FUN-travel: Amman, Jordan – Holy Land – Day 2
April 1, 2013 by Susan Clarke
The ABC’s of The Holy Land
A = Awesome
B = Bummer
C = Celebration
Trip Day 56 – Tuesday, March 26 –Amman, Jordan – blue skies – high, low 80’s
Aljun Castle,
- 7:00 – wake up
- B – fitful night sleep
- A – breakfast spread is huge – make sandwiches for picnic later
Umm Qais
- 8:45 – Ali picks us up for drive – hills covered w/sheep & olive trees (over 20 million trees in Jordan) – spring flowering shrubs & plants are abundant
- 1st stop 10:30 – Umm Qais (Biblical Gadara), dramatic black‐basalt Roman Decapolis city overlooking the Golan Heights and Sea of Galilee – impressive Roman remains include colonnaded street, theatre & mausoleum
- 11:30 – drive through the Jordan Valley and up into the Dibeen National Forest
- 2nd stop – 1:00 – tour Qallat arRabadh, Ajlun’s Crusader‐era Saracen Castle – over 1000 yrs old – superb Arab military engineering – sits high atop the mountain @ 4,000 ft
- 3rd stop – 3:30 – 90 min guided tour of Jerash – world’s best‐preserved Roman provincial city in Middle East – built 300 BC – has 4 gates leading N, E, W, & S – favorite city of Emperor Hadrian (he has his own gate) – features include Hippodrome, awesome amphitheatre viewed from top – temple of Zeus – oval plaza is 262’ x 295’ enclosed by 160 Ionic columns, agora, baths, churches & a mosque – very impressive!
- 6:00 – happy hour @ Crowne Plaza – 2 for 1 – nice cold beer – get 2 bottles of Wolf Blass (Australian) cabernet on same deal too! – eat in V lounge – hot, juicy hamburger w/French fries & Thai salad – YUMMY!
Hadrian’s Gate Jerash
FF – (FUN-fact) – We’ve gone from 22 days on the water to the stark contrast of 18 days in the desert.
More FF – Feel very safe in Jordan. They have scanners everywhere you go, to get out of the airport, to get into your hotel (trunks are checked too) to enter the hotel parking lots.
Oval Plaza Jerash