Jordan
Wādī Şafrā’

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    • Day 3

      Amman Citadel

      December 4, 2022 in Jordan ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

      I had no idea what to expect at the Citadel, and man was I surprised! This incredible site has artefacts from many different ages. To see parts of churches and mosques on the same land was interesting. As the Citadel is on the top of a hill, it also lends to great views of Jordan from all sides. While we were at the summit we also heard the Muslim call to prayer.Read more

    • Day 2

      Kultur und Religion in Amman

      October 30, 2023 in Jordan ⋅ 🌬 22 °C

      Einen ersten Überblick über die Hauptstadt Jordaniens erhält man vom Zitadellenhügel aus. Überhaupt, Amman ist die Stadt der vielen Hügel.
      Auf dem Zitadellenhügel befindet sich der Herkules-Tempel, eine Hinterlassenschaft der Römer. Die jungen Jordanier machen hier gerne Selfies. Von dort sieht man auch ein römisches Amphitheater in den Niederungen des Wadi Amman. Die Stadt wurde in einem Flusslauf, Wadi, erbaut.
      Ein Erlebnis der seltsamen Arten hatten wir auch auf dem Zitadellenhügel:
      Eine Gruppe jordanischer Mädchen fragte uns sehr direkt, wie wir denn zu Israel stünden. Sorry, keine politischen Äußerungen in einer politisch angespannten Situation, antworteten wir.
      Nicht nur Deutsche sind sehr direkt.
      Dann zog ein Sandsturm auf.
      Zuvor hatten wir noch die größte Moschee Jordaniens besucht, Baujahr 1989.
      Direkt neben der Moschee steht interessanterweise eine koptische Kirche.
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    • Day 150

      Piglet does brave things

      August 18, 2022 in Jordan ⋅ ☀️ 90 °F

      Miles: 6.7 Steps: 16366
      Flights stairs: 19

      I stepped out of my comfort zone today in so many ways, and felt very brave and accomplished.

      First, I wandered the streets of Amman … alone. Jordan unexpectedly found she had a friend visiting Amman also (same one she saw in Budapest) so she met up with her which left me seeing the sites solo. It was actually very fun and I felt adventurous.

      I hit the Roman Theater and then did a 25 minute walk to the Citadel Hill. Both Roman ruins from when they occupied Amman centuries ago. Then I walked 35 minutes more through the streets of Amman to the Jordan Museum which was neat to see. And then walked back to the hotel all though the local markets. Not really an area with tourists, just locals. I felt like I stood out like a sore thumb. Ubers are dirt cheap here but chose to walk instead to see the surroundings more and get some miles in, since we haven’t really done much while poolside for the last few days.

      We’ve decided to break away from the buses and such and rent a car for our time in Jordan! It’s the way you get around here, so we’ll be on our own for the next 10 days. I drove for the first time in 5 months!! It felt very strange, but nice to be behind a wheel again.

      We drove about 90 minutes north towards Syria to the town of Jerash. Driving is CRAZY here - there aren’t any lines on the roads to show lanes - so there are as many lanes as cars that can fit across. Sometimes 2,3 and even 4. Everyone is in a huge hurry and everyone is honking at everyone. It is an exercise in CONSTANT defensive driving as you never know when cars are going to try to just squeeze by you. 🤞
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    • Day 149

      Travel day

      August 17, 2022 in Jordan ⋅ ☀️ 90 °F

      Miles: 2.0 Steps: 4816
      Flights stairs: 6

      As we leave Europe and head into Asia/Africa, we have a bit of nervousness. Many parts of Europe felt a lot like home, or at least places we’d been in the US. Somewhat familiar and “normal”. We’ve slowly adjusted to the cultures around us. Eastern Europe much different than Western, but still nothing too extreme.

      Today we flew into Amman, Jordan. We’re officially in the Middle East … which is a little unsettling - everyone says we’re fine as long as we stay clear of the Syrian border … so we’ll stay clear of the Syrian border. 🥺 The city’s claim to fame is its the 3rd most ugly city in the world!!! 😳 And so far, from what we’ve seen, possibly.

      We arrived and did our normal routine in a new country … locate a SIM card so we have GPS and data, find a “trustworthy” ATM to get local currency, and figure out the transportation situation. A taxi from Amman airport is spendy … almost $70. So … I found a local express bus and we got on that instead. $3 each. It got us close to our hotel, and then we Uber’d the rest of the way for $3. Much more affordable.

      I book all of our accommodations online, sight unseen. I go off reviews, pictures, locations. So far we’ve done fairly well. We’ve had a few locations that weren’t the best, but overall, done okay. Pictures and descriptions can be deceiving tho.

      Today, when the Uber driver dropped us off at the hotel, we were scared. There was NOTHING that resembled a hotel. Nothing. GPS said it should be close, but all we saw was what appeared to be condemned or abandoned buildings. So we went to where it was telling us … and there was a small sign for our hotel. Right dead center in the … mess. 😳 long story short, the positive is that it was much nicer inside than out, but it’s still not good. Luckily it’s a private room, and we’re here just one night so making the best of it.

      When traveling without a car, the intent is always to get as close to the center of town as possible. It’s where the tourist attractions or sites usually are, and it just makes it easier getting around. Up till today, it’s worked like a charm. This time it appears the closer we got to the center of town, the more it resembled a chaotic, war zone. Should be VERY interesting heading out tomorrow to explore Amman.
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    • Day 5

      Dag 5 - Meugen met de grote M

      August 20, 2023 in Jordan ⋅ ☀️ 36 °C

      Hohoho wat was vandaag een pareltje!! Dag 5 was veruit de meest culture dag tot nu toe. (Disclaimer: het wordt een lange post maar enjoy) Vandaag sliepen we redelijk uit en tegen dat we een en al klaar waren om da stad in te gaan was het al na de middag. Onze eerste stop van de dag was de King Abdullah II moskee, de grootste in Jordanië. Hier geraakten we heel gemakkelijk binnen, met als voorwaarde dat we onze sexy blote benen bedekten met een traditioneel gewaad! De moskee zelf was prachtig en de mensen over het algemeen heel vriendelijk (Op een paar “wie denkt ge wel niet dat ge bent” blikken na). Daarna trokken we door naar iets wat meer in ONZE vrienden cultuur lag, namelijk schaamteloos 4,5 liter bier drinken tijdens ons middageten. Lichtelijk aangeschoten (zeker onze pinguïn Schmiguel) ging we onze tocht verder tot de citadel. Deze lag op een hoge rots en was eigenlijk het paleis en fort van Amman doorheen de jaren. Dit met een mix van een oude moskee en romeinse tempels. Hier zijn we ook onze dubbelgangers tegengekomen, dus we moesten hen natuurlijk even op de foto zetten! Onze laatste culturele stop van de dag was het oude Romeinse theater, dat in bijna perfecte staat was. Daar keken we naar hoe de zon onder ging achter de stad. Na al dit cultureel gedoe kregen we weer trek in iets van onze boys cultuur: enorm goedkope falafel (1euro ofzo) gaan eten aan een kraampje! Een stop aan de liquor store en de kapper voor Joren en Maarten later sloten we de dag af met een rustig kaartspelletje op ons terras met uitzicht over het prachtige Amman!
      We leven nog x
      De cultureel gevormde Schapen
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    • Day 2

      Amman la Cittadella e il mercato

      May 23, 2023 in Jordan ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

      Visita alla Cittadella di Amman con il tempio di Ercole e il teatro romano. Vista spettacolare su tutta la città vecchia dove vive la maggioranza della popolazione. Il mercato della frutta e della verdura offre profumi colori e sapori....Read more

    • Day 4

      Touristen-Route kann jeder-nur wir nicht

      March 14, 2023 in Jordan ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C

      Heute früh erwartete uns das erste ordentliche Frühstück 🥐seit dem Beginn unserer Reise. Gut gestärkt machten wir uns bei regnerischen Wetter mit unserem Sunny 🚗auf den Weg nach Umm Quais. Schon hier galt es unzählige Schluchten und Serpentinen zu meistern. Wir waren auch kurz der Annahme das wir Syrischen Boden befahren.🤷‍♀️🤷Was wir zu diesem Zeitpunkt nicht ahnten.....es war nur ein kleiner Vorgeschmack auf das was noch kommen sollte. Kurz vor unserem ersten Ziel machten wir 100 Meter vor der syrischen Grenze halt... unser fleissiges Navi wollte es so. Angekommen in Umm Quais versperrte uns leider das regnerische Wetter den Ausblick auf die Golanhöhen. Nichtsdestotrotz konnte uns der Regen nicht davon abhalten die Ausgrabungsstätte zu erkunden. Aus einer geplanten Stunde wurden im Handumdrehen glatte 3 Stunden, da es sehr weitläufig und interessant war.
      Dann machten wir uns auf den Weg nach Salt um dort die antiken Bauten der osmanischen Kaufleute zu bestaunen. Unser Navi zeigte uns den Weg dahin....und dieser führte durch riesige Schluchten, kilometerlange steile Anstiege , Extreme Abfahren und phantastische Ausblicke. Dazu kam...unser Navi hatte zeitweise kein GPS Signal....es war einfach Abenteuer pur. Wir hatten auch solch eine imposante Fahrt nicht erwartet und bestaunten nur kurz das antike Salt. Angekommen in Amman erwartete uns ein sehr schönes Hotel und der Regen hatte aufgehört. Trotz Regen ein abenteuerlicher Tag.. Touristenroute kann jeder...nur wir nicht.
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    • Day 207

      Amman, Amphitheater

      March 26, 2023 in Jordan ⋅ 🌬 17 °C

      Das Wetter ist besser als voraus gesagt. So fahren wir weiter zum Amphitheater von Amman.

      Es liegt mitten in der Stadt und hat ein Fassungsvermögen von 6000 Menschen. Die Ränge sind sehr steil und oben angekommen ist man ( bzw. Ich) ganz schön aus der Puste.

      Direkt neben dem Amphitheater liegt das Odeon, ein „kleines Theater mit 400 Sitzplätzen.
      Das war komplett zerstört und ist in Teilen wieder aufgebaut worden.

      Zusätzlich gab es noch zwei kleine Museen rechts und links vom Theater.
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    • Day 6

      Annivers-Air Jordan

      March 1 in Jordan ⋅ 🌬 64 °F

      Today is our wedding anniversary! And for the first time on this trip, we celebrated by NOT getting up before 8am.

      After a long, leisurely breakfast on our guesthouse's rooftop terrace, we spent the day exploring Amman, Jordan's capital city. It's a loud, frenetic, ancient city, with the kind of chaos that reminds me of the nonstop motion of Cairo or Ho Chi Min City in Vietnam. Beige concrete houses are crowded up the seven hillsides of Amman, modern high-rises glitter on the edges, and every building could be either built in 1940, the 11th century, or last week. I wouldn't say it's a pretty city, but it has a certain buzzy energy.

      We walked to Amman's most famous landmark, the Citadel. It's an archaeological site atop one of the seven hills (omg, I am so done with this trip's stairs and hills), and is one of the world's oldest continually inhabited places. The first people lived here during the Bronze Age, around 1800 BC. Multiple empires moved in over the millennia, and the site still contains impressive Roman and Byzantine structures. It's also pretty huge- it sprawls over the entire hill, and the Temple of Hercules and the Citadel's fortification walls can be seen from many places in Amman.

      We spent an hour or so wandering the site. It's an active archaeological dig site, and despite the multiple structures, the majority of the Citadel has yet to be excavated. So while it may look cool, there's a shit ton of work still to do. I thought this was an appropriate metaphor for a long-term marriage anniversary. In a good way, of course. Really.

      After viewing the Citadel, we walked down MORE F*CKING STAIRS cut into the hillside, to visit Amman's 2nd-century Roman amphitheater. Now, I luvs me a good amphitheater- we counted eight countries off the tops of our heads where we've traveled to see one- but rarely do you see one in such pristine condition that it houses two museums, the occasional rap concert, and also functions as a public park. We clambered up the stone steps, and sat to people-watch for an hour.

      Our next stop was the Grand Husseini Mosque, but it was shut hard for renovations. So we headed over to see the Bukhariyeh Souk (market), only to realize that with it being Friday, everything was closed (in the Muslim world, Friday is their version of Sunday). So! The final place on our itinerary was the famous Hashem restaurant. This place has been in existence since the 1940s, has no menu, no serving sizes (the waiter sizes you up, and determines an appropriate portion) and has all the ambience and decor of an abandoned garage. And yet, the falafel, hummus, pita, and salad were amazing, and somehow the bill totalled just 1.50 dinar (about €2) per person. I'm in love, and want to move in immediately.

      There wasn't much else to see on our itinerary, so we found a shisha bar overlooking the main shopping street, ordered a grape and mint sheesha, and happily puffed away like the Caterpillar from "Alice in Wonderland" for several hours.

      We had late evening reservations at Fakhreldin, a Levantine restaurant listed as one of the 50 best restaurants in the Middle East and Africa. Levantine cuisine refers to the food from the modern-day regions of Jordan, Palestine, Lebanon, and Syria. It features a lot of vegetables, pita, chickpeas, nuts, grilled meats, and creamy dips. It's a veggie-lovers' paradise- the tomatoes here are the best I've had outside of Spain. Fakhreldin elevates these ingredients into fine dining, and the restaurant itself is housed in the beautiful, mansion-like former home of the Jordanian Prime Minister. It's fancy! It's our anniversary!

      We ordered grilled eggplant with pomegranate sauce and pinenuts (good, but a bit tart); pickled artichoke salad (the only dish we didn't love); chicken balls (hollow balls of chicken meat, fried and filled with butter, pistachios, and parsley. They were amazing, but given that they were listed on the menu under "goat gonads," obviously we had questions); mouhamara, which is a walnut, pomegranate, and red pepper spread that was so good I nearly ate the entire plate myself; and a mixed grill platter of chicken, lamb, and kebabs. We also ordered Jordanian wine, which I set down in my blind spot and proceeded to knock over onto the white tablecloth. Classy.

      Fakhreldin knew it was our anniversary, and brought us Arabic-style ice cream known as "booza," with a lit candle for dessert. Booza is much like Turkish ice cream- it doesn't melt because it contains mastic (a rubbery ingredient found in chewing gum), and salep, or orchid flour. If it sounds gross, you are indeed correct. In my opinion, it's an abomination against ice cream, and I only ate the pistachios on top. Though I must give props to a cuisine that uses nuts in its starters, mains, AND desserts. The squirrel in me is very pleased.

      So happy 28th anniversary to us, and tomorrow we venture up north to see more castles!
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    • Day 7

      Más Petra y bus a Ammán

      February 17, 2020 in Jordan ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C

      A las 5 nos despertamos para volver a ir a Petra a la hora de apertura para evitar a las masas. Vimos de nuevo el tesoro, pero después cogimos una ruta nueva para ver el lugar elevado del sacrificio. Las vistas una auténtica pasada. Antes de bajar, me senté en la silla de la primera foto y me empapé el culo con el agua que había acumulada de la lluvia de la noche anterior. Sad but true. Además hacia mucho frío y fue de todo menos placentero. Pero muy gracioso. Al bajar nos perdimos y se nos unieron tres perros bastante pesados que no nos dejaban en paz. Nos encontramos. Volvimos al principio/final. Fuimos a la tienda a comprar pan (de nuevo, hartas) y luego al hostal. Nos duchamos e hicimos tiempo hasta las 16, hora a la que salía nuestro bus hacia el norte. Según el manager del hostal, no hacía falta comprar boleto. «Just show up». Men-ti-ra. Casi nos da un mini infarto al ver que el bus iba lleno. Nos tuvieron esperando en la puerta del bus hasta el último momento antes de arrancar. Por suerte, no vinieron todos los que habían reservado una plaza y pudimos montarnos. La alternativa habría sido más cara. Cuatro horas y pico más tarde de bus, llegamos a Ammán. Fuimos al que será nuestro hostal las proximas cinco noches, hasta ahora el más asqueroso, y conocimos a un argentino muy gracioso. Fuimos a cenar y a la vuelta terminamos hablando con dos abuelos alemanes hasta la 1 y pico de la madrugada.Read more

    You might also know this place by the following names:

    Wādī Şafrā’, Wadi Safra'

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