The last night with the group still there was a Friday, which as the first day of the weekend is cause for celebration. We could see fireworks and hear gunfire, no one was being killed (as far as I know) but they just like to make a lot of noise! Once again Khaled from Morocco and Mo spoke passionately about their hopes for peace in the Middle East. But I fear that Jordan will be sucked in to the wars sometime soon, and now is the time to go there if you want to see its amazing sights. I stayed on in Madaba for couple of extra days. Geert from…

On the last day of our tour, we drove through the capital Amman with its hills of whitewashed buildings to the Roman ruins of Jerash. We passed parts of the city where hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees, who once lived in tents, have erected sheet metal structures. There are also over a million Syrian refugees in the northern part of the country. Jerash is really well preserved, with its heyday around 200 AD, and covers a huge area, with temples, arches and a hippodrome or stadium, where chariot races were held in ancient times. Until a couple of years ago there were re-enactments staged by Jordanian military, but they…

Dana is part of the Great Rift Valley that runs from Turkey to Mozambique in Africa, the result of still shifting tectonic plates.  The old town in Dana was left in ruins when people moved to a more modern village, but now some are returning and restoring the ruins for hotels.  This is where we stayed, in cave like stone buildings. Mo led us on a hike into the valley.  This hike was described in the trip notes as mostly downhill, but what goes down must come up!  We talked (well, Mo talked, in Arabic) to Bedouins with goats, sheep and donkeys, and stopped for a picnic lunch with amazing views. There is protected wildlife here,…

Petra is one of the new seven wonders of the world recently voted. After a great shawerma for lunch (chicken and pickles wrapped in paper-thin pita) we went into the site for a four hour walk. I rode an Arabian horse in to the gate. Sounds exciting, but the horse was led by a grumpy Bedouin. The walk through the siq, surrounded by massive cliffs, led us after more than a km to the Treasury, the most famous sight in Petra and the easiest to get to. When you finally emerge from the deep canyon to the sight of this massive facade, it’s just stunning. The area in front of…

Besides being close to the sights of Amman, the hotel is also conveniently located close to a mosque. The call for prayer started at 4:20 am! Come on, who is up at that time to go there and pray! The mournful voice over loudspeakers is five times a day. After a while it gets to be background noise and you don’t notice it as much. In Amman I walked up to the Citadel on top of one of the many hills the city is set on, with some impressive Roman ruins. I unintentionally found a shortcut up, through a driveway with a couple of new Mercedes cars and a couple…