Diary of a travel video: part 5
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by Brian Deakin |
Friday 29th - Sunday 31st March
It is overcast and changeable when we arrive in Amman (Jordan's capital city)
and will be so for the next three days. But we are not about to let that
dampen our spirits for there is much that we have come to see.
We begin our first day in Amman with a visit to a town about 30 kms to the
north called Jerash. Originally called Gerasa, Jerash was at one time a member
of the Decapolis, one of the league of ten cities of the Roman Empire. Today
it is a major attraction for it is one of the best preserved Roman geological
sites in the world. Everything is pretty much intact and wandering through
this city one can still imagine it as it must have been in all its glory.
In its heyday Jerash was home to a population of, as many as 20,000 people.
It consists of an administration centre, a business centre and to the eastern
side the habitations of its citizens. There is a large amount of excavation
still to be done in this area. The Triumphal Arch of Hadrian towers thirteen
meters above us as we enter this Roman city and we follow the road past the
Hippodrome into the Oval Plaza. Huge columns surround this plaza and make
for an impressive sight. The city streets are well defined and paved with
huge, regularly placed stones. Cardo Maximus the main street is lined with
tall columns on both sides and deep ruts in the granite roadway mark the
passing of generations of chariots. Perhaps the most impressive sight of
all is the amphitheater. It is in such good condition that plays and festivals
are still being held here today. Built on top of a hill and dominating the
whole antique city it can seat up to 3000 spectators The acoustics are truly
amazing, our guide demonstrates this by whispering to the wall while we listen
on the opposite side hearing every word plainly. The Romans obviously had
a deep understanding of acoustics.
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The following day we spend exploring the city of Amman. The business centre
is like any modern city. The buildings are mostly constructed of white limestone,
which gives a very uniform appearance. Like Rome, Amman was built on seven
hills and it too was one of the Roman Decapolis of cities. We take one of
the cheap and numerous taxis to the old centre of town. This is where the
action is and we step out into a bustling noisy street. It is very busy as
locals concentrate on their daily tasks. The shops are bright and colourful
and display a large assortment of goods that spill out onto the sidewalk:
leather goods, copper and brassware, gold and silver and the exotic eastern
smoking pipes, the hubble-bubbles. Street hawkers sell cigarettes, sweets
and trinkets on every corner. We leave the deafening sound of traffic and
sellers behind us and head for the fruit and vegetable market,
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which is equally noisy. Each stallholder calling at the top of his voice
is trying to shout down the competition. We enjoy this entertainment from
the window of a little cafe where we sit drinking Arabian coffee. This coffee
has the consistency of dark thick mud and tastes very sweet. One cup of this
and you are awake for the next twelve hours!
The next day we travel to the town of Salt, a little community about 25 Kms
to the west of Amman. Even though the taxis are cheap we decide that it would
be fun to travel on a local bus. The bus station is chaos but somehow it
still seems to work. We find ourselves on a rickety old bus hoping that it
is going to Salt. The interior of the bus is decorated with red velvet and
tassels. It rumbles and bumps along roads that are rutted and covered in
potholes The suspension of the bus is non existent and we seem to fall into
every hole. We take note that our fellow passengers are mostly older men
dressed in Arabic attire and all smoke heavily. The conductor seems determined
to gather up as many new passengers as he can along the route. The bus is
still travelling at about 10 Kms an hour as he leaps off at a running gait
shouting " Salt, Salt!". Brian wonders out loud if he's training for an Olympic
event and much to our surprise the passengers around us comprehend his remark
and burst into laughter. Before long everyone is joining in on the joke,
including the conductor and we all laugh our way to Salt. After enquiring
where we came from one of these friendly Jordanians takes us under his wing
and gives us a complete guided tour of the town ending at the Bedouin museum.
The lady curators are also very kind and helpful and finally treat us to
another caffeine fix. You guessed it, more Arabian coffee!
Each night we are closely monitoring local events on CNN. The situation in
the east is becoming grave as Israeli tanks have Yasser Arafat holed up in
his Ramallah headquarters. Naturally we are concerned as to whether we will
be able to leave. Our fears prove to be unfounded for we finally depart on
Royal Jordanian Airlines back to Cairo. We arrive at the Ramases hotel for
one more night before leaving for home. We seem to be instantly recognised
and treated like royalty. This time we do get a room facing the Nile and
everyone seems to be trying very hard to make a big impression on us for
our last days in the East. And it works!
The last three weeks have been a tremendous experience, one we will never
forget. Our travels through Egypt and Jordan have been an adventure as well
as a holiday and we hope that you have enjoyed reading about them.
Salaam 'Alaykum. (Peace on You.)
Part 1 | Part 2
| Part 3 | Part
4 | | Behind the camera
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