Jordan

Barely a few days after getting back from Singapore, it was time to start using up some serious leave. I had 14 days to take off by July or I'd lose it, so with schools off on holidays, Sarah and I went to Jordan.

The fun kicked off in Petra, known to many film afficionados as the home of the Holy Grail. It's not anything like what you see in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, though. The ancient city is carved into cliff faces around a large wadi of rose coloured stone and there are more tourists than Nazi soldiers. It's a huge place, with some excellent walks up to the top of the cliffs where you can see for miles in the clear air. (http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=38618&id=784253645)

After Petra we went to Wadi Rum, a large desert with mind blowing rock formations, and definitely the scene of a future rok climbing trip. It was also where they filmed Lawrence of Arabia, so get it out on video to check it out in detail.


Wadi Rum was also the scene of my first camel ride which differed markedly from my Patagonian pony ride a few years back, mainly in the testicular pain department, as well as the vehicular control department.

Anyway, my hot tip for Jordan: Petra and Wadi Rum. Interestingly, a friend of mine went and said to skip Wadi Rum and go for Aqaba instead. This is a small resort town with pretty average beaches, but if you like lazing around in an identikit resort, she probably has a point. We went, had lunch, and left for Amman.


(http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=38619&id=784253645)

Now, Amman is ok. It has some nice Roman ruins, and the locals are pretty friendly - we were invited in for tea by some guy we passed on the street, but once you've seen the ruins and been ripped off by the tour guides, it's just a very large city. Some parts are really nice and reminded me a bit of Mendoza, in terms of architecture and streetscape. For mine though, as a history graduate, the best bit about Amman is its proximity to Juresh, an old Roman city.

(http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=38621&id=784253645)

Much like other Roman ruins, Juresh has all the columns and straight streets you've come to expect. Of course, we were lucky to get there at all. The car we'd hired was the problem. First up, the cigarette lighter was blown so we couldn't plug the walkman in, but on the upside we did have some decent conversations. Then the brakes were shit, the tires had lost pressure after just a couple of days, it was dirty and smelt, it only had a two stroke engine, I think, and judging my the Mitsubishi badge and its overal performance, it certainly wasn't the Golf we thought we were going to get when we ordered it. Still, could've been worse. We saw some people pushing a car into a parking spot in Juresh. It didn't have reverse.