Amman
If Jerusalem is the old city, rich with history, then Amman is the young, naughty and rootless. Amman used to be called Philadelphia under Roman and Byzantine rule, and Rabbah when the Ammonites ran things. It was proclaimed capital of Transjordan in 1921, and grew explosively to about 800,000 citizens because of Palestenian refuges of the Isreali-Arab wars of 1948 and 1967.
There are two historic buildings in Amman: the amfitheatre and the Citadel.
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Observations on Amman
16/6 -
Amman smells of gasoline smell. And our room smells of paint. And we smell of sweat and suncream. How convenient.
17/6 -
Comforted by a perfectly working ATM, I have begun to reappraise Amman. Maybe my negative feelings of yesterday can be explained by way of my expectations. 18/6 - Like so many bad habits, Amman, the filthy city of yesterday, had begun to grow on me. A city of dirt and a constant smell of gasoline, yet also a city of wonder, and people doing their Amman thing. Amman is ok. |
The Desert Castles
The Omayyad caliphs (661-750) were former Bedouins, the first dynasty of Islamic rulers, who had too much time on their hands. Fortunately for them, they also had money. So instead of having to watch day-time tv and slump on a couch, they built castles in the desert, which were actually more like pleasure resorts and palaces. Most had an oasis nearby, and excellent flora and fauna. Yeah, the Omayyad knew how to have fun. And then they got killed by the Abbasids, who were more orthodox in their beliefs.
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The Desert Highway
Just hundreds and hundreds of kilometres of sand, sand and more sand.
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Hot springs
The hot springs at Hammamat Ma'in were about 40o celsius, and a little sulphurous. Very therapeutic. The stones in the river are very slippery and we almost fell into the water. You cannot stand in the water for much longer than half a minute.
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Jerash
Jerash is an ancient Roman settlement. Amazingly, ample buildings survived the tooth of time. The whole structure of the city can still be seen and walked through.
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Jerusalem (Old City)
Jerusalem is the largest city (and capital) of Israel. We stayed in the Old City, the eastern part of Jerusalem. The rest of Jerusalem, antogonistically named New City, is the political capital of Israel.
Jerusalem has been occupied by nearly every people on earth, except the Eskimos.
Jerusalem is probably about 6,000 years old. It was in the hands of the Canaanites, until David (yes, that David) took over. Jerusalem became a religious centre for the Hebrew people. The next rulers were the Babylonians, followed by the Romans and the Muslims, who also established it at the centre of their religion.
Then, around 1099, the Crusaders dropped in and held the city for almost a century, when it was recaptured by the Muslims. During the several Arab-Isreali wars, the Old City was part of Jordan and the New City was the capital of Israel. However, in 1967, during the Six-Day War, Israel captured the entire Old City, and a large part of Jordan, which is today still under Israeli rule.
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King's Highway
Aka the road not taken. Wadi Al-Mujib is supposed to be beautiful. But since I have not been there, I cannot verify this claim.
Petra
An entire city hewn out of rock, founded by the Nabataeans, Petra can only be reached by a 1.2km long gorge, the Siq, which twists its way through the enormous rock only to face the Treasury (which you may have seen in one of the final scenes of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
After the Nabataeans had settled the city around 6000 BC, they found it to be an excellent strategic position from which they could rule the area, and at one point their empire even extended into Syria.
They were not overthrown until the Romans took the city in 100 AD. A 'Romanization' was attempted, and traces of traditional Roman cities can still be found in Petra (the colonnaded street for example).
In the post-Roman era, the city of Petra became less important and was invaded in turns by the Muslims and the Crusaders (who left a fort as a memento). For the next 700 years, the city was forgotten by the world bar a few local Bedouins, until it was re-discovered by a young Swiss, Johan Buckhardt.
Apart from being one the major tourist attractions and one of the most fascinating places in the Middle East, Petra is also tourist trap #1. Make no mistake - this place is expensive. Make sure you're packed with food and drink before entering.
One of the most despairing moments was when we had gone to great lengths and had exerted our physical strength to reach the top of a rock face, only to find an elderly Bedouin selling cool soft drinks.
It seems you can't escape the claws of luxury.
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Wadi Rum
Wadi Rum, just north of Aqaba, is a beautiful wadi with some of the most awe-inspiring rock formations I've ever seen.
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