Jordan Pilgrimage Day 3 - The Long Drive to Amman

Sun City Campsite in the morning

Day three began with me feeling a little off but those omelettes were still there. And then as I got ready the “a little off” became more serious, and my day of needing to know where the toilet was began. Sadly.

We set off for the long drive back up to Amman. We stopped at the Hejaz Railway Train of Wadi Rum. This took us back to the Arab Revolt of WWI and Prince Faisal and Lawrence of Arabia. A significant part of their guerrilla campaign was the constant attacks of the railway line that seriously disrupted communication and Ottoman troop movements.  The refurbished locomotive and carriages are there to help tourists experience something of that story. It was very cool to see it.

After a few hours we stopped for lunch at a place Michel described as offering the best food we would have in Jordan. I had pita bread and a tiny wee bit of meat. Not a lot of anything. At one stop we learnt about the Mosaic of Jordan. We first encountered this in Jericho. the "Tree of Life" mosaic depicts a fruiting tree with two unknowing gazelles on the left side and a lion attacking another gazelle on the right side. It is a popular design throughout Islamic history in places like Northern Syria and Transjordan. There are numerous theories about it meaning. One idea is that the mosaic represents the peace that the caliph brought with his military prowess.

And then we arrived in Amman. We started at the Amman Citadel, known locally as Jebel al-Qal’a. Amman has been an important place for millennia, and had several name changes depending on the rulers. The Citadel, built on one of the 7 hills in Amman, has been a important centre during those times. It goes back to at least Alexander the Great and the Hellenes, and probably to the Persian period before. Here we saw the Roman Temple to Hercules, and the remains of the gigantic statue. We saw how stone from that temple has been reused over the years (secondary use) to build things like the 'Birkah' Cistern which collected run off from the buildings and streets. The use of the stone from the temple in this way means they cannot rebuild the temple anymore than they have because the rules say you need to use a certain percentage of original materials – and they are not available. We also saw the ruins of a Byzantine Church, and mosques, gateways, palaces and residential areas from the Umayyad Caliphate.

While we were there the call to prayer went up from various mosques in the city and echoed all around us. It was very cool.

 

 

Then Michel lined us up and at his lead we boldly walked the insanely busy road to the Amphitheatre. He had done this before, and no-one died! It seemed a miracle. The amphitheatre goes back to Roman times and seats 6,000 people. It has a sweet spot where anyone singing there can easily be heard anywhere in the theatre. I could not persuade Bonnie to sing.

Then back across the road and into our coach and off to the hotel, where I shook myself into bed. I was not the only to miss dinner that night.

You can find my Facebook photos of this day here.