Great
day yesterday. I FINALLY managed to get out of Amman properly and do some
serious Jordan sightseeing! I got 5 days off work and so am making the most of
it!
After a hungover day watching movies and eating burgers with the boys (whilst I was at work), Tom made plans for us to go on a bit of an excursion to Karak with Patrick, one of the Manc boys, and his friend Paul who has come out to visit. We hired a car (ridiculously easy to do) and set off out of Amman. I ended up being the first in the drivers seat - never thought I'd actually be driving around Amman but I did a pretty good job (no crashes) and was getting into the spirit of things by beeping my horn at just about anything that came across my path. After driving around the city trying to get out, Paul finally managed to navigate us out of Amman. We headed straight onto the Desert Highway (which basically takes you all the way across Jordan) - pretty soon we had left all civilisation bar a few bedouin tents behind and were driving in the midst of great swathes of desert. The landscape is so barren but still so beautiful - and with a temperature of 36 degrees, the windows open and Jordan 99.6 FM on the radio, it felt amazing to be able to finally do some proper sightseeing.
I drove us South for about 45 minutes before we decided to take a small detour to a tiny little village called Umm al Rasas. It's got a World Heritage Site and is basically full of old ruins. We parked up the trusty old Kia and did our first bit of sightseeing. The only people for miles, we had the ruins all to ourselves. There was one amazing part - the Church of the Three Lions that has Roman origins (I think) had an amazing mosaic that we found hidden under loads of sand. There were more mosaics dotted around as well as the remains of several old houses. The whole place was pretty cool - free to get in and absolutely no one (bar a few workers) around. There was lots to see and not all of the remains at Umm al Rasas have been excavated! Crazy that these old ruins can be left alone for all these years - that would never happen anywhere else in the world.
After getting very dusty, we got back into the car and drove in the direction of Karak (aka South). Apart from momentarily driving on the wrong side of the road (force of habit), the driving was going fine and we were all excited to be effectively in the middle of nowhere seeing Jordan completely authentically. We drove through a few small towns (seeing a black midget in one of them! What are the chances?) before ending up with the most stunning views before us. We parked the car and looked out at the amazing Wadi Mujib landscape before us - rolling Wadi hills dotted with bursts of vibrant green and barely any civilisation. The sky was a perfect blue, not a single cloud in the sky. Absolutely breathtaking.
Driving down winding steep roads, we then passed the Wadi Mujib dam and headed back up into the hills, heading south towards Karak. We stopped at this restaurant on the side of the hillside and ate a crazy buffet of traditional Jordanian food - hummus, meatballs, labaneh, tabbouleh - all the classics. Absolutely stuffed and barely able to move (the boys obviously wanted to get value for their JD and wolfed down HUGE plates) it was up to me again to drive (as Patrick and Tom slept off the buffet in the back seat). It didn't take us too long to get to Karak - we drove through these mad little towns in the middle of nowhere that were an absolute nightmare to navigate through - cars and goats scattered all over the roads. Finally we ended up in Karak. Again, we ended up with the place basically to ourselves. One of the largest castles in the region, Karak used to be a kingdom and was built during the Crusades. It is HUGE and you can really get a sense of how important it must have been strategically back in the day - it's perched on the top of a massive hill and you can see for miles and miles around. Tom and Patrick acted like mountain goats, scrambling up every single stone surface they could find! We all climbed to the top of the highest part of the castle and were treated with unbelievable views. As we sat up there, the call to prayer started and we could hear it reverberating around the surrounding Wadi. I love the call to prayer, and hearing it from the highest place around for miles in good company was amazing.
We sat up there for a while taking in the view before making our ascent (only to climb up more bits of the castle). It was amazing that we were able to freely clamber up bits of Crusader architecture freely. The guards couldn't have cared less. And, for the most part, we were the only people there. It only made the experience even better. It was truly like we had Karak castle to ourselves.
We decided that we wanted to hit the Dead Sea at
sunset - neither Patrick or Tom had been yet and since it was on our way back
in Amman, it seemed logical. We got to the Dead Sea just in time - the sun was
pink in the sky and the clouds were glowing. It was so lovely we decided it
would be rude not to get in and have a float. Keenly watched by a local man, we
headed down to the shore and floated our way into the Dead Sea. The first few
minutes were spent with each of us discovering cuts we hadn't realised we had -
the salt hurts a lot! We spent over an hour in the sea, watching the sun go
down, bobbing along and excavating mud from the sea bed and slathering it all
over ourselves. With the lights of Palestine twinkling in the background, it
was a truly perfect evening. Patrick and Tom loved the experience (bar when Tom
got salt water in his eye) and the sunset was gorgeous. Getting out wasn't fun
- I for one managed to step on a rather large rock and slit my foot open (the
salt water made it so much worse). Also, obviously, we were COVERED in salt.
Everything felt sticky and with the humidity of the Dead Sea, walking up the
sandy hill back to the car was horrible - so sweaty! Even the throbbing in my
foot and the salt crystals all over my body couldn't have ruined yesterday -
great sights, great company....great combination!
Tom and I are hiring a car tomorrow and heading down to Petra and Wadi Rum. Two nights in Petra and one camping under the stars with a bloke called Ahmed. Can't wait. It's been SO long since I went to both those places, and I can't wait to see them with fresh eyes and not as a 12 year old. I'm looking forward to showing Tom just how AMAZING Jordan can be - he loved the Dead Sea ("there's just so...much...salt") so he's going to be blown away by Petra.
Next week for Eid al-Adha (a big Islamic celebration) we're heading to Jersualem for a few days with Patrick, Paul and some other Manc people. Can't wait! So much culture, so little time....
After a hungover day watching movies and eating burgers with the boys (whilst I was at work), Tom made plans for us to go on a bit of an excursion to Karak with Patrick, one of the Manc boys, and his friend Paul who has come out to visit. We hired a car (ridiculously easy to do) and set off out of Amman. I ended up being the first in the drivers seat - never thought I'd actually be driving around Amman but I did a pretty good job (no crashes) and was getting into the spirit of things by beeping my horn at just about anything that came across my path. After driving around the city trying to get out, Paul finally managed to navigate us out of Amman. We headed straight onto the Desert Highway (which basically takes you all the way across Jordan) - pretty soon we had left all civilisation bar a few bedouin tents behind and were driving in the midst of great swathes of desert. The landscape is so barren but still so beautiful - and with a temperature of 36 degrees, the windows open and Jordan 99.6 FM on the radio, it felt amazing to be able to finally do some proper sightseeing.
 |
| Pretending to find the mosaics |
I drove us South for about 45 minutes before we decided to take a small detour to a tiny little village called Umm al Rasas. It's got a World Heritage Site and is basically full of old ruins. We parked up the trusty old Kia and did our first bit of sightseeing. The only people for miles, we had the ruins all to ourselves. There was one amazing part - the Church of the Three Lions that has Roman origins (I think) had an amazing mosaic that we found hidden under loads of sand. There were more mosaics dotted around as well as the remains of several old houses. The whole place was pretty cool - free to get in and absolutely no one (bar a few workers) around. There was lots to see and not all of the remains at Umm al Rasas have been excavated! Crazy that these old ruins can be left alone for all these years - that would never happen anywhere else in the world.
After getting very dusty, we got back into the car and drove in the direction of Karak (aka South). Apart from momentarily driving on the wrong side of the road (force of habit), the driving was going fine and we were all excited to be effectively in the middle of nowhere seeing Jordan completely authentically. We drove through a few small towns (seeing a black midget in one of them! What are the chances?) before ending up with the most stunning views before us. We parked the car and looked out at the amazing Wadi Mujib landscape before us - rolling Wadi hills dotted with bursts of vibrant green and barely any civilisation. The sky was a perfect blue, not a single cloud in the sky. Absolutely breathtaking.
 |
| Patrick, Paul and I overlooking Wadi Mujib |
Driving down winding steep roads, we then passed the Wadi Mujib dam and headed back up into the hills, heading south towards Karak. We stopped at this restaurant on the side of the hillside and ate a crazy buffet of traditional Jordanian food - hummus, meatballs, labaneh, tabbouleh - all the classics. Absolutely stuffed and barely able to move (the boys obviously wanted to get value for their JD and wolfed down HUGE plates) it was up to me again to drive (as Patrick and Tom slept off the buffet in the back seat). It didn't take us too long to get to Karak - we drove through these mad little towns in the middle of nowhere that were an absolute nightmare to navigate through - cars and goats scattered all over the roads. Finally we ended up in Karak. Again, we ended up with the place basically to ourselves. One of the largest castles in the region, Karak used to be a kingdom and was built during the Crusades. It is HUGE and you can really get a sense of how important it must have been strategically back in the day - it's perched on the top of a massive hill and you can see for miles and miles around. Tom and Patrick acted like mountain goats, scrambling up every single stone surface they could find! We all climbed to the top of the highest part of the castle and were treated with unbelievable views. As we sat up there, the call to prayer started and we could hear it reverberating around the surrounding Wadi. I love the call to prayer, and hearing it from the highest place around for miles in good company was amazing.
 |
| At the top of Karak Castle |
We sat up there for a while taking in the view before making our ascent (only to climb up more bits of the castle). It was amazing that we were able to freely clamber up bits of Crusader architecture freely. The guards couldn't have cared less. And, for the most part, we were the only people there. It only made the experience even better. It was truly like we had Karak castle to ourselves.
 |
| Beautiful Dead Sea sunset |
 |
| The one perk of Tom getting Dead Sea water in his eye - he was able to take some sweet pictures of Patrick, Paul and me floating around in the water |
Tom and I are hiring a car tomorrow and heading down to Petra and Wadi Rum. Two nights in Petra and one camping under the stars with a bloke called Ahmed. Can't wait. It's been SO long since I went to both those places, and I can't wait to see them with fresh eyes and not as a 12 year old. I'm looking forward to showing Tom just how AMAZING Jordan can be - he loved the Dead Sea ("there's just so...much...salt") so he's going to be blown away by Petra.
Next week for Eid al-Adha (a big Islamic celebration) we're heading to Jersualem for a few days with Patrick, Paul and some other Manc people. Can't wait! So much culture, so little time....
No comments:
Post a Comment