Jerash and Amman
We got up early today and took one of Amman’s infamous mini-busses to the city of Jerash which is a few dozen kilometers away from Amman. Jerash is the site of an ancient Roman city which was taken over by Umayyans and eventually destroyed and ruined.
The mini-bus was an exceptional experience. It was something that seemed distinctly Jordanian. The busses are the size of large vans and can hold maybe 15 or more people. The bus won’t leave the depot until it is basically full, but we were able to get to a distant city for .400 JD which is about a dollar. The drivers are swarthy and wild and every bus is different with all types of decorations and interiors. Traveling up and down the tight mountain passes in a stuttery jalopy is something that everyone should try at least once.
Jerash was nice, big but nice. I can’t say it was the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen, but it was very impressive none-the-less. Jordan is pretty much stuffed with ancient ruins and things to see and do, but there is something strange about their historical sites that I can’t quite put my finger on. All of the places we’ve gone so far are wide open, huge, and almost entirely open to the public. Occasionally, you might find a few barred areas, but at least in Jerash, you could walk almost anywhere. It’s actually really fun if you are adventurous, active, and willing to explore.
A temple of some sort. I think the holes were for fountains. Fantastic stonework on the pillars and plinths.
Meredith and Lynn heading toward the main gate of the city.
Two examples of the amazing mosaic work all over Jordan. Notice the pictures-- on the left there is a jar being filled with water and a big lush tree. On the right a gazelle leaping and what looks like a type of duck. This stuff was just sitting out in the sun. I probably could have danced a jig o nit, but obviously that would have been naughty.
Another thing about Jordanian tourism is that almost all of these sites are undergoing excavations. They also reconstruct sections of the ruins in order to support the buildings and protect them from further ruin. It’s strange because some of the reconstructed stuff looks really good, while other bits don’t look as good. What happens is that the reconstructed parts are almost too perfect where the old things are worn and uneven.
There were cool mosaic tiles in one room, and a groovy temple in another place. Don’t get me wrong, the place is amazing, it’s just that there’s so much to see and not really any consistent and organized information about it all. We were talking about how many different people have passed through this region, and how current the history of Jordan really is—the ancient past is still happening here in a way. If I compared England to Jordan strictly as a sight-seeing tourist, I would say that the things England has over Jordan are the organized tour guides, well marked placards and things like that, and this sort of overarching view of the nation’s history. In Jordan, it’s a bit confusing as to who did what when and where. I guess it’s important to remember that this country has been almost completely nomadic for most of its history, so there were different types of people all over the place. If history is something that you really love, I think I would suggest picking an era, or a group (i.e. Umayyans, Crusaders, Nabataens, Israelites, Mamluks, the great Sal-a-Din) and trying to piece together their individual history rather than seeing everything all jumbled together.
We had a nice buffet after walking all over the place. I’m sure we put down at least 5 or 6 km.
