Jerash and Madaba and the Dead Sea

It has been a whirlwind couple of days in which I have crammed in as much as is humanly possible in the time I have given myself. Alas, I spent to many days indulging myself in Egypt and have not given Jordan the necessary amount of time it truly deserves. Having said that, I have ticked off most of the things I wanted to do, namely Petra and Jerash. I am slightly saddened that I did not appreciate quite how big Petra was. It is a paradise for people like me, as you can climb all around the place, step into tombs and all that, but with only a 6 hour window with which to sightsee, I could only do the basics.

Still, as I am leaving Jordan, the only things I think I would have liked to have seen but didn’t was the Crusader castle at Kerak, and the Wadi Rum (this is a bit further south than Petra). However, these sorts of holidays are all about making choices, and I am glad I saw all I did in Egypt, so I am not totally gutted.

Overall, my feelings about Jordan are that it is a very expensive version of Egypt. The people are very friendly, don’t get me wrong, but where I was haggling for taxi rides in Egypt for E£10, I was haggling for similar taxi rides in Jordan for 10JD (Jordanian Dinar), which is the equivalent to 6 times the price. So, all in all I am glad to be returning to Egpyt.

Anyway, let me cover what I have done in the past couple of days. Firstly, I went to the Roman city of Jerash. This is actually quite an impressive set of Roman ruins, probably some of the best outside of Italy. There is a lovely 1km colonnade of pillars that leads you to various temples and bath houses, there is a hippodrome here, but I was too tight to pay a further 14 Dinars to watch a load of Jordanians dressed as Romans act out the chariot scene from Ben Hur! Also, there are 2 amphitheatres which apparently have the most amazing acoustics.

Shot of the Oval Plaza from the Temple of Zeus

Colunnade of pillars at Jerash

The temple of Artemis, Jerash

However, I could not hear these acoustics because for some reason, which escapes me, the people that run the place thought it would be a good idea to have a troupe in the amphitheatre performing traditional Jordanian melodies such as Frère Jacques and Scotland the Brave on the bagpipes!! Yes, I have photos of this event in case you think the Jordanian sun has addled my brain!! Still, this aside, Jerash was a really lovely place to visit.

The next day – today, I had to check out of my hotel. My flight was not until 8:25pm and so I thought I would check out and spend the rest of the day touring. I went to a place called Madaba, which is famous for its collection of Byzantine mosaics. One of the most famous of which is the Map of the Middle East in mosaic form dating back to the 6th century AD.

The map is laid on the floor of a more modern church and there are patches of it uncovered all around the floor area, suggesting that the map was much bigger that what is currently on display. It was the floor of a church I am guessing, because it has Jerusalem at the very centre of the map.

Madaba map of the world dating from the 6th Century

The whole town of Madaba is actually very liberal, a place where Christians and Muslims live in total harmony side by side. It also prides itself on the beautiful Byzantine mosaics that have been discovered there. I love mosaics, so when the driver pointed out there was a local museum, I thought I would pop along and see it. The local museum was very local, situated in a back alley of a nameless street.

I am just Madaba(out) mosaics....

It seemed a really disorganised mish-mash of a place, with the curator looking like the twin brother of Mahmud Ahmadinijad, the President of Iran. Still he was friendly enough, and I suddenly realised why the museum was in such an obscure place, one of the key exhibits is an untouched Madaban house with mosaics on the floor.

A Madaban house........well its floor

Once my driver realised that I liked mosaics, I was suddenly whisked to a “mosaic school” to show me how they are made. I thought I had left all that nonsense behind me in Egypt so my guard was down, but it seems the Jordanians like showing tourists schools/shops too!

After this, where I bought precisely nothing, I moved on to see a place called Mount Nebo. This mountain is a key site in religious history, as this was the mountain recorded in the bible that Moses saw the Promised Land (Israel) from after years wandering in the desert. This is real bible country and most of the towns around this area have some significant passages in the holy book. The landscape around this area is spectacular, with views of the Jordanian valley going all the way down to the Dead Sea. Looking further across, you can actually see Israel and Palestine from here as well (the West Bank). Alas though my camera can not do justice to the scenery, as I was trying to zoom in on the city of Jericho. Apparently on a good day you can even see Jerusalem from this vantage point as well.

Israel's / Palestine's infamous West Bank, as seen from Mount

Nebo. It looks so calm and peacful from this distance, doesn't it??

Detail is limited, but Jericho is to the right (if you can see it)

Well, after a few token snaps, I moved on and we headed down a steep looking road down the side of the mountain to bring me to the lowest place on earth; the Dead Sea. This place is actually 400m below sea level, and the water there is really odd – the water is so thick with salt, that feels similar to putting your hand in cooking oil. Anyway, I would not be a true British adventurer if I did not roll up my trousers and dip my toe in the waters, so that is what I did.

You can't get any lower than this - Photographing people in the Dead Sea

Apparently the waters have healing properties in them owing to all the salt. However, after a few minutes standing like a muppet with my trousers rolled up, I did not feel the blister on my foot was getting any better, so I left somewhat disappointed.

The final visit of the day was to go to a special view place that allows you to look out over the Dead Sea and deep into Israel. It was quite similar to Mount Nebo only much closer to the Dead Sea. Again my camera was not up to the task and so I only have a few shots of any worth from here, but the views were, once again, amazing.

As I said, this was my last real day of touring, and in the evening I caught a plane back to Cairo, where I am now, shut in a hotel not too far from the airport, waiting for my final trip; the one back to Heathrow. It has been stressful at times, blisteringly hot as well, but I have enjoyed every moment of it. When you have moments like looking at the Pyramids of Giza, or the Treasury at Petra, you realise all the inconveniences are worth it to come face to face with such wonders.

As per last year, I will do one more post tomorrow, a) letting everyone know I am home and b) summarising things I have learned from the trip. Then I will start planning the 2009 tour :D