Jordan - couple of days in

We're sitting in the sportsman's bar of the hotel in Amman, waiting for a late lunch. I'm happy because the internet access is good, unlike in our room, and Michael's happy because Liverpool's playing in the first game of the season and it's live on the tv here.  The little things in life :)

We flew into Jordan on Thursday afternoon. Michael had a sliver of a view out the window, and all that could be seen was dust and sand... but fortunately there was a terminal there and we could get off. I have never travelled with so many kids - there were 47 children and 22 babies on the flight from Dubai! No school trips, just kids travelling with their parents. Amazing.  No screams on take off or landing, but plenty of noise otherwise, and boy the flight crew had their work cut out for them!  Once off, we found our way to Immigration, got out some Jordanian Dinar to pay for our visas, then went to what looked like the shortest queue for a visa. Of course Murphy's Law struck, and we noticed after a short time that the people in front of us were holding 10 passports. So every one of those had to be processed, letters checked, and only then could they progress to have a retinal scan done and go through passport control. So we waited about 20 minutes until our turn, and then wouldn't you know it, stamp stamp, scan scan, and we're in.  Down the escalator and then a couple of minutes later there were our bags.

Through customs and out, found our tour guide Ahmed, and off we went.  First room had two double beds so we asked for a change, got a room identical to the first but higher up and with one queen sized bed. Much better :)

Friday we were up early and out of the hotel by 8am.  First stop was Jerash, which is famous for an unbroken chain of human occupation dating back more than 6,500 years.  Jerash lies on a plain surrounded by hilly wooded areas and fertile basins. Conquered by General Pompey in 63 BC, it came under Roman rule and was one of the ten great Roman cities of the Decapolis League. The city's golden age came under Roman rule, during which time it was known as Gerasa, and the site is now generally acknowledged to be one of the best-preserved Roman provincial towns in the world. Hidden for centuries in sand before being excavated and restored over the past 70 years, it's now a magnificent site. It was also bloody hot!  One of the most surprising finds was in the amphitheatre, where we came across a piper ... yes, bagpipes!