Amman about town

I apologise in advance, my brand new laptop fried itself, so I've had to do this blog on my phone.

Whenever you change countries it is always a bit of a challenge to adapt to a new language and culture. I'd already ditched the thumbs up in Iran, and i wondered what I'd have to give up in Jordan.

Downtown Amman & the jebels (hills)

The traffic for one thing was different; as terrifying as it was driving with no road rules, Jordan has road rules and it means the traffic moves far slower. I haven't seen any motorcycles but I did see a couple of turkeys rollerblading through the traffic.

The Temple of Hercules, well what's left of it.

Anyway we kicked off our exploration of Amman via the Citadel, the ancient ruins of the Roman city. The city was once called Philadelphia, which is where the American city got its name (we were in east Philadelphia unfortunately). 

Dad & I doing strongman poses in front of the temple

From the citadel we wandered through the old town to the almost fully intact amphitheatre and odeon. It was crazy to think that people were watching plays and gladiator fights in the building two thousand or so years ago.

The Jordan museum was brilliant too, they even had on display some of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

The Roman Amphitheater, Amman

The Roman Amphitheater from the cheap seats

Terrible photo of the Dead Sea scrolls

Dinner out at Hashems restaurant, open 24hrs. Hummus, falafel, pita salad, chips (for Dad) - $6

The following day we headed up to Umm Qais on the Syrian Border. I had always wanted to go to Syria along with Jordan but this was the closest I was going to get for some time. Apparently, if the wind is blowing the right way you can hear the bombs being dropped on Damascus. Heartbreaking!

The road to the Syrian border, and Syria in the far distance.

We had come here to see the ruins of the ancient city of Gadara, which was one of the great cities of the Roman Decapolis (Ten great cities of the Levant). 

The main drag in Gadara, Umm Qais

Then a bit further south we went to the spectacular ruins of Jerasa (present day Jerash) also part of the Decapolis. 

The entrance to Jerash through Hadrians Arch

The towering Hadrians Arch is the first thing you see as you enter, which stands 13m tall, but when it was built it was double that height. 

The Hippodrome, ancient chariot racing

The Hippodrome was the next spectacular structure we came across. As we were standing in the stands, I watched Dad's face light up as he realised they used to do horse racing here (in chariots).

The ancient Cardo Maximus, the Queen Street of Jerasa

The sheer scale of Jerasa is hard to show in pictures, but the main drag would be longer than Queen Street, and the cobbles were all worn from chariots continually crossing them.

The Nymphaeum, the extravagant water fountain

The two big temples at Jerasa are the Temple of Artemis, the God of Hunting and the Temple of Zeus. (Pictures are trapped on the big camera)

Thanks for reading,

Next stop the Dead Sea & Mt Nebo where Moses saw the Promised Land.

Nick + Tony