But in the end we got them.
The bus was pretty cool. It was air-con'd, had a TV although all it showed was some dude in Egypt talking in Arabic about something to do with whatever the hell is going on over there that saw our trip cancelled (yes, still pissed about that) so I just read my book, and Danni played Solitaire.
We arrived in Amman and had to speak to a few taxi drivers to get them to take us to this magical place called a hotel. To some, it was like we were asking them to take us to Narnia, and another guy would not take us because we didn't need him to take us to the airport the next day.
Finally we got a taxi driver who was willing to take us, and after 400 circles around the same streets we finally found this hotel. Boy, what a dump that place was.
No air-con (automatic 1-star rating for me), no hot water...heck we were lucky to get water at some point and a window that didn't close which was totally awesome when it was air-raid time, especially when they do their midnight one. The only saving grace for that place was it was near a pretty nice kebab shop.
Anyway, we really didn't do much in Amman, we were there for not even 24-hours before we went to the airport and waited 5 hours in a refreshingly cool (ie air-con'd) Queen Alia Airport.
Oh and the flight was delayed to Istanbul.
But back to my thoughts on Jordan. I didn't do this with Dubai or Israel because I didn't really think of it until now but I thought I would try to sum up the places we are going.
Amazing, isn't it. The Treasury is pretty cool too.
Jordan is an interesting country. It is dirty as hell, also hot as hell. Hell they may as well call it Hell. Ok, not really on the last part. It is a pretty cool country and the people are nice. I think that is the most important thing. They make you feel welcome, well most of them, and they are polite and will try to help. This was evident as soon as we got to Madaba.
It feels so long ago we were there but it was only a week-and-a-bit ago when we were. It's a small place but it is central to a lot of the cool things we saw. The food was incredible though.
Petra was probably my second favourite place in Jordan. The walk to the Monastery, while tough, was worth it to see it. As well as the Treasury. They were both worth the entrance fee and putting up with a dickhead hotel manager.
Wadi Rum was interesting. It was interesting to see how the Bedouin live their lives out in the desert and sleeping under the stars was something everyone should do if they get a chance. Sand or not. It's worth it.
You also get some pretty neat sunsets
Aqaba was my favourite. Any place that has diving is going to be high on my list but the Red Sea is a divers' dream. The beach sucked, it wasn't really sand but rocky particles but the water and underneath. OhMehGewd!!!
Best place I have dived in my not-so-long diving life.
And Amman, well Amman was kind of similar to Palestine and Israel. The buildings all look the same and they are bunched together and the traffic is insane. I have no idea what kind of driver education they do there but I am pretty sure lesson 1 is:
"This is a horn. Use it. Use it constantly. If you haven't used it for any longer than 5 seconds, you have failed. Incessant honking is the lifeblood of any Jordanian driver. Use it, press it, caress it. It is a cause greater than any Taliban-lead suicide bombing."
Yes, they honk a lot. It is annoying.
Simply awesome.
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