea

I'm floating!

Another amazing sun set with the view on the Dead Sea and the West Bank on the other Side

Blue mosque in Amman

The nicer area of Amman

My little Art Café in Amman

Not as big wings as in Nashville, but still a cool photo spot :-)

Driving East in my pretty little Hyundai

Crumbling mosaice in a sand castle near Azraq

The "east crew": Taylor, Jon, Thorsten and me

A stone door in the Qasr Azraq, and it even still worked!

Even stairs are are made of stones sticking out of the building at Qasr Azraq

Beautiful wall drawings in Qasr Amar

Amazing views from Umm Qais: left lake Tiberia, in the middle the Golan Heights and to the right Syria

Leftovers of pillars everywhere in the ancient city of Umm Qais

Beautiful wild flowers, spring time is really pretty in Umm Qais

The mix of black basalt and beige stones in the green fields are a nice contrast at Umm Qais

Umm Qais theater probably has the best views ever!

Could you imagine this endless road seemed with pillars all the way?

This guy at Umm Qais asked us: do you want a selfie with a Roman guy? We were really surprised to see on the camera, as this is part of an old pillar and from the top you could not see a thing