Travel the route from Amman to Irbid that I used to take whilst working here and it’s as I remember. Arrive Irbid and see the hospital to the east which was the construction project we worked on for three months. The driver enters Irbid and follows the route he thinks is right – he’s not been here for three years and we have no satnav. After a while we pass a row of butchers that I distinctly remember. The only reason being that in the morning on the way to work there were lots of goats and sheep bleating away, tethered outside. On the way back in the evening they were all hanging up, skinless but head still on ready for the grill. We drive towards the hospital. It’s the road to Iraq. We’re not particularly interested in going to Iraq. Realise we’re going the wrong way. “Is this the right way?” I enquire. Driver confesses he’s not sure so we do a U-ey and ask a police patrol parked up nearby. We’re not. Return to Irbid and promptly get lost again. The last time I did the trip to Um Quais from where we were staying in a zero star fleapit in Irbid, our English, alcoholic, colleague, who’d been living in Irbid far too long and had gone a bit native, picked us up. He’d clearly had a whisky. On that occasion we stopped on a deserted road to ask for directions and interrupted a drug deal. The next group of people we stopped to ask directions got out of their car weilding rifles. This was of the utmost concern. Until we realised they were only hunting.
Um Quais is a Roman town and overlooks the Sea of Galilee and the Golan Heights.
Israel to my left. Syria in front of me. Literally across the valley. No gunshots though. One of my main memories of Jordan was watching the sunset over the Sea of Galilee but today it’s very hazy and we can only just see the Sea. On entering am given a cactus fruit to try. Like watermelon with lots of pips.
Return to Jerash having decided to scrub a visit to Ajlun Castle as we’re running out of time. Jerash, for those that watched the Top Gear Middle East Christmas special, is where they drifted around an oblong “race track”. Well that’s the Hippodrome. In the ampitheatre a couple of musicians are playing drums and……bagpipes. Yes – Jordan’s native musical instrument. Entertained by famous Jordanian musical compositions namely, Scotland the Brave & Frere Jacques. I kid you not.
But. I’ve been spoilt. I’ve been fortunate enough to visit Leptis Magna and Sabratha in Libya.
Once you’ve visited them Jerash pales into insignificance.
Dinner at my favourite restaurant in Amman – Reem al Bawadi. We were regular visitors here in 2002 and it hasn’t changed. The inside hall is closed as it’s summer and everyone is seated outside either in open sided Bedouin tents or under the starry sky with a newly crescent moon. Huge tables laden with various meze, flatbreads and grilled meats. The man wandering about with a pewter jug of cardamon tea who announces his presence by clicking the little glass cups. Men with tins of charcoal to feed the hubbly bubbly smoking pipes. Back then, in 2002, the quote of the assignment has to go to my female colleague (and I know you’re reading this!) who, upon trying a hubbly bubbly pipe for the first time, innocently remarked, “I don’t know whether to suck or blow.”…………..then realised what she’d said……much male mirth.
Downtown Amman
Sea of Galilee & Golan Heights from Um Quais
