My first night was not the best for sleep – I was beyond tired but slept fitfully, awoken by the 5am call to prayer and then dozing until 9 before I decided to get up and get breakfast. Which was interesting. I remember Moroccan breakfasts being a surprise, and this was similar with omelette, falafel, hard boiled egg, meats and salads. Plus cereal and coffee, but no milk…
I decided to choose one attraction to visit on my first day and to factor in time for resting before the start of the group trip proper. I settled on the Jordan Museum, which was a 20 minute walk and would give me an overview of the history and culture of the country. It was a good decision as the museum wasn’t too big but was both informative and interesting. I wandered back to the hotel district and grabbed lunch on the street and a decent coffee in a coffee bar and then retired to my room to read and rest for a couple of hours.
5:30pm was the group welcome meeting. We are a group of 10 women, various ages and nationalities (5 British, 3 American, 1 Canadian and 1 Australian). Formalities done, we headed off for our first activity, which was a cooking experience at Jordanian Kitchen. Wafaa and her colleagues taught us how to chop salad and herbs properly, how to make garlic paste and aubergine purée and we helped to put together a Maqluba – a rice vegetable and meat dish which is turned out of its pot like an upside down cake. Sitting down to eat was such a treat.
A better night’s sleep followed and day 1 proper began at 08:15 as we set off to explore Amman. We visited the Citadel, which gave an amazing insight into the long history of Amman and featured some amazing archaeological remains which are still being uncovered, and the Roman amphitheatre.
If I thought we’d seen remains, I was totally unprepared for the afternoon at Jerash, known as ‘the Pompeii of the Middle East’ and one of the largest Greco-Roman sites outside of Italy. It was stunning… lots of dusty walking to be done! Our guide explained that much of the site had been well preserved due to having been covered over by sand for many years, from which it has been ‘dug out’ over time. I think my favourite parts were the Hippodrome, the North Theatre, the Artemis temple and the Cardo Maximus (main Roman road).
We left Jerash just after 5 for the journey back to Amman, where we had a meeting with a famous Jordanian matchmaker and learned about the culture of arranged marriages, before getting dinner and a very refreshing local beer on Rainbow Street.
A very long and packed first day. Sleep beckoned… but the traffic and noisy bustle of late night Amman had other ideas! Currently thinking that day 2’s 5-hour minibus trip into the desert could involve much snoozing!
50shadesofbrave 