Jordan continues after a short intermission

I am a vry slack blogger. I think it's because I don't think anyone bothers to read this - they might look at photos but not read this. Surprise me... if you read this leave a comment  ;)

Well we're a couple of weeks in now I believe.... what the hell's been going on?

Last post we had been to Jerash.  Freaking hot, lots of Roman ruins, good stuff.

Had fresh felafel and hot bread (Turkish bread...?) in the car while we headed off to the next ruins... which were at Ajloun, which is a 12th century Islamic castle built by Saladdin. Then off for a few hours drive to Umm Qais, which is another Roman city - actually one of the famous Decapolis - a union of 10 cities founded by Alexander the Great. This took us up near the Syrian border, so we went through a number of police checks on the way.  We got there to see another lot of colonnaded streets, and actually a much bigger site than we had thought it would be, but probably the most outstanding thing about it was the view - across the Sea of Galilee, the North Jordan Valley and the Golan Heights. Fabulous scenery.

Back to Amman and a lazy dinner at the hotel.

Next day, up at sparrow's again and off to see around Amman first.  We went to the Citadel, which had the obligatory Roman ruins through to more recent Islamic period, such as the Umayyad Palace.  A little drive through the 'souqs' which in this case were pretty much just shops, to the Roman Theatre, which was pretty cool (not literally, it was already 38 degrees) and well preserved.  Off then to see the Desert Castles in Eastern Jordan. the first one we went to, Qasr Kharanah, was pretty much in ruins, it had been used as a caravanserai in later times.  Still we could climb up to the second floor and get an idea of what it must have been like.

The second 'Castle' was Amra Castle, which although it looked pretty small, was actually lovely. The dome used to represent all the zodiac signs - there are bits of it left, and bits of other frescoes being preserved on the walls.  We chatted to a bloke fixing the remaining mosaics on the floor, of course he had relatives in Australia... 

So off we went to the last castle for the day, which was a black basalt fort at Azraq. In two days we had been near so many borders- Palestine, Israel, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Iraq.

Day 3 saw us up early and out of the hotel at 7am.  We drove to the Dead Sea - the lowest point on earth, which is getting lower every year as they take salt out of it. Apparently there are plans to put water in there from the Red Sea, which will change things substantially. We got to the Dead Sea at about 9am and set off down to the water's edge.   It was already hot, and I entertained a hope that the water would be cool.  HAH! I had no idea of what swimming in the Dead Sea would be like, despite having read about it. To start off with, it IS incredibly salty! so salty that it stings your eyes and leaves a great taste in your mouth.Not having been warned, we hadn't taken any fresh water down with us, so basically just sucked it up and waited until it stopped stinging.  The buoyancy is just amazing. You really have to work hard to do anything other than bob up and down like a cork!!  We followed the lead of some more experienced swimmers and found the mud - the Dead Sea mud that is supposed to be so good for you - and liberally smeared it wherever we could - although Michael resisted putting it down the front of his bathers like all the other men were doing! Oh and the water was not cool - more like a tepid bath, and so not refreshing at all. After the mud had set a bit we got out and showered it all off, then trudged back up the hill to the airconditioned hotel and a couple of cold drinks.

Heading off, we drove to a town called Madaba, where we visited a church with a partially intact 6th century mosaic map of  Palestine. pretty awesome.  Then after a short break for lunch, where I discovered I really like the local drink of fresh lemon juice and mint, to Mt Nebo. Historically, this is where Moses gazed over the Promised Land before his death, and supposedly the site of his burial. Who knows. Nice site though.

Then onwards towards Petra, riding along the King's Way and stopping for a couple of fabulous views along the way. Late afternoon brought us into Petra, all ready for the next exciting day!