Amman and Jerash - Northern Jordan

JORDAN

Jordan has around 6.7 million inhabitants, and well over 90 percent are Muslim Arabs, with a small minority df Christian Arabs. Jordan is somewhat of a constitutional monarchy, but with a King, who still has much power. Jordan's per capita GDP is under US$6,000. There is no oil, and key economic sectors are phosphate and potash production, and tourism. Jordanian workers are entitled to a minimum wage of US$265 per month. The Jordanians are highly educated with just over 2.5 per cent of the population enrolled at university (comparable to the UK), but there is very few jobs available. Jordan has taken a lot of Palestinian refugees since the foundation of the State of Israel in 1948, and these Palestinians dominate the private-sector business, which is why there is only few jobs for the Jordanians in this sector. Recently, Jordan has also taken refugees from Iraq and Syria, muddying the issue still further.

AMMAN

We arrived at the airport at midnight, and took a taxi the 50 minutes to Jordan Tower Hotel. When we reached Amman a lot of people were in the streets despite the late hour. The streets were full of garbage, and it seemed like a poor area, but it turned out that this is the way downtown looks!

We were staying in downtown, which is very different from the downtowns we have experienced elsewhere on this trip. The street life is overwhelming; loud with traffic and voices, Arabic music blaring from shop fronts, people selling clothes, coffee, cigarettes or trinkets on the streets, and then add 35 degrees C to the mix. Apart from a few Roman ruins and a couple of museums there is not much to see. 

We set out to find the Jordan Museum, but after having asked a couple of places where they could speak and read English, we gave up, as they didn't know where it was located! So we took a taxi to West Amman, the new and wealthy part of town (West Amman) to experience the contrast.

Guess what this shop is selling.....

Did you get it right?

No peeking!

Seriously no peeking!!

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It was luxury to have a coffee here at this 'oasis' away from the hustle and bustle of downtown.

We also had lunch and our favourite drink here in West Amman, fresh lemon juice with mint. It is so refreshing and a wonderful change from bottled water.

In our experience around 80 perccent of the women wear the hijab (either wearing the all black clothing or cover their hair with a scarf and the arm and legs with a long sleeved jersey and slacks).

JERASH - The Grandeur of Imperial Rome

Jordan is 80 percent desert, so public transportation is scarce. We were lucky to share a car and driver with an Italian couple to go to Jerash located 50 km north of Amman. The rolling hills of northern Jordan hold some of the nicest countryside in Jordan, with lots of olive and fig trees, patches of pine forrest and fields of wheat. This is the most densely populated part of the country.

Jerash is one of the best-preserved Roman cities in the eastern Mediterranean, and a huge site. Jerash was founded around 170 BC, and has a long and colourful history taking in emporors, invading armies, and, like much of Jordan, modern reinvention after centuries of abandonment.

Hadrian's Arch was built to honour the visit of the Emperor Hadrian to Jerash in 130 AD. The 11 meter high triple-arched gateway, which probably had wooden doors, is impressive.

The Oval Plaza is one of the most impressive pieces of Roman urban design.

The South Theatre is the most magnificent of all Jerash's monuments. It was built in the 90s AD to seat over 3,000 people. If you stand on a certain stone in the center of the orchestra below the stage and say something, people on the top row can hear it due the great acoustics. 

Most of the columns were beautifully decorated at the top.

We spent two hours walking among the ruins, and time flew by as there was so much to see. While washing the dust and heat down with a coke, Andy asked for assistance figuring out where our hotel in Amman was located from some of the locals. 

It was a lousy map, and the guys had trouble finding it even when borrowing Andy's glasses!

AJLOUN CASTLE

We also visited Ajloun Castle, which location offers bird's eye views over the surrounding countryside and the three wadis (valleys) leading to Jordan Valley. The castle is said to be a former monastery home to a monk called Ajloun. By 1184, in the midst of the Crusades, the monastery has fallen to a ruin and an Arab general built a fortress on the ruins.

We had dinner at Jafra, which main room is huge and a bit misty from all the water pipe smoking, but the atmosphere and the food was great. 

This bill was around CAD$34 for a lentil soup, bread and hummus, one grilled chicken, 2 lemon/mint drinks and a tea - no alcohol (you can only get it at a few restaurants). It is not cheap to travel in Jordan, but not as expensive as Europe; the Jordanian Dinar is almost on par with the Euro. A 1.5 liter bottle of water is CAD$1.4.

Ready to explore more of Jordan?, Okey, Yallah (let's go)!

Istanbul: The Divide Between Europe and Asia.

We arrived in Istanbul after our extended beach holiday in Marmaris, Turkey. We couldn't find our hotel in the Sultanahmet area, but we did find a Starbucks, and took a rest there. The Tourism Information Office showed us the way on a map, and the Castle Hostel was located close to the Starbucks. We stayed two nights, just enough to get the feel of the city.

Istanbul is the largest city in Turkey with a population of about 14 million people divided by the Bosporus Strait, which forms the divide between Europe and Asia. The strait is one of the world's major shipping lanes, with ships headed to and from the Black Sea serving many countries, including Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, and Bulgaria. 

As soon as we had dropped our backpacks, we went to visit the Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmet Mosque), 

but we couldn't get in as Andy wasn't wearing long pants, and, furthermore, it was closed for prayers, so in stead we headed for a walk along the strait.

At every hotel we stayed in Turkey, we were served a Turkish breakfast. It is very nutritious, but can be tiring (same thing) after 10 days!

After breakfast we went to the Blue Mosque, this time properly dressed. To enter the Blue Mosque, you must be conservatively dressed, similar to entering the Vatican. 

Muslims pray 5 times a day, and the call to prayer is played over speakers; the first call being around 5:00am. This is what Call to Prayer sounds like from the Blue Mosque and surrounding mosques

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The ceiling of the Mosque is which gives it its name. 

Later that day, we visited the Basilica Cistern, which was built by the Romans in the 6th century by to meet the population's water requirements in case of a siege. This cathedral-size cistern is an underground chamber approximately 138 metres (453 ft) by 64.6 metres (212 ft)[5] - about 9,800 square metres (105,000 sq ft) in area - capable of holding 80,000 cubic metres (2,800,000 cu ft) of water. The ceiling is supported by a forest of 336 marble columns, which gave it the nickname 'The Sunken Palace'.

At the bases of two columns are two blocks carved with the visage of Medusa. The origin of the two heads is unknown, though it is thought that the heads were brought to the cistern after being removed from a building of the late Roman period, and the blocks just fitted the columns. One of the many Medusa myths say that if a Medusa head is placed upside down or sideways, you will not turn into stone when you look at it - we can confirm this is true!

 

That day was also quite busy, because we also visited both the Grand Bazaar built in the 15th century, and covering an area of 54,653 square meters, which is the largest and oldest bazaar in the world.

We also visited the Spice Bazaar, which had wonderful aromas of all the spices. 

On our last day in Turkey, we slept in and then walked to the Bozdogan Aqueduct, which was built around 340 A.D. by the ..... yes, Romans! serving the city with water. The portion remaining is about 900 metre long, and 28 meters high. This part of town was very conservative and very easy to tell by the burqa dressed women. 

Do you notice anything unusual in this picture of an outdoor cafe?

Yes, there is no women, only men.

We had our best meal in this part of town. Unfortunately, when you visit a place, you often find something you really like at the last minute. 

We also took the tram to the last stop, Kabatas, and walked by the impressive Dolnabahce Palace, and along the straight looking towards Asia. Despite the tram ride, this was a typical walking day for us on our trip, usually anywhere between 10-15 km. 

We had a very nice roof top dinner at Pierre Loti Roof Restaurant overlooking the Bosporus Strait, and signifying our departure from Europe and moving on to Middle East and Asia.

Marmaris, Turkey: Family Time!

We flew from Rome to Dalaman via Istanbul with Pegasus Airlines, and we missed the bus from Dalaman to Marmaris as we had to transfer to international arrivals to get our luggage. The next bus was 1.5 hours later, but as Dorte was ill, we took a taxi the 90 km. Marmaris is located in South Western Turkey. There are 300,000 people in the summer (mainly tourists), and 40,000 in the winter.

The Turkish people are very proud of Ataturk, the founder and first President of the Republic of Turkey in 1923. The Turkish flag and pictures of Ataturk are prominently displayed everywhere we went, and when asked, people speak of him with pride and genuine affection.

Dorte's daughter, Stephanie and her Turkish boyfriend, Thomas, lived in Marmaris for 3 years, so it is their 'home turf'. 

They met us at Han Palace Hotel, and it was great seeing them again. Stephanie's Dad was in Marmaris as well. Dorte spent the following 48 hours in bed fighting a virus, while Andy, Stephanie and Thomas walked around Marmaris, went swimming and had dinner together.

We walked the 4 km along the ocean to Icmeler, where we had lunch at the restaurant where Thomas' uncle works. Then we visited the local market, and just as Thomas' s flip flop broke, we ran into the uncle, who gave us lift back to Marmaris. What luck!!

This is called encouragement!

We had dinner at a nice Turkish restaurant close to our hotel, and Thomas made sure we tasted some typical Turkish food. The menu mainly consists of grilled chicken, lamb, beef, tomatoes, green peppers, onion, salad humus and garlic yogurt, and of course, kebab - yummy.

Stephanie speaks fluent Turkish, and she negotiated a good deal for a full day boat trip for all of us. 

The first stop was not far from Marmaris, where we went swimming off the boat close to shore.

Andy and Thomas were solving the world situations, and Stephanie and I were chatting, so very relaxing.

After having sailed for another hour we had lunch on board, and due to lack of space, we were offered to eat at the captain's table on the bridge.

At Turtle Beach we transferred to smaller boats, and then went for a swim in the very clear and clean ocean - no stones, not seaweed, only sand. No wonder the turtles still breed here.

Then we went through the reeds and saw to the Rock Tombs, which belongs to the Kings of ancient Lycis, and date back to the 4th century B.C. Very facinating.

And then the real fun started, as we went to a mud bath. After having 

covered ourselves in mud, 

and standing in the sun for 10 minutes for the mud to dry - it created some fascinating avatar-like patterns on our bodies.

When we showered off the mud, the skin was soft as a baby's.

It is exhausting being a tourist, so it was time for a nap on the boat on the way back to Marmaris.

The followimg day, Thomas' uncle was so nice to lend us his car for a day. Guess who is driving?

We shopped for a BBQ in the local supermarket, and set off to a remote beach on the other side of the peninsula.

Thomas and Andy got the charcoal going, and we BBQed sausages, chicken, ribs and vegetables. It was really tasty.

Stephanie left Marmaris on Friday Sept 6th to go back to work in Denmark, and Thomas went away to visit some friends, so all of a sudden we were alone again.

We took a one day trip to the Greek island Rhodes, which is one hour from Marmaris by catamaran. The old part of town is full of souvenir shops and restaurants, which is such a shame as it has lost all it's authenticity. The walls around the old town is still there, and so are the cannonballs.

We walked to the Acropolis of Rhodes, which dates back to the 3rd-2nd century BC. From there Andy got a good look at all the white houses against the blue sea, which he has seen many pictures of.

We had an authentic Greek salad for lunch, and it was delicious. The difference between this one and the ones you get almost everywhere else, is that this one had bread at the bottom and no lettuce.

Andy got hit by the flu, so Dorte spend the last two days relaxing on the beach and swimming in the ocean, while Andy recovered.

We had a second dinner at Chira Turkisk restaurant, and the meal was wonderful again. Nice finish to our time in Marmaris.