Victor decided months ago that he wanted to visit Jordan so we organised a trip around October last year. The good thing about being so organised was that it was dirt cheap. The 5 hour flight costed us about 100 quid return! Cheap. The bad thing was that our flight was first thing in the morning but due to the long flight time and the time difference, it was dinner time by the time we landed so we wasted a day. Never mind.
We checked into our hotel which is the loosest sense of the word. It's a backpacker. Victor and I have different styles when it comes to traveling. Note to self, stay somewhere different to the boys next time. We made a beeline for food! I read about a place called Hashim where it's open 24 hours, an institution in Amman and King Abdullah brought his family here to eat! If it's good enough for the King, it's good enough for me. It was open air with tables outside in the open as well as some inside the shops, which reminded me of Sibu hawker stalls.
We told them to bring us their best dishes and they brought us hummus... which was silky smooth and amazing. So good that I've now developed an addiction to hummus.
One of two other dips... no idea what type. I only liked the hummus.
Falafel! Deep fried goodness.
Another type of falafel?? This one had different innards.
Apologies for the crappy shot.
Jordanians have a thing for teas the way Parisians do for coffee. Every corner you turn, there are people standing there by the roadside sipping a cup of sweet black tea. It was a given that everywhere we went, I ordered black tea with lashings of sugar too. I asked the tea man at Hashim if it was ok for me to take photos of him and he happily agreed.
Sugar was heaped into each glass first.
Hot water was then added.
More mysterious liquid was added... maybe mint syrup? No idea.
Finally the tea was poured on top of the concoction. Best tea i had in Amman I think.
After that, we wandered around city center a bit before going back to the hostel. The boys shared a room while I got my own room mwahahahaha. Jordan has a severe water shortage so the hostel shuts off the water supply after a certain time at night AND hot water is turned on during certain time windows as well. It never seemed to be on when I needed the shower for the six days I was there...
We had one full day in Amman so we got up early and went exploring! The weather in Amman was similar to London so we had to wrap up warm. The one disconcerting thing I really noticed was that there weren't really any females wandering around by themselves or even, at all! I was pretty much the only female around most of the time and the Jordanian men stare!!! The older ones stare with this disconcertingly expressionless look. The younger ones would smile and try to flirt by saying things like "Nice! I like it!" or "Beautiful" or 'I love you!". I expected someone to ask for my hand by offering me 40 camels by the end of the trip but alas, no such luck. Even though I grew up in a Muslim country, Malaysia is nowhere near as conservative as Jordan. I was glad I was traveling with the boys even though when push comes to shove, I'm probably the one having to rescue them.
First tourist attraction in Amman - The Nymphaeum. It was being restored and apparently had been under restoration for ages, so we couldn't go in. It wasn't that impressive anyway. While we were taking photos by poking our cameras (ok, just me!) through the mesh, a guard came walking towards us. I was thinking "Oh oh... in trouble!". It turned out that he was happy to open the place up for us for a few dollars... Ah methinks we are not in Kansas anymore, Toto!
Nothing to write home about, really.
Typical road scene around Amman downtown area. It reminded me of Sibu.
Fruits were really cheap (well, everything actually) and we got loads of exotic blood oranges for 50p.
Jordan has been going through rapid growth in the last few years, mainly due to political unrest and people moving there from other Middle Eastern countries. Jordan itself is actually a poor country with no natural resources such as the very precious oil. It is mainly an agricultural country. Everywhere you look, houses are crammed into every available square inch. The houses all have the same look - beige and square.
Next up, we went to check out the Roman Theater which costed us 1 pound to get into.
Without as much colour saturation ....
Facade of the Odeon which is next to the Roman Theater - a little theater with the capacity to sit 500 people and probably used for council meetings etc.
Giant Roman columns of yesteryear lined the entrance to the theater.
There was a Museum of Popular Tradition right inside the entrance way so we went and had a nosy. It wasn't that interesting but it did have a lot of mosaic art that was excavated from somewhere...
The Roman Theater was built between AD169 and AD177 and at its peak, it would have had a capacity of around 6000.
We could see the Citadel from where we were standing... the doorway thing sticking out at the top of the faraway hill. We were going there next.
Victor wanted a coffee from an 'authentic' (read rundown and shitty) coffee shop but after scouting around, he decided they were too dingy so we continued on our uphill climb towards the Citadel.
View of the Roman Theater from afar.
Partway through our walk, I spotted people cramming into this little shop so we went over to have a nosy. It turned out to be a little eatery selling falafel sandwiches. The store owners were very friendly and kept waving us in while we were making up our minds. We decided that crowds = a good thing so we each got a sandwich for 25p each!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Victor was over the moon.
It was really really good too with the simplest and freshest ingredients - soft soft pitta bread, hummus, falafel mashed in and a bit of chilli. So good!
The store owners also volunteered directions on how to get to the Citadel. Jordanians are very very friendly... once you got over the disconcerting stares. We got asked where we were from so many times that we lost count and it wasn't just business owners. Normal citizens would ask too and then they would reply with "Welcome".
The Citadel (Jebel al-Qala'at) is one of Amman's highest points, at 837m above sea level. It served as the fortified heart of Amman and was completed around AD750.
Ancient waterways system in the foreground.
View of the densely populated city from the top of the hill.
While it has never been conclusively identified as the Temple of Hercules, the discovery of an elbow and hand from a larger than life statue of Hercules makes this identification seem very likely. The temple was built around AD161-166
There was also a Jordan Archaeological Museum onsite so we went and had a look. Here, Victor was indulging me by modelling how a mummy would lie inside one of these cartonages.
Damon, not to be outdone, pretended to be the head of a headless statue.
Inside of the Congregational Mosque... midday prayers were being blasted from loudspeakers all over the city while we were visiting this place and the prayers went on and on and on forever. I wondered what they were saying. It all sounded very propagational to my ignorant and foreign ears haha.
I noticed something weird while I was outside waiting for the boys to finish taking photos of the mosque. There were lots of litter on the ground - cigarette butts I understood but cotton buds?????? More than ONE cotton bud at that. Why?!?
I think this was the remains of the Byzantine Church.
I really liked the look of this tree for some reason. Very Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil in my mind.
After that, we started to meander back downtown. Late lunch was at this really touristy cafe called Books or something. It was basically just a Westernised cafe with wifi. Victor read about it online and insisted we went. I had a piece of Damon's food. It was good but bad mistake!! Always load up on food when the chance comes up. A lesson I learnt too late. You will see.
We walked around trying to find a spot to sit and have a break but couldn't seem to find an acceptable place that would please his Lordship (aka Victor). So by around 4 pm, I was grumpy and hungry! We came across this guy selling lamb kebabs right opposite our hotel so we decided to get one at 35p each.
I took one bite and decided the meat was lukewarm and dodgy so I left it aside for Victor to finish off. He thought i've chucked it out (waste not want not) and got all angry. I had enough of his high-maintenance ways by then so I shoved the stupid wrap at him and told the boys enough was enough and i would see them tomorrow. I turned around to storm off back to the hostel and came face to face with this gawking man. I was in no mood to be admired at so I screamed F OFF at him. Poor dude. I didn't see the boys for the rest of the day. Haha. Fun times.
