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| Sunset over the Dead Sea |
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| Paris Square - my temporary home |
The Dead Sea
This weekend get away was extra special for three reasons, it was a surprise anniversary vacation, it was my first stay in a 5-star resort, and its the Dead Sea! People live lifetimes with this on their bucket list and often times never make it.
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| Salt build up |
It's mud is mineral rich (mostly with calcium and magnesium), packaged, and sold all over the world for exorberant prices. And here I had as much as I wanted all to myself! I did a full body mud wrap three times while there! In ancient times, the Egyptians used this mud, sometimes called bitumen, during their mummification process.
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| Dead Sea mud exfoliating time |
Amman
This may be the coolest capital city I've ever lived in. OK, it's the only capital I've lived in, but my statement stands. I'm not sure if I feel right counting my five weeks in Senegal before I got sick, but I will soon be living in another capital city. I've always been a "small town" girl, the only other true city I've lived in was Montreal, Quebec, so this has been a wonderful experience for me!
As you'd figure, there's a lot to see and do in the city. Apart from cute cafes and delicious restaurants (you can find anything here, sometimes pricey but usually worth it), there is enough history to keep you busy every weekend for months. The list of where I've visited is in no way exhausted and will surely be added to at a later date.
Amman Citadel
A site that has an enormous history of occupation by a variety of civilizations. It has been built, destroyed, rebuilt and is now preserved for us to visit.
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| Umayyad Palace |
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| Hanging out in the ruins |
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| Hand of Hercules |
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| "Look!" View of Amman from the Citadel |
Smack dab in the middle of Amman, which in ancient times was called Philadelphia, the theater seats over 6000!
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| Hard to see me but I'm a dot in the middle :) |
Everything fun is here. Bars, cafes, shisha, ice cream, alcohol, yoga, great views, restaurants, etc.
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| View from a friends house just off of Rainbow Street |
Downtown
I was warned not to go here on Fridays, especially around prayer time, but I haven't had any negative experiences. Downtown, like Rainbow St. is flooded with shops, restaurants, and cute cafes that you can post up in for half a day to pump out some work.
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| Lemon with mint - a classic! |
For more on Jordanian/Middle Eastern food, check out this post.
King Abdullah Mosque
Regrettably, this mosque was under construction when I visited AND it was prayer time so I didnt get to go inside. This is Amman's largest mosque and named after the present King. Whats so neat about it (besides its size) is that there is not one column inside. It's this massive open dome!
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| Church right next door to the mosque. |
The Abu Darwish Mosque was built in 1961 on top of Ashrafiyeh (one of Amman's 7 hills). It was funded by a Jordanian born in the Caucasus (by the name of Abu Darwish), embraced Syrian architecture and was built by Palestinians. The alternating black and white stones make this mosque one of a kind and can accommodate 7000 worshipers!
Lucky for me when I went I made it just in time for the Adhan, or call to prayer. What a beautiful sight watching worshipers gather to their holy place.
Street Art of Amman
Enough said. I gained a new appreciation for it during me months in Amman.
The Desert Castles
My first trip outside of Amman was east of Amman to what are known as "the Desert Castles". Although I didn't see all of the castles, I saw enough to know two things:
1. I will be back to see them all.
2. Definitely worth a day trip.
Heading east from Amman, the landscape quickly turned into a barren stone desert known as the badia. I had gotten used to the bustling, green, hilly life in Amman so this day-trip was truly a pleasure. This is what 80% of Jordan looks like and where 5% of its population lives.
There are six desert castles along the "desert loop" most of which were build or adapted by the Damascus-based Umayyad rulers in the late 7th and early 8th centuries.
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| Qusayr Amra with our guide Mumbarak |
This desert castle is a UNESCO World Heritage sight because it is the only monument in the world from the Umayyad period that has preserved its panted decoration in totality.
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| Inside of Qusayr Amra |
After snapping enough pictures we were invited into share some Bedouin whiskey, also known as chai or even more commonly as tea.
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| My new friend |
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| Qasr al-Kharana |
This castle was much larger and more open than the first. We took our time exploring each level, climbing up and down the stairs, and of course, soaking in the view from the rooftop.
Next time I will be sure to see Qasr al-Hallabat, Qasr al-Azraq, Qasr Uweinid, and Qasr al-Mushatta.
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| Roof top of Qasr al-Kharana |
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| Smiles transcend language barriers |
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| A little music with a homemade guitar/violin type thing |
Petra
I hitched a ride to the Rose Red City with SIT Graduate Institute students that were in Jordan for a couple of weeks on their field study. This city was built by the Nabateans, a nomadic tribe from western Arabia, in abut 6th century BCE but was only know by the Bedouin until 1812.
This mystical city that was lost by civilizations for centuries has become so popular its now reportedly one of the seven wonders of the world. I say reportedly because I can never find an "official" site - does anyone know of one? Every site I find is a little different.
The major sights of Petra, beyond the red mountainous backdrop that made for a picture perfect view at all times, include the Siq, the Treasury (Al-Khazneh), Street of Facades, the High Place of Sacrifice, the Theater, several royal tombs and the Monastery (Al-Deir). I read up a bit the day before so that I could maximize the short amount of time I had inside the city. The consensus was in - head for heights! I knew a half day in the city, especially with my back, I wasn't going to be able to see much - I needed to be organized and efficient.
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| The classic photo walking from the Siq entering Petra where you can see the Treasury |
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| Straight chillin in front of the Treasury |
The hike to the High Place of Sacrifice was a long one, to say the least. But every time I managed to look up from watching my feet on the ground making sure not to trip, I had to take a second (or two, or three) to admire the natural beauty that all around me. As we neared the top, or what we thought was the top, I heard a flute being played off in the distance. A Bedouin woman was up hanging out by her shop waiting for tourist to pass by.
This hike was over 1000ft incline and over 15,000 steps!! At the time, because of exhaustion, I kept saying "This was not worth it" but not in hindsight, which we know is always 20/20, it was totally worth it.
Instead of taking a different way down (which was much longer and would have allowed us to see more) we went down the way we came up. I was exhausted and there wasn't much time left.
The Roman Amphitheater and several tombs where right at the base of the climb up to the High Place.
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| Amphitheater of Petra |
Red Sea - Aqaba and Tala Bay
Surprisingly to me, Aqaba the most important city in southern Jordan and is on its way to being the country's second biggest city. There are tons of development projects including suburbs, malls, and luxury apartment complexes sprouting up all over. It's already home to several international hotel chains that continue to expand along the coast.
The JETT Bus from Amman to Aqaba was only 10$ and took about 4 hours. It was affordable, reliable, and comfortable.
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| Calm sunny day on the Red Sea |
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| A sunken tank |
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| Coral |
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| Sunset over the Read Sea |
I know I'll be back to Jordan, I have a lot left on my bucket list to see. Priorities will be Madaba, Karak, Salt, Ajloun Castle and Forest, Umm Qais, Dana Nature Reserve, Wadi Musa, Wadi Mujid, Wadi Rum, Jerash Market and Ancient Ruins, and as previously mentioned, the rest of the Desert Castles. Hoping to get to Lebanon too, inshallah. But from here on out - blogs will be about Senegal!
