Life's a Stitch

The week has flown by. Tomorrow we head to Cairo for the Egyptian portion of the trip. We had a 45 minute ride to Jerash, referred to as the "Pompeii of the east." Covering 200 acres, that translates to 8,712,000 square feet! Be prepared for hot weather and hilly uneven terrain while you trek through well preserved ruins that met its demise in the 700's due to earthquake and were eventually buried in blowing sand. The city of Jerash has been inhabited since the Bronze Age, but the ruins are from a walled Greco-Roman settlement with the typical columned architecture: the Hadrian's Arch built in the second century:

the temple of Artemis:

the oval plaza, the only one if its shape found in a city of this style and era: 

and the Cardo-Maximus, the main colonnaded road.

Some of the additional attractions include a 15,000 seat amphiteatre, the Temple of Zeus, a nymphaeum (public fountain), two theatres, and three Christian churches.

We met a nice vendor at a souvenir stall who took some great photos of Rika and me. We bought some beautiful small pottery bowls from him.

We had lunch onsite, a step up from the typical tourist buffet, and at $21, less than lower quality more expensive one we previously had. I have no sweet tooth, but the warm luqaimat (tiny doughnut balls with sugar syrup) were irresistible. 

The afternoon took us to the 12th century Ajloun Castle, high up on a hilltop with a spectacular view. A narrow road led us to the top and it was the first time we witnessed our excellent drive lose his temper at other drivers.

Upon arrival back in Amman we said goodbye to our amazing knowledgeable guide, Adnan. Trained as an aircraft engineer in the US, the job market was not good  for him in Jordan, so he's been a professional guide for 26 years. On these tours it is traditional to tip the guide and driver at the end of the trip. We were surprised that not everyone did. There is plenty of online information with suggested amounts for the people who take care of you and get you safely from place to place. 

An early morning wakeup call got us going for the trip to the airport and our flight to Eygpt. The highlight was an airport Middle Eastern McDonalds brekkie – a Halloumi McMuffin.  The delicious full meal was $8 cdn. I bet it would be a good seller back home in Vancouver.

The flight was smooth and we got a sneak peak of a couple of the pyramids.