Driving in Jordan

 Driving in Jordan was really quite different. Cars came from all directions and just sort of avoided each other. Stop signs appeared to be optional.  Lights turned from red to yellow to green. As soon as they turned yellow, cars behind started honking. We never did figure out who had the right of way at the round abouts.  The  speed bumps were ubiquitous and kept everyone from speeding. They also had a tendency to scrape the bottom of the car, especially the ones on the smaller roads.  Generally but not always a sign announced a coming bump, but the distance from the sign varied greatly. The best way to find them was to follow another vehicle and watch for when they slow down.

We often saw cars driving the wrong way, even on the expressway.  They generally drove on the shoulder, so they didn't really disrupt traffic. At one point, probably a quarry, we saw huge lorries drive across the gravel median  of the expressway and go the wrong way for about a hundred feet then exit. It was all quite amusing.

Seatbelts and car seats are not required, but the aunt who drove with us to Jerash did sit in the backseat rather than the front with her 2 year old--but he sat on her lap. 

We also saw children and adults sitting in the back of pick up trucks. Often children hung out the windows or from sunroofs.

 The smaller roads were really narrow. One in particular was wide enough for one and a half cars. It had a lot of hairpin turns and blind corners. It was easy to tell where the more difficult parts were since the guardrails were mangled and broken at those places. Once the road became a little more important, it widened to 2 cars wide and had piles of rocks encased in chicken wire to keep cars from going over the cliff.  

Jordan was mostly desert, shades of brown, especially in the south. At one point we reached an oasis. The surrounding area went from brown sand and rocks to an exuberant and lush green vegetation.  The toothbrush trees hung out into the road, and people just drove around them.  I was the driver, so we didn't get a pictures. 

Jordan: Sunday and Monday, September 19 and 20: Snorkeling, Drive back to Dhlail, Farewells, and Flying Home

 In the morning we got up at 6AM and went snorkeling at the Japanese Gardens, an area which has been planted with coral and which is stunningly beautiful. I left my underwater camera in the car, so I don't have any photos of the coral. It was even more beautiful than the beach in front of our hotel--lots more fish and even more coral. Plus at 6 AM we were the only ones there. We didn't see anyone else the entire time we were snorkeling. 

 After that we went swimming at the beach with most of the family. Mid afternoon we decided to head back without our guide and his family since he was still waiting on repairs to his vehicle. We stopped at the Dead Sea so that those of us who had not experienced it could at least see it, then we drove back to the relatives' house. The house was full again with relatives waiting to say goodbye. We got to bed by midnight and were up again before 5 AM. Turns out that many of the relatives had stayed up all night to say goodbye. When we first arrived, the women had greeted us with a handshake, but now that they knew and like us, we got the full greeting: a hug, a kiss on the right cheek then two on the left, then another hug and a pat on the back depending how much they liked us. Some of the women were even crying when we left. One aunt had gone out of her way to help with the shopping, both where to go and bargaining for the right price. We had looked unsuccessfully all over Jorden for a clay cooking pot, but she had found one at the market in the nearby town of Zarqa.  So we bid everyone an affectionate goodbye,  promising to visit them if we come back to Jordan. Then we left for the airport where we underwent a very thorough screening process multiple times. The flight time to Montreal was a little over 11 hours. After most of the people on the plane disembarked--including my daughter who is currently working there--we had an empty plane to Detroit.

Jordan: Saturday, September 18

 I got up before sunrise and climbed a nearby rock.  Then I discovered that it was so dark I couldn't see the camp, so I hung out on the rock until someone in camp shone a flashlight, and I knew which direction to walk. I then walked with the guide and his second wife to the top of a rock where there was a good view of the sunrise. Nadia woke up and came up for part of the sunrise; everyone else was asleep. 

After breakfast most of us clambered up the rocks. One of them was so high that Kristen gave me a leg up, and then I pulled her up.

 Around 10:30 we toured some of the traditional places to visit: a rock bridge and a small canyon.  We had left our car at the Wadi Rum Village and were in the back of the 4WD truck following the other 4WD vehicle.

 

By noon, Kristen and I left the group and headed to Aqaba to get our Covid tests. Canada is much more strict about which test is required, so we wanted to make sure that we got the correct test at the correct timing.  By the time we finished our tests and got salads in a nearby restaurant, the rest of the group had limped into Aqaba.  The family had wanted to stay in an Airbnb villa, but our guide preferred a Movenpick resort. The resort was right around the corner, so we drove over and met them.  

Sunset View from our Balcony

Resort View from our Balcony

We had 2 duplexes with 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, 2 sofas, a kitchen, and a balcony.  Some of us went to the upstairs pool where there were no children. I did that for a while, but then I went shopping with Nadia's mom and a sister. We all had dinner at a nearby restaurant.  

 

Jordan: Friday, September 17

 One of the things that Nadia's family wanted to do was a sightseeing trip for a couple of days. A family friend offered the use of his vehicles and himself as a guide.  Turns out he was not only guiding us and driving us, but he brought along his second wife and her two young children.  We were supposed to leave for Amman at 6 AM, and we did reasonably well considering how early it was; we said our final goodbyes to the extended family at 6:40. We followed the two vehicles. First stop was Mt Nebo. We skipped that and spent extra time in Madaba. 

Fresh Squeezed Pomegranate Juice in Madaba

Ruins in Madaba

Next stop was Mujib Dam, 

On the south rim of the Mujib Canyon--Mujib Dam below and to the right

then Kerak Castle. Here was the first difference. Our guide had scheduled 15 minute stops every hour to look at things. The family had envisioned visiting places, not just viewing them.  And so as well as looking at the castle from a distance, we stopped and toured the castle. A party of 14 people does not tend to move efficiently, at least not our party. 

After the castle, we continued on the King's Highway, but the lead car developed car trouble, stopping every half hour or so to change out batteries in the trucks. 

At that point we moved onto the quicker Desert Highway and limped into Wadi Rum around 9 PM The car stayed in the parking lot, and we climbed into the back of the pickup truck which set off across the sand in 4wd mode for the Sunrise Camp, the first camp which had been created in the area. There were a lot of fun rocks to climb, and we had the Zarb barbecue which had been cooked underground. 

The main tent for Sunrise Camp was built around a rock

Jordan: Thursday, September 16

 Thursday was an off day.  We hung out with relatives for most of the day but did drive into Ammon to view some of the Roman ruins and to get ice cream. 

The Nymphaeum (Public fountain)

The Roman theater in Amman

Dinner that night was mensaf, a traditional Jordanian dish made from meat and yogurt.  This one was made from lamb. The men ate in one room and the women in the next. First a sheet of plastic was placed on the carpet. Then a large tray of rice with lamb was placed on top. Several bowls of mensaf  broth were placed around the edge. The proper way to eat it was to dump some of the broth and chicken on a patch of rice on the tray and then pick it up with a piece of bread. The Americans used plates or bowls . Sometimes we used cutlery, but mostly we used a hunk of flatbread to pick up food. The family had figured out that Kristen and I were vegetarians, and we had our own tray of veggie food. 

The veggie tray: felafel, hummus, baba ghanoush, tomatoes--the gigantic, fresh flatbread isn't shown.

The Mensaf: The tray is considerably larger than it looks. About 10 people sat around it on the floor. 

Jordan: Wednesday, September 15

 After breakfast our entire group--at least 40 people --left for Jerash. Jerash (Gerasa) was one of the ten Roman cities known as the Decapolis , most of which are in Jordan.   Jerash is amazingly large and well preserved.  

Roman roads had had a main east/west road which intersected a main north/south road in the middle

Byzantine mosaic of Alexandria

Roman temple--the roof had moonstone in it  which allowed light in

there were a lot of columns everywhere

city entrance:

part of our group

One of the aunts cooked a special dinner for us, beans and tomatoes from the garden. Since we're vegetarian,  we've been eating rice and potatoes and bread for supper, so this was a really nice change. The restaurants all have a wide variety of salads and hummus/baba ghanoush which works well for us. But feeding a large group of people where meat is a symbol of showing importance means that we had rice with meat most of the time with potatoes/meat otherwise.

Our Veggie Dinner

Jordan: Tuesday, September 14: Dhlail, Azraq, and Zarqa

When we left the house at 7, a couple of the women were working in the garden. They showed us the pomegranate trees, the lemon trees, and a special medicinal tree. 

a pomegranate tree at the relatives--we picked fresh pomegranates every day. I could get used to that.

The family also has bees, goats, chickens, rabbits, and turkeys. 

Because the roof was flat, we were able to sleep up there. It was on the loud side when multiple adhans (call to prayer) were blasted out from multiple directions around 4:30AM, and once the sun rose at 6AM it became too hot, but it was an interesting experience. 

Sleeping on the roof.  One of the mattresses is a proper mattress. The other is a piece from a sectional sofa. Really quite practical. Like almost everyone else, we had a blanket underneath and another blanket on top. The top blanket wasn't always necessary. When the extended family was visiting, we saw these mattresses all over the patios.

We then drove to Azraq where we went on a jeep safari through the Shaumari Wildlife reserve.      The reserve was founded to preserve animals which were becoming extinct locally, especially the Arabian Oryx.  We saw several birds, onagers running in a line at a distance,  and several herds of oryx. Our guide also showed us several desert plants such as a salt plant used for salads (yes, it tasted salty), a plant used as a tea, and the herb artimesia.  

The jeep safari at Shaumari

Oryx at Shaumari reserve

That cloud of dust is a herd of Onagers running away from us.

Our next stop was the Azraq Wetland Reserve  where we did a walk along a boardwalk. This entire area had once been an enormous oasis, but so much water had been removed that in 1994 it had completely dried up, and the migratory birds had gone elsewhere.  The reserve has reintroduced about ten percent of the oasis.  We saw a number of small birds that we were not able to identify, a coot and an egret as well as a small herd of water buffalo imported into this area by the Chechens who had been relocated to this area by the Ottomans after the Russians had kicked them out in the 19th century.  

The Boardwalk

Water Buffalos

After this we drove back to Dhlail. We did a little shopping in town but after dinner we went to Zarqa to do some shopping.  I bought some conservative clothes since my next trip was supposed to be in Egypt which is even more conservative. 

Shopping in Zarqa

Monday, September 13: Ajloun Castle, Gadara, Quisera

After we left the hotsprings we drove north to Ajloun Castle built by Saladin to protect the area once he took control if the area from the Crusaders.  The Castle was remarkably intact, and we hired a guide who explained not only the different parts of the castle but also the history of the castle. He was very enthusiastic since his ancestors had lived at the castle. Like all the other castles, it had amazing views of the surrounding area.

Ajloun Castle 

Cannonballs

Next we drove to Umm Qays to the area known in the Roman times as Gadara. We ate lunch overlooking Syria, The Sea of Tiberius (AKA Sea of Galilee), and Golan Heights.  Then we walked around for a while. It was interesting and well preserved.  

We drove back to the family just in time to go with them to nearby Hallabat Castle from Umayyad period in the 8th century.  They were all very happy to see us again, and the castle, while small, was fun to visit with our friends. 

Jordan: Sunday and Monday, September 12 and 13: Wadi Numeira, Zara Cliff Walk, Mai'in Hotsprings Waterfalls

After leaving Wadi Mujib we drove south to Wadi Numeira Siq Trail . It was truly beautiful--high canyon walls on either side with a hanging rock at the beginning of the trail, but we did not feel safe and it was covered with trash.  Much as I dislike commercialized places, this could use a little more commercialization.

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Beduoin camp outside Wadi Numeira

Next we stopped at the Dead Sea Museum. We toured the museum, ate lunch overlooking the Dead Sea and hiked the Zara Cliff Walk.

It takes a PhD to interpret this sign: When your children decide to go down the cliff, acquire a board for them and strap it on their back. Then they can decide whether to go down on their back or on hands and knees. 

We reached our final stop, the Ma'in Hotsprings Hotel, at three PM. It was a pretty fancy hotel. I'm generally not a 5 stars hotel person, but this one came with privileges to visit the hot springs that would have been much more difficult otherwise. It was pretty nice. Even the bathroom had a balcony, although I'm not really sure why anyone would want a balcony off the bathroom. The balcony off the other room was more useful since it had a table and chairs. And although the shower had hot water with sufficient water pressure which often doesn't happen with the cheaper hotels, we didn't really care since we spent most of our visit in hot water and even cold trickly water would have been fine.

View from our balcony: That's the Dead Sea in the valley

After we checked in we went swimming, first in the cold pool which wasn't exactly cold, only not hot. Next was the hot pool. There was a huge waterfall of very hot water coming down the mountain. They had diverted part of the water to their own waterfall coming down into a pool. Given that it was about 100 degrees outside, and the water was considerably hotter, we could only take small doses of it at a time. As the weather cooked slightly, the water did too, and we could stay in longer. Standing under the waterfall provided a strong massage. These were mineral springs, and we were told that for health we should stay in the water for a total of 2 to 4 hours. Between the afternoon and the next morning we achieved this. It's harder than you would think given how hot the water was.

The hotel waterfall next to its source, a larger waterfall--this is a few hundred feet west of the public waterfall.

The regular hotsprings are reserved for hotel guests in the morning. Not only is the temperature more felicitous, but they are not gender differentiated. This particular waterfall was from Roman times. Supposedly even Herod came here.

Behind the waterfall was a cave created by the Romans . the water inside was so hot that it created a sauna.

The sauna caves created by the Romans

Inside the Sauna from Roman Times

The Public Waterfall

The Public Waterfall

In the morning we hiked to the top of the waterfall, a steep hike followed by scrambling over rocks and through brush. There was a rough trail, really a surprise to have such a fun walk at a fancy hotel. Usually hikes in these kinds of places are more regulated.