Author Archives: Clunegapyears

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About Clunegapyears

Travelling around Europe with James in our motorhome. And now solo, with friends

Jordan Days 5&6: Mt Nebo and the Dead Sea

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Back to Amman was much quicker on the return – Israel checks you a lot less than on entry, but does make you pay an arm and leg to leave.

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P1010595Drove onto Mt Nebo, where Moses was showed the Promised Land.  Too misty for good views

 

We are now staying for 2 nights at the Dead Sea. Palm Springs has come to the Dead Sea !  Loads of USA style resort hotels – we are treating ourselves to the Marriott – expensive but it’s a trip we are unlikely to make again. Both feeling the need to be still, so we have extended our stay here to two nights, cut out Aqaba and shifted hotels around.  Did the usual things – sitting upright in the sea, sleeping and enjoying the sun.

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Jordan Days 3 & 4: Jerusalem

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We travelled to Jerusalem by the non-official border crossing over the King Hussein bridge.  The Jordanian entry visa from the airport is valid for about 3 months so we could use this.  The process made K slightly uncomfortable as they hang onto your passports and you have to wait in a tiled room (think Midnight Express) and then on the bus, before having them returned to you. Said the crossing was much easier than 30 years ago – 2/3 hours compared to a half day and they now have scanners so don’t need to squeeze out the toothpaste!

We spent 2 nights in Jerusalem – mega busy – Jewish feast of Passover – the city was amazing as always but quite difficult to move around and very hot.

Fantastic market with all the spicy smells and colours you would expect, where we bought wine and European (!) cheeses for our supper.

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We caught a bus to see the outside of the Knesset, the seat of the government.  Next door was a rose garden with many Orthodox families with their throw away BBQs.

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We did a free walking tour for the best part of three hours; tip at your discretion.  It was really excellent as the guide explained the history and the character of the four quarters of Jerusalem.  We popped back in the evening to go inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to see the site of the crucification,the tomb and the rock where Jesus was laid.

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Day 2: Jerash, Forest and Driving

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Drove a slightly circuitous route to Jerash, taking in some of the residential areas!  Jerash is the second site of Jordan after Petra and worth the drive.  A large area of Roman ruins, with a striking Oval Forum.  Lots of friendly hellos from the visiting girls schools (boys visit on a different day!)

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Up and though Dibeen Forest, not that far from the Syrian border, but very peaceful.  This may have had something to do with the police car and security guard taking one dinar from us and giving us a black sack for our rubbish.  Lovely place with views, but other visitors either omitted using the black sack at all or filled the black sack and then threw that onto the ground.

P1010467Found ourselves back in Jerash for a late lunch – we found a fish restaurant and having chosen our fish from a pool, we had a fabulous lunch looking up at the Roman remains – only £12!

A dodgy drive back into Amman; I had downloaded a GPS route finder app, as GPS does not use data and using our phones would have been really pricey.  The only problem with my master plan was that GPS did not seem to be evident, so after quite a few discussions about which direction and using the sun for guidance we eventually found our way back to the hotel.

Dumped the car and taxi to meet an ex-work colleague of James’ for a drink and supper.  Labib and J lots of trips down memory lane from 30 years ago and some really good explanations about Jordan that are not found in guidebooks, such as driving legislation i.e. none!  He ran us back to the hotel via J’s last Jordan residence.

Jordan/Amman: Day 1 -Bubble Pipes and Bills

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P1010341P1010359P1010334Good flight but by the time we got out of the airport it was gone 1.00am.  The car hire chap drew us a map of how to get to the hotel, but once we got near the city centre, we got very lost.  In the end we paid a taxi and we followed him!
Today we got up reasonably early – beautifully sunny and did the sights in Downtown Amman – Roman forum & theatre and the BC Citadel.  Nothing special, but I did enjoy wandering the streets and some novel experiences.  Coffee in a sheesa cafe – all the men smoking bubble pipes – I was the only woman!  The coffee was fab – creamy, strong and a hint of cardomen.  For lunch we wandered in a cafe where they had huge racks of roasting chickens – again all me …. We were politely shown up stairs to the mixed gender restaurant!!!  There was some confusion over ordering and I ended up with two sorts of soup and tender lump of lamb on the side.  James had a chicken wrap, with chips 😁 and coleslaw. It was all very tasty and cost less then £7!!!  
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A quick wander through the food and gaudy gold markets and then a taxi to a posh hotel where James used to drink, all of 27+ years ago.  A glass of wine each and the bill was £25!!!! Won’t be doing that again.
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