Jordan: A day trip to Karak Castle

Getting to Al-Karak from Amman
As usual I flagged down a taxi to get to the bus station, this time to Al-wehdat Bus Station (South Bus Station) as Al-Karak is to the south of Amman. First I tried "Karak", the taxi driver didn't understand me. Then I tried "Kerak" but was unsuccessful too. Lastly I tried "Al-Karak" and he understood. Taxi trip this round was JOD 2.50 and bus fare was JOD 2.25.

Karak (or Kerak) Castle is a large Crusader castle in Al-Karak, a city in Jordan about 140km away from Amman. Al-Karak is between Amman and Wadi Musa so yes, I was making my way down south again.

Contrary to the bus to Jerash, I was the only foreigner in this one. The bus stopped at the foothill of where the castle is located. I wasn't aware of this when I got on the bus. Google map showed that it was the nearest stop to the castle, so I walked up to the front of the bus to ask. I was told that I needed to make the way up by myself.

I got off the bus and prepared to walk uphill to the castle but a local who got off together with me flagged down a van and told me that the van driver will send me to the castle. I thanked him and yep, I got on the van. This kind driver owns a dyeing shop and is a Palestinian. He drove me all the way up to right in front of the castle and refused any payment. I am grateful.


Karak Castle
Entrance fee JOD 2, included in Jordan Pass

Karak Castle was a Crusader stronghold and later, Mamluk fortress. There were some (very few)  boards to give some description of the history but not as good as the one in Jerash.

The castle stands 960 metres above sea level. Inside the castle includes a mosque, a church, kitchen and of course many, many rooms.

Castle Mosque

As I was roaming around, one of the staffs asked if I wanted to see the underground hall. I saw that there were 2 visitors just came out from there, so I followed him through a door. What I didn't expect was he closed the doors after though. I left a JOD 1 tip after the little detour.

Here are some pictures of Karak Castle.

Getting back to Amman
I walked down to the bus terminal on the hill, thinking that I could get a bus straight to Amman from there. In fact, when I asked the bus conductor, he just told me to get on. I only found out when I was told to get off at the foothill. I paid JOD 0.25 for this short bus trip.

Passing by Karak town on the way to the bus terminal

After that, a local man who got off the bus together with me gestured that I followed him. He showed me which bus to get back to Amman. Likewise the payment I was charged on my ride to Al-Karak, I paid JOD 2.25 for the return trip as well.

On arrival in Amman, I took a taxi (JOD 2) to Roman Theatre from the South Bus Station where the bus stopped.


Side note: Oh, hello 29th Feb. 

Jordan: A day trip to Jerash

Modern to the left, ancient to the right

Jerash is a city to the north of Amman. It is known for the ruins of the walled Greco-Roman settlement of Gerasa (Jerash), just outside the modern city.


Getting to Jerash from Amman
Firstly, flag down a taxi and get to the Tabarbour Bus Station (North Bus Station). I paid JOD 2.25 from the main street near the guesthouse. As usual, the bus driver went all the way till it is nearest to the bus going to Jerash, usually just right in front of the bus. I paid JOD 2 for the bus. On boarding, almost all passengers in the bus were tourists. It is obvious that this is a popular day trip from Amman.


Highlights of the Roman Ruins of Jerash
Entrance fee JOD 10, included in Jordan Pass.

The bus dropped off near the southerly gate of Hadrian's Arch or Arch of Triumph. The bus driver let us know where to take a bus back to Amman before he drove off. I got a little lost in looking for a return bus back to Amman and was sent to a wrong direction by a taxi driver. Anyway all was good after a kind local showed me where to find buses to go back to Amman.


Hadrian's Arch
After crossing a souvenir marketplace, you'll come face to face with the 13 meters tall Hadrian's Arch. This is the entrance to Jerash, built to honour Emperor Hadrian's visit to Gerasa.

Hippodrome
Just beyond the arch is an ancient sports field, the Hippodrome which used to host athletics competitions and chariot races.

Forum / Oval Plaza
Further ahead is the oval-shaped Forum surrounded by 56 columns. The aerial view from Temple of Zeus was spectacular.

Temple of Zeus
This grand temple was built in the 162/163 AD, dedicated to Zeus Olympios and overlooks the Oval Plaza. This temple was completed and was larger than the one dedicated to Artemis, the patron goddess of Gerasa.

South Theatre
The South Theater is the largest and oldest of the 3 ancient theaters in Jerash. The other 2 being the North Theater and Birketein Theater. It is estimated that this theater could seat more than 3000 people.

A modest 2 (or maybe 3) person band was playing in front

Cardo Maximus
This colonnaded connects the forum to the North Gate was built in the 1st century AD. It is complete with manholes to underground drainage and lined with columns.

Nymphaeum
A main fountain of Jerash, dedicated to the water nymphs. At the foot of the fountain is a pink-granite basin.

Propylaeum
This is the monumental gateway to the Temple of Artemis.

Temple of Artemis
This temple was built for Artemis, the goddess of hunting and fertility, the daughter of Zeus and Leto. When it was built, it was flanked by 12 Corinthian columns (11 still stand).

North Theatre
This much smaller North Theatre (compared to the south one) was said to be mostly used for government meetings rather than for artistic performances. There were five internal arched corridors leading to the upper rows.

North Gate
This arch marked the northern main entrance to the city and dedicated to the "founder of the city", Emperor Trajan. I didn't walk all the way till the arch though.

There were also other ruin sites on the walk back. I spent about 4 hours in Jerash and it was way passed noon so I decided to head back to Amman instead of detouring to Ajloun Castle.

My sense of direction is below average, but here's a photo to assist you if you are looking for a bus back to Amman. I took this photo from the bus I was in, while the bus driver held on to any hopes of getting more passengers before driving away.

One of the taxi drivers offered me JOD1 from Jerash back to Amman which I didn't take up his offer because it was too cheap to be true. I paid JOD1 for a bus ride back to Amman and unfortunately for me, the bus broke down midway. The bus driver promptly organised a minivan to come and pick us up so we were piled on a minivan in maybe about maximum 30 minutes and continued our journey back to Amman.

I shared a taxi to Citadel with Jo, a fellow visitor to Jerash who happened to be in the same bus back to Amman. We paid JOD3.50 for the taxi ride.


Side note: Tiramisu means "cheer me up"... is that true?

Jordan: Amman in a day

Getting to Amman from Aqaba
One of my first "task" to do on arrival in Aqaba was to get a bus ticket to Amman. I got myself a tickt via JETT bus to Abdali, JOD 8.60. JETT goes to more than one station in Amman and from what I can see, Abdali is the nearest station to Amman downtown. Please note that Abdali is not the usual bus station, it is only used by certain long distance, air-conditioned buses. Also, please bring along your passport when purchasing a JETT bus ticket.

I got the 9:00am bus from Aqaba, and it took approximate 4.5 hours to get to Amman. Departure was at the JETT office itself, near the Movenpick Resort & Residences Aqaba. There will be a bus park in front of the office, so you won't miss it. Toilets are found round the back of the office where you buy the bus ticket.

Just about leaving Aqaba, we had bring all our luggage and opened them for a check. I was later told that because Aqaba is a special economic zone and the check was to prevent one from bringing exceeded limit duty-free goods out of Aqaba.

Another check that I encountered was police would asked locals for identification checks on longer distance buses. When I asked a local after, he said it was to check that refugees were not on the bus. I noticed that they were more lenient towards females. As a visitor, I am used to most checks were on foreigners but not this one.


The Citadel, Roman Theatre, Odeon Theatre, Nymphaeum
I had 3 nights in Amman but did 2 day tours out of the city. My '1 day' in Amman were cummulative of 1/2 day on the day I arrived and the times I returned from my day trips. In fact, I visited Roman Theatre on the day I arrived, the Citadel after I returned from Jerash and the other 2 sites on the day after. So it was 4 sites in 3 days. They are not that big, really and of course, you can visit them all on the same day. Just that I didn't have enough time, plus daytime are shorter during winters.

The Citadel
The Citadel sits on the highest hill in Amman. I felt like I cheated by taking a taxi here instead of climbing up. I shared a taxi with Jo from South Korea after getting back from Jerash. We took a taxi (JOD 3.50 total) from Tabarbour bus station (North bus station). I probably wouldn't have made it if I need to hike after sun set. It was a good timing to see Amman in golden lights.

The Citadel (JOD 2, included in Jordan Pass) is the site of ancient Rabbath-Ammon and the highlights are the Temple of Hercules and the Ummayad Palace. I guess I would be much more impressed if I have seen this before I spent a good 4 hours in the ruined city of Jerash, the largest Roman site in Jordan just earlier of the day.

Ruins of the Temple of Hercules

to Umayyad Palace

The is a museum, the Jordan Archaeological Museum (JOD 3, included in Jordan Pass) in the compound. On display were artefacts dating back to Palaeolithic era. I have not been to any museum where the staff at work was smoking away inside the museum.

See that photo of the sun setting in the background? Jo first saw the view and shouted for me to take a picture of the view. At the time, we haven't known each other's name so he shouted, "Malaysian lady!" haha. May I add, very loudly too.

I hoped I had the sense to ask Jo for his contacts before we parted ways at the Citadel. It would've been interesting to see the photos he took and follow his travel around the world. When I met him, he was already on the road for 3 months and is planning to go to Africa next. Well, I stupidly didn't and there is no means to find him.

After that, things took a downhill turn when I left the Citadel. I could've waited and go downhill with Jo but I was hungry and didn't want to subject him to leaving if he doesn't want to yet. Remember I wrote I encountered an incident with a taxi driver?

I was making my way downhill back to downtown. It wasn't far but as the sun has set, so it was getting dark fast, however, the area was brightly lit up. A taxi slowed down and asked if I needed one. I declined as I was planning to just walk down from the hill. He persisted and I thought maybe it could be safer to get back to a more familiar ground faster. I was prepared to pay JOD 1 (to go downhill not downtown) even though by the end of the conversation he said he would send me downhill for free. Bearing in mind that the cost of taxi is on average JOD 2-3 around Amman so JOD 1 would've been above average for maximum 5 minutes drive.

My default seat when I get into a taxi is the one furthest away from the taxi driver, i.e. diagonally away from driver. He also stopped to offer to pick up a young man but didn't insist after the man declined. So I started to get a little suspicious. The driver started taking to me in Arabic and I didn't understand but told him i wanted to get off. He said "down" which I interpreted as he would let me down when we reached downhill.

Then he started making kissing action and leaned over to try to touch my face to indicate that he wanted to give me a kiss on my cheek. I said "no" and moved away to avoid him touching me. At this time the car was moving very slowly due to traffic jam (this is also very common around downtown Amman). I opened the car door and was confident that I could exit the car without major safety issue then. He got a shock and stopped the car. As I was exiting the car, he asked for payment. I ignored him, shut the car door and walked to where there was human traffic.

I was wrong in getting in that taxi, it would've probably been safer if I walked down myself but that was the worst experience I had taking a taxi.

Roman Theatre
Entrance fee JOD 2, included in Jordan Pass.

The Roman Theatre in Amman was from the 2nd century AD and seats 6000. Its full restoration began in 1957. My visit coincided with a group of tourists who sang some Italian opera, how very apt of a performance at a Roman Theatre.

On my walk to the Citadel, while waiting for a very determined driver to park his car on a walkway, I was approached by a good-looking Jordanian man who asked if I want to catch up later that night. I spent the night dining and wandering around downtown by myself.

Whilst I like having random conversations with the locals when I travel, it is still very stranger for random strangers to approach me. So I am fairly certain the level of friendliness lies with the Jordanians and not because I am approachable. I have a resting b*tch face at default.

Odeon Theatre
Nearby Roman Forum, on the eastern side of Amman's Forum is a 500-seat odeon. It serves mainly as a venue for musical performances and built in the 2nd century AD.

I am unsure if one has to pay for entrance to this as Lonely Planet stated that entrance for this is free but I recalled being asked if I have a ticket. Whilst I scrambled to look up my Jordan Pass on my mobile, the staff then said he believed me and let me in anyway.

Odeon Theatre and the bigger sibling next door 

Nymphaeum
It is a public fountain from AD 191 dedicated to the nymphs, it looked like restoration is still underway. I missed the opening hours for this and it has just closed when I get there. The staff kindly let me in for a bit though.

Grand Husseini Mosque
This house sits in the heart of downtown and packful of human activities. It is pretty impossible to miss if you walk up or down the streets at downtown.

Amman Downtown
For some unknown reasons Amman strike a chord. It isn't big on art, there is no greenery, it looks brown, congested traffic, way too many people but I like Amman. I find it charming in its own way and bustling with energy.

Other places I wished I have time for - Rainbow Street for to see its modern side, Abu Darwish Mosque for its beautiful black and white facade and King Abdullah I Mosque, because it is possibly the only mosque in Amman that is open for non-muslim tourists.

I contemplated to walk to Rainbow Street one of the nights but there was a quiet area that I have to walk pass, I didn't feel too safe looking at it so I decided not to continue.


Side note: When things make you happy, it shows :)

Jordan: A day by the Red Sea in Aqaba

Getting to Aqaba
Hatem, the owner of Wadi Rum Legend Camp arranged a taxi for us (my newfound friends from HK, N and H, and I) to get to Aqaba. N and H were going to cross the border to Israel while I wanted to get to Aqaba city centre because it is a city by the Red Sea and the convenience of getting back to Amman. We paid JOD 30 for the taxi and splitted 3 ways. From memory, taxi directly straight to the city centre is slightly cheaper, around JOD 25.

Taxi driver was very sweet and gave us a chocolate each as we got into his taxi. He didn't speak much English and our Arabic were negligible so we didn't communicate further aside from the usual "hello". I chatted a little with N and was grateful when H offered to take the front seat.

Taxi driver dropped them at the border crossing first before sending me to the hotel in Aqaba. That was the closest I got to Israel. The rest of the time I stood from Jordan land and looked longing at the forbidden land. If you hold a Malaysian passort, you probably share the same sentiment.

On arrival at the Amir Palace Hotel, the taxi driver even got off his car and walked me up to the reception.

Map courtesy of Amir Palace Hotel

After securing a bus ticket to Amman and had my lunch, my first stop was of course, to the beach.


Al-Ghandour Beach

Eilat, Israel

From the map above, the circled area near Royal Yacht Club is the access to free beach area. By the time I got there, it was already bustling with visitors. The beach itself wasn't remarkable and the sands were rather coarse but hey, it is the Red Sea and that's a reason good enough.

Very clear water

I didn't have a swim but merely playing with the cool water. If you don't feel like snorkelling or diving, there was also option of glass-bottomed boats to go out to the sea.


Aqaba Castle / Mamluk Castle
Aqaba Castle or Fort, also known as Mamluk Castle was originally built by the Crusaders in 12th centruy. The fortress was destroyed when Ayla (ancient Aqaba) was captured in 1187. It was rebuilt under Mamluk Sultan Al-Ashraf Qansuh Al-Ghuri in the early 16th century.

A fort was built on the shore from the 13th century onwards was likely related to the involvement of Mamluk sultans in protecting the Egyptian pilgrimage to the Holy Cities of Arabia when Ayla was the stopping point for caravans.

Entrance fee was JOD 3 but covered under Jordan Pass.

Downtown Aqaba
It was particularly warm as I travelled from Petra and then Wadi Rum to Aqaba. No better time to have fresh pomegranate juice and walkabout Aqaba.

Side note: I just learned that Swan River was so named because of resemblance to a swan.