11/4/09

So I wrote this ages ago but I haven’t had chance to put it up.


Jerash 11/4/09

So mum, dad and I have now left Paris and have flown to begin our “Intrepid Tour” of Jordan and Egypt. So here’s how it’s gone so far…

Today, our first day seeing Amman, Jordan. We woke up late, had breakfast late and then walked into downtown Amman. Well I thought I was incredibly underdressed. I was wearing long pants, runners and a thickish jumper and still I got stared at a lot! But I think it was a good experience, especially to get ready for what was still to come in Cairo! It was all paved or cemented and was very dirty. There was hardly any trees around and the only trees that were there were all Australian natives! There were wattles and eucalypts. Very strange! Dad loved it, especially in comparison to Paris. Saul said that we had practically traveled from pole to pole in different culture, architecture, plants and all really!
We had to be back at our hotel by 2 pm to catch a taxi to take us to Jerash so we had to race in 20 minutes all the way back. It didn’t take long to get downtown because it quite literally means downtown. It was one large hill that we just casually stroll down but coming back up in a rush was pretty hard!!!
When we left to Jerash I was astounded by the beauty I saw outside the window. We went around the valley and saw the rocks and new green, ah! It was amazing but very hard to describe other than that!
When we got to Jerash it was nothing like I expected. I had no idea what to expect, but I guess I was thinking something very Jordanian where all the tourists see what Jordan culture is like. Well Jerash is nothing like that, it is a place where the Romans invaded and built roads, columns, chariot race courses and an amphitheatre.
When we first arrived, we began the short track to Jerash. Dad was soon talking to a young boy with bags of green things. Dad asked what they were and the boy took one and bit into it. Dad bought the bag for 2 Jordanian Dinah, which is worth about 4 Australian dollars - rip off! But dad enjoyed them anyway and we found out they were immature almonds. I tried one but it wasn’t very nice. The skin on the outside was sort of furry, kind of like a peach, but it was hard to bite into and was quite sour.
As we walked farther along the track we came to the Chariot Race Course. After that came the roads and columns. It was amazing! There were lizards around and huge black beetley things. The Roads were made out of big stone bricks, and you could still see the lines carved in from the chariots racing across the roads. The columns were practically all the same all the way along but one was different. Most of them were pale stone colour but a few were pink granite.
Later we walked up some stone steps into what was apparently a Christian church where the Christians built over the tope of what the Romans had done. There were same really beautiful small rooms around there because they were filled with the yellow, purple and red flowers that had just come into bloom.
We continued walking and then found the amphitheatre. It was huge! There were a few Jordanian school groups in there and lots of other tourists too. We were in there for about 5 minutes when suddenly drums started up, followed by some melody playing instruments, a bit like a bagpipe crossed with a clarinet. Instantly all the kids jumped up and began dancing! I was on the stage at then time and and I was about to go onto the stair seating to listen but I could not get down the stairs as all the kids were piling up them to dance on the stage. One asked me what my name was and asked me to dance I think but he didn’t speak great English, he looked about 10. So after all the kids were on the stage I went to the top of the amphitheatre and could still see and hear perfectly! The Greeks and Romans were good! There was a group of Jordanian women who were singing and cheering and clapping as well and really looked like they were having a good time! This is the first time I realised I loved the culture here.

When we got back to the hotel, we had dinner and met Jen. She lives in Brisbane and was coming on the tour with us. We organised with her to come on a trip with us the next day and see some things. She wanted to go to Jerash in the morning with another person who was coming on the tour with us. So the 5 of us would make our own tour the following day…