7 days intensely lived

This time to accompain me in one of my journeys in the wonderful Middle East, there are my colleagues and friends Andrew, Benny and Ilaria ....
We choose Jordan a little unaware of what it can offer us, but sure to have fun as always ...
Departure from Barcelona and, via Rome, we arrive in Amman ...
We find catapulted into one of those hotels (if I can call it so...) where hygiene and comfort 'are not properly point of strength, but known the price (E.3 each ...) and sympathy the owner and employees will give us, we decide to stay ... the first night passes between a pleasantly tea and, I do not remember, so much camels offered me by the owner for the hand of Ilaria ... but she declines ...

 

Amman

We start to discover Amman (ancient for Philadelphia) typical city of Middle East, where, in addition to dust everywhere, you breathe that air of history, closely linked to religion, so 'strongly felt by its inhabitants ... we only do the first steps between its people gave us emotion ...
It starts with the Citadel, where passing between the temple of Ercole and the complex early Al-Qasr, we devote a visit to the small but fascinating archaeological museum ... and we do not lose the wonderful views that the city offers throughout the city (and subsequent photos to enjoy ...)
Then we descent "downstream" towards the lower city where the theatre, the odeon and the remains of the Roman colonnade of the forum kidnap us with their secular charm... then dedicate the rest of the day to visit the "modern" city and then lose to the streets and alleys, losing us between smells, colors and so "Muslim" passers ... ...
In the evening, after having declined a little 'camel for Ila (we are sincerely starting to think it..) we start exploring the nightlife of Amman ... well, we end in one of the few internet cafe in the city drinking nescafe ... but that's good ..

Jerash

Our second day begins with a Jordanian treaty. It's incredible that in these countries all owners of hotels have a cousin with a shop or a taxi driver brother, or vice versa ... that also happens to us ... but the agreement is beneficial for everyone, since for only E.30 rent we got taxi and driver for a whole week ... not bad ... we then say welcome to the "round" (for the peculiar shape ...) Waalidh ...
Let us go then to Jerash, an ancient city with imposing ruins of Roman and Byzantine period. Do not miss a visit to the Arc de Triomphe, the Forum and its square oval, theatres, and numerous temples and churches of the Byzantine period ...
This city, once part of the Decapolis, has a fascination so evocative to leave mouth opened ....
A must for anyone in Jordan ...

Castles in the Desert

A good hour's start with our Waalidh for daily roundtrip, today we'll focus on those castles erected, or readapted to new use, when the Umayyad dynasty reached the apex of his power (the first half VIII sec.) ... fortunately they are all not far from the capital ...
Among the many memorable Qasr Al-Hallabat, Qasr Al-Azraq (which hosted the legendary Lawrence of Arabia), Qasr Amra and its well-preserved frescoes, finally we enjoy a fantastic sunset from the roof of Qasr Al-Kharana, a castle completely immersed in the desert ...
The day was unforgettable, because, driven by the spirit of adventure, curiosity, during the excursion we convinced our Waalidh to go to the border with Iraq, just to see what was ... Well, apart from fighters noise, tanks training into the edge of the road (but who imagined?) and a bunch of trucks laden with oil, there is absolutely nothing. Nothing nothing. At least we controlled ...
... and in city traffic finally we are moving back to Amman ... poor Ilaria, it expects its spasimante and his camels ...

The King's Highway

Still awake (but sleeping?) Waalidh is already awaiting us .. we leave Amman and take the road that runs from north to south across the country: the King's Highway.
On the way we do some stop, starting from Madaba, a city of ancient origins, even cited in the Bible, where we visit the Orthodox church of St. George, which, within it, holds a valuable depicting an ancient mosaic map of Palestine ... then leaving this town, you can not be indifferent to the climate of extreme tolerance that we live here, where the Christian community lives without problems with the Muslim one, and in full middle-east ... watching TV, we often forget places like these ...
Let then reach Madaba and Mount Nebo, from where the legend has it that Moses first saw the holy land ... personally I'm not Christian, but I must admit that a certain sacredness mixed with mysticism lives in the air that envelops this small upstream, and so, after a few minutes I come away from my companions immersed in a sort of trance, while I contemplate the landscape on Jericho, the valley of the River Jordan and far (but not too much...) Israel and the Palestinian Territories ...
Ve descent to valley and then opt for an immersion in the Dead Sea, you can enjoy it only without scars and bruises, where you try to swim, but you cannot do more than sitting on water.. I wonder if it has not been herewhere Jesus has walked on water ...
And so, after a little mud covering, we continue our journey towards Petra, but passing first to visit the crusader castle of Al-Kerak (XII century .)... beautiful and fairly well preserved, deserves without doubt a visit...
Now driving for hours, the poor Waalidh asks for help, and I myself propose to drive for a while, but the round Jordanian has the brilliant idea of let me drive on a narrow mountain road without any kind of enlightenment. After making one of my most false smiles for the crew (all worried and praying), I decide to drive ...
All alive and wealthy, at night, we reach Wadi Musa, a city-base from which we'll start to discover the holy city of Petra ... we end randomly in a hotel run by a cousin of Waalidh (no matter in what country in the world you are , Always work so'...). Well, clean and as always cordial. Then in the evening, as if by chance, we simply place in reception to watch "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" ...

Petra

Being in Jordan and not visiting Petra ?!?... let's not joke ...
Absolutely excited we walk to Petra, and between a trap for tourists and the other, we finally reach the entry ...
After a good walk we arrive at the gates of the Siq, a natural corridor between the rocks dug about 2 km long.
Few places in the world are able to arouse the emotion that we felt when, at a turning narrow gorge of the Siq, we suddenly face the very high facade of the "Treasury", the most famous monument of Petra perhaps ... I never tried something similar to what in the first century the Anglo-Swiss explorers that carried-over to light this holy city experienced ...
And it is here that we spend the whole day, visiting precisely the Treasury, theatre, the innumerable tombs, the city and low-Deir, another building symbol of Petra (even if you must climb small steps for more than one-hour ..)
This holy Nabatean city is absolutely something wonderful, exciting, certainly the most attractive city...
Still wrapped in strange Petra's atmosphere, we return to the hotel, asking if my friends do not regret the call me "Indy" ...

Wadi Rum desert

With Waalidh ready, we head south even more ... this time towards Saudi Arabia, from where the road stops, just in the desert of Wadi Rum.
The rock formations and fine sand of unusual colour ranging from yellow to dark red, will make it biggest attraction, and more we spend the night sleeping in a Bedouin encampment ... fantastic!
In jeep we reach the camp, where we expect dinner and blankets ...
At dawn, a Bedouin boy with whom we were friend, leads us on top of a small hill, from where, in an almost unnatural silence, we see the sunset, an experience so exciting, as unforgettable ...
After a cold night, we dedicate the morning to drive around in the desert with jeeps, trying to "grab" some of its secrets. We meet some residents of the area which travel with camels, and we enjoy breathtaking scenarios ...
Let's go back to reality and then resume the journey, this time in direction of Amman...

Coming back home

... in the morning we are going back to Barcelona.
Home and work ... more to add?
... well, the thing is, Jordan, its people and the extraordinary marvels that they are able to offer are not to lose ... but to live with total intensity ...