From Damascus I traveled south to Bosra. Famous for it old ruins but really nothing special. A lot of the ruins have been converted into housing by the locals and the town resembled a (will insert word here when i think of it). From here I caught a minibus to Deraa where the real fun started. At the bus station i caught a cab to get across the border. But we didn't go to the border, we went to a shop where they proceeded to stock the boot with soft drinks. Then they started something reminiscent of getting booze into the falls festival. Off came the interior panels and in went dozens of small black packages. Oh shit. By this time we had another passenger who saw the look of dread on my face. He said there was nothing to worry about. We were smuggling smokes into Jordan. We passed the Syria side with little trouble. Probably something to do with small handful of notes (and for some reason coffee beans) that went to anyone we passed wearing a uniform. The Jordan side a few kms away was a little different and was reminiscent of the the line up at the falls festival. Panels coming off, engines been checked. Most of the queue consisted of vacant taxi's. This is where i came in. Every time we reached a checkpoint the driver would take my passport and walk of to the front coming back a few minutes later to skip the queue. Eventually 4 hours later we made it to Ramtha on the Jordan side only 5km away from Deraa. From here a service taxi to Amman. All was Ok until we got into town. It turns out there are a few variations in name to where i staying. We stopped in front of the regent place hotel. A five star hotel well out of my budget and the way. The palace hotel was downtown we were in the suburbs and i anticipated an argument with the taxi driver. There was none. He apologized and actually paid for a regular taxi to take me the rest of the way. Yes a taxi driver gave ME money.
I didn't ask for a tour of Amman's 3 star hotels but I got one anyway.'Your hotel is not that cheap'. 'Don't you like the view from this one'. 'This one is closer to the bus station'. At least I hadn't paid for this. When we did get to my hotel he followed me up to the reception. I had a booking so there was no way he was getting a commission. He kept waiting for me to go up to my room. I waited for him to leave. It was a stand off that I was going to win as I had a reason to be there, he had none.
There isn't much in Amman but it is an excellent base to see the north half of the country. Which by the way is one big open air museum. In one day I went to where moses first viewed the promised land and where Jesus was baptized. Both places rely more on tradition than historical fact. You get there, briefly think wow, tick the box, move on. The real high light was the dead sea. Its an odd feeling, knowing that if you were at this altitude anywhere else you would be under 400m of ocean (or dirt I guess which takes the edge of that feeling a bit). In any case swimming, or floating rather, is something that really has to be experienced. The water is almost like a gel and your skin feels amazing for it. Just make sure you don't have any cuts before hand or you'll soon know about it.
Jerash to the north of Amman is supposedly a high light of Jordan. As my language might suggest I didn't think much of it. Unlike Palmyra and Ephesus, Jerash is surrounded by a modern city. So while you're lost in your thoughts trying to imagine life as it was back in the day, traffic noise and the presence of modern building in every scene puts you back in your place. I guess if I had seen just Jerash and not the other two I wouldn't have spent the whole day thinking, wow another column, another amphitheater, another temple.
The last night in Amman me and bloke i met from Sydney went to the suburbs searching for a drink. There were a few places downtown but I felt a little dirty just being there. And they weren't even strip clubs. They more or less consisted of small dark rooms down small dark alleys with small dark men no doubt having small dark thoughts about the posters on the walls, the only half naked women I had seen in 6 weeks.
Where we went instead could have been anywhere in Adelaide. Its as if someone had been to Holdfast shores, thought 'I like this' but then built it around a round-about instead of a marina. There was a Mcdonalds across from a Pizza Hut with a dozen coffee bars filled with Ammans pretty young rich people in between. After a coffee we went to one of the bars. They had the prices listed, wasn't cheap but neither were the places downtown. Then we looked at the clientelle. All female, all blond, and the doorman confirmed as we started to leave 'no problem, all Russian, no Arab'. Next door was an Irish Pub where I had the most expensive tap beer i've ever had. 5JD for Tap beer and that was just for an Amstel. I shudder to think what a Guiness or Kilkenny would have cost. Atleast it was a real pub complete with footy on the TV and a Pool Table Upstairs.
I didn't ask for a tour of Amman's 3 star hotels but I got one anyway.'Your hotel is not that cheap'. 'Don't you like the view from this one'. 'This one is closer to the bus station'. At least I hadn't paid for this. When we did get to my hotel he followed me up to the reception. I had a booking so there was no way he was getting a commission. He kept waiting for me to go up to my room. I waited for him to leave. It was a stand off that I was going to win as I had a reason to be there, he had none.
There isn't much in Amman but it is an excellent base to see the north half of the country. Which by the way is one big open air museum. In one day I went to where moses first viewed the promised land and where Jesus was baptized. Both places rely more on tradition than historical fact. You get there, briefly think wow, tick the box, move on. The real high light was the dead sea. Its an odd feeling, knowing that if you were at this altitude anywhere else you would be under 400m of ocean (or dirt I guess which takes the edge of that feeling a bit). In any case swimming, or floating rather, is something that really has to be experienced. The water is almost like a gel and your skin feels amazing for it. Just make sure you don't have any cuts before hand or you'll soon know about it.
Jerash to the north of Amman is supposedly a high light of Jordan. As my language might suggest I didn't think much of it. Unlike Palmyra and Ephesus, Jerash is surrounded by a modern city. So while you're lost in your thoughts trying to imagine life as it was back in the day, traffic noise and the presence of modern building in every scene puts you back in your place. I guess if I had seen just Jerash and not the other two I wouldn't have spent the whole day thinking, wow another column, another amphitheater, another temple.
The last night in Amman me and bloke i met from Sydney went to the suburbs searching for a drink. There were a few places downtown but I felt a little dirty just being there. And they weren't even strip clubs. They more or less consisted of small dark rooms down small dark alleys with small dark men no doubt having small dark thoughts about the posters on the walls, the only half naked women I had seen in 6 weeks.
Where we went instead could have been anywhere in Adelaide. Its as if someone had been to Holdfast shores, thought 'I like this' but then built it around a round-about instead of a marina. There was a Mcdonalds across from a Pizza Hut with a dozen coffee bars filled with Ammans pretty young rich people in between. After a coffee we went to one of the bars. They had the prices listed, wasn't cheap but neither were the places downtown. Then we looked at the clientelle. All female, all blond, and the doorman confirmed as we started to leave 'no problem, all Russian, no Arab'. Next door was an Irish Pub where I had the most expensive tap beer i've ever had. 5JD for Tap beer and that was just for an Amstel. I shudder to think what a Guiness or Kilkenny would have cost. Atleast it was a real pub complete with footy on the TV and a Pool Table Upstairs.
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