Amman

Arrived in Amman late last night after treating ourselves to a very comfy business class flight and up to explore the city today. It's about 20 degrees and we're the only ones in shorts and t-shirts. Proper Brits abroad.

Visited a bookshop/cafe and ended up in an Irish bar of course (culture) before going for lunch at Hashem and ordering far too much delicious food for about 8 JOD (about £7.50.) It was so good and full of locals which we took as a good sign.

After lunch and a stop at the Roman ampitheatre, we ventured out on a walking tour, which was excellent. Mujalli took us through the local Souks and seemed to know every single person who would give us free food (more chickpeas) and gave us a lot of insight into Jordan's history and relationship with Palestine. We also dressed up in the traditional Jordanian (red) and Palestinian (black) headscarves and thought we pulled them off. Ended up on his roof terrace having a 10% beer and laughing with the rest of the group.

Amman has been great. Locals have all been incredibly friendly... waitstaff, oddly, not so much. The older half of the city that we explored was a bit more run down and we didn't get time to explore the newer, richer half. Saved for next time.

A superb dinner at Saffa (even more chickpeas) and by then we were exhausted. Back to the hotel to get ready for the 4hr drive through the desert to Petra tomorrow.Weiterlesen