The Cube

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?

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 :)

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. 

Getting to Wadi Rum
My guesthouse in Petra helped me organise a bus to pick me up at 6:25am, JOD 7 which I paid to the guesthouse. He told me to get ready by 6:15am, just in case. At 6:15am, the guesthouse owner brought breakfast for the other 2 travellers and told me he made me some breakfast too, for free. My reservation did not include breakfast.

There was a taxi behind the bus and both stopped in front of the guesthouse. There were some exchange of conversation between the guesthouse owner and the taxi driver and I was ushered to get in the taxi, joining another 3 passengers. It was a bit of a squeeze but luckily the drive wasn't long.



Arriving at Wadi Rum
On arriving at Wadi Rum, the taxi driver sent us to the visitor centre to pay the entrance fee of JOD 5 to Wadi Rum. This is covered under Jordan Pass. After that, we waited at the carpark for someone from the camp to collect us. My 3 fellow travellers are friends and soon went on their merry way. I made reservation with Wadi Rum Legend Camp. They had initially asked me to wait for them at a petrol station nearby but the taxi driver said he will send me to the visitor centre. The taxi driver helped me called the camp a couple of times as nobody picked up the call and waited with me inside his car till someone from the camp came.

Hamed and Sulaiman came to pick me up. While Hamed was outside sorting out things with the taxi driver, Sulaiman asked for my name for verification that they picked up the right person. He couldn't get my name right after trying a couple of times.

It is true that my name is a little tricky to pronounce, so I asked him, "what do you suggest?"
Sulaiman had a think and replied, "Selma". So I was known and introduced as Selma during my stay in Wadi Rum.

Where we had breakfast, lunch and dinner

Hamed and Sulaiman drove me back to the camp where I joined everybody else in the main camp for breakfast. Even though I travel alone often but I am still very socially awkward especially around many people. I would usually just retreat to a corner of the room, similar to standing behind a pot plant if you like. Sulaiman insisted that I eat and sat next to me. I did feel less awkward after, is this the Bedouin's charm? By the way, combination of cream cheese with honey or tahini is tasty.

I joined Sonia for a 4 hour jeep tour (JOD 35) after breakfast. Abdullah was our tour guide for the day and cousins to Hamed and Sulaiman, who are brothers. Legend Camp is a family business (possibly the same for most camps in Wadi Rum) and owned by Hatem, another cousin. Pretty much everybody whom I met in the camp are relatives except for Ahmed, an Egyptian and Saddam from Yemen who works in the camp.

I must be a clueless tourist. Wadi Rum is big, I didn't ask where we would be going in this 4 hour jeep tour and just follow along. I guess if you feel strongly about certain sights, they would bring you there. I didn't.


4-hour Jeep Tour
Our first stop, Mushroom Rock.


Next we were brought to house of Lawrence. I am unsure if this was his actual house or part of film location of the movie Lawrence of Arabia. I suspect the "theme" of the locations I was brought to were of filming locations, so I think it is more the latter.


If you stand at the entrance, facing outside and yell, you will hear a loud echo. Abdullah also showed us that if you rub your fingers over one of the stones outside then rub on your skin, it would work as a blush. It was said that Bedouins used that as make up in the past.

There is this spot in Wadi Rum where you can see where the sand is divided into 2 colours.

Terracotta to the left, yellow to the right

We were brought to at least 2 different rock bridges. Sonia and I climbed up both, so poor tour guide climbed with us to avoid clumsy tourists fell to death.



Our other stops include at this ancient spring/well and a French fortress or castle, which was said to be the shooting location of Fort Boyard.



We also stopped for some tea and enjoyed rebab music. It is known as rabāba in Arabic. These tea stops were some sort of shops, which also sells random scarves or souvenirs. I didn't buy any but Sonia got a box of kohl, an ancient recipe for mascara.



After 4 hours, we were sent back to the camp. Sonia left for Aqaba soon after while I laze around till evening. As the day went, there were more people arriving to the camp and went for their jeep tour. I initially asked if I could have lunch when we were out on the jeep tour but was told that in view of the windy weather, it was not suitable to be cooking out in the open. On hindsight, it was way too early to have lunch in that 4 hour jeep tour especially since I had 2 breakfasts.


I had lunch at the main camp and paid JOD 7 for this. I really wished I could've pack them and have them at another meal because the portion was huge!


I wasn't in luck as you can see from the photos above, it was fairly cloudy on the day I visited, so there wasn't distint "egg yolk" looking sun or perfect blanket for stars photographs at night.


As I was walking nearby the camp to take some photos, Sulaiman returned to the camp with some guests. We had a little chat and he showed me how to wash hand using ajram plant. First he cut the top of the plant into small parts, then the plants were crushed using a small stone. He then placed the crushed ajram on my palm and poured a little water. I was told to rub both my palms together in a fast motion. It really was like a soap!

Interestingly, among all the staffs I met in the camp, I enjoyed my conversation with Sulaiman the most but he actually doesn't work in the camp. Coincidentally he was home for a holiday.

Dinner (JOD 12) was buffet style affair and I befriended a couple from Hong Kong. We shared a taxi to Aqaba the next morning. They were heading to Wadi Araba Crossing to get to Eilat while I wanted to get to Aqaba city center.

I read that there is one daily bus between Wadi Rum and Aqaba and departs from Wadi Rum around 6:30-7:00am, arriving in Aqaba after an hour and costs JOD 3 but doesn't run on Fridays. It appears that most don't recommend catching the bus because tickets cannot be booked. Possibly this was the reason why Hatem, the owner of the camp didn't comment much about the timing or sending me to catch the bus the next day. He mentioned of the bus possibly not available due to holiday. I needed to get to Aqaba because that would be my "gateway" to commute back to Amman. When he heard that we were planning to go to Aqaba by taxi, he promptly rang up his taxi contact and booked one for us the next morning at 9am.

After dinner activity was campfire in a covered tent, where we played some games and shishas were on offered at the cost of JOD 5. Of course, complimentary tea was offered. I tried my first shisha, grape flavoured courtesy of a French couple sitting next to me.

It was cold late December night but there were 2 single beds in my camp so I used all the blankets available. As I have woken up, I bundled up and walked out of my camp, hoping to see sky full of skies. There were some but it was still very cloudy. No luck.


Leaving the camp in Wadi Rum
I left for Aqaba with my newfound friends after breakfast. We rode behind a ute with the French couple who shared shisha with us last night to the nearby petrol station to meet the taxi driver who would send us to Aqaba.



Side note: Is it December yet? :(

Petra by Night is a separate event not covered by the Petra ticket. It costs an additional JOD 17 per adult and only runs every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. It starts at 8:30pm and goes for 2 hours.

On the day of my visit, the weather wasn't great and so it wasn't confirmed that Petra by Night would run as scheduled. When I tried to buy a ticket in the morning, I was told to check again after 3pm. I went to check after 4pm when I left Petra but was told to call and check by 6:00pm. I asked the guesthouse to help me call and there were 2 sessions scheduled on that day, 7:00pm and 8:00pm. I asked for dinner to be at 6:30pm so I went for the 8:00pm session.


I walked back in through the Siq guided by candles lighted along the way, though some people would turn on the torch on their phone for more light assistance.

When I got to Al-Khazneh again, I was ushered to be seated at the front row, albeit a little to the side. Front row seats were pretty much on a rug, placed on the ground. After that, we were being served some sweet tea.

Not long after, I could hear some music by flute. I can't see anyone playing it though, so I can't tell if it was live flute music or playback. There were 2 pieces back to back, then someone narrating a story of some sort. Unfortunately it was clear enough to catch the whole narration. After that, there were different colour lights shone on Al-Khazneh.


Shortly after this, everybody was allowed to go to the front to take picture. I didn't think it was 2 hours long, more likely an hour, so maybe the 30 minutes before and after was taking into account the walk to and fro.

I began walking back after this, especially since I was barely at a strolling speed after walking doing 3 trails during the day.

(Open) secret of the lights - electronic LED covered with brown paper

On my very uphill walk back to the guesthouse, a very kind Samaritan slowed down his car midway on the road and asked if I needed a ride back to my guesthouse. I must clarify that this is very common in Jordan, especially true for taxi drivers who would slowed down their car and shout out, "2JD?" or "1JD?"

I declined and continue hobbling uphill. He asked a couple times and even said I don't have to pay him. I shooked my head and said,"no, thank you." He drove on but stopped his car by the side of the road just a little in front of me. I walked up to his car and he offered to send me back to the guesthouse again.

I know, mothers (including my mother) said don't get into stranger's car but I thanked him, and hopped in the car. He dropped me off to the guesthouse which wasn't far away. I thanked him and offered to pay. He replied, "No need to pay. Welcome to Jordan and enjoy your stay."

I am utmost grateful. This must be the Jordanian hospitality that I read often.



Side note: I found a Jordanian restaurant in Melbourne! ^^