Our week back in the UK passed by very quickly. It was nice to see our parents and refresh our rucksacks ready for part 2 of our travels.

Our original plan was to leave England on 16th May and to fly to Amman via Bahrain. With all the troubles going on in Bahrain we had decided to change our flights and go to Amman directly with Easyjet on their new route. This however meant we flew out a day later than planned but we actually ended up saving quite a bit of money.

We arrived in Amman late Tuesday evening and immediately ran into a problem. To enter Jordan you need a visa which is available on arrival. When you get to the visa desk there is a big sign saying "credit cards accepted". We didn't have any Dinars so we tried to pay with our cards. The signs were apparently new and the card machines weren't yet operational. So we went to the ATM. This was also not working. We went to the curency exchange however they didn't take cards. The staff at Amman airport had a solution though - for the bargin price of 20 Dinar each (about 18 pounds sterling) they would buy the visas for us (costing 20 Dinar each) and we could then pay them back after passport control. We unfortunately had no choice and so to get into Jordan cost us double what it should have. I can't help but think that it was all set up to get money from us and that the ATM and credit card machines never work. Not a great start! We got a taxi from the airport and told the driver where we needed to go, including directions. He ended up dropping us off in the middle of busy downtown Amman and told us the hotel was just up the road (while pointing up a very dark street). I don't know why he couldn't just take us there direct! After asking several people we finally found the hotel and were ready for bed.

The next day the hotel manager helped us arrange an itinerary for our time in Jordan. We had come to Jordan wanting to see 2 things - The Dead Sea and Petra. After our chat with the manager, everyday was booked up with an activity. The rest of the day we explored some of Amman and ate some traditional Jordanian food which was really cheap and really nice.

The first day of our organised tour was a visit to Ajloun castle and the ancient ruins of Jerash. Ajloun was a hill fort and was still quite intact. We spent quite a while exploring all the rooms on the 3 floors before heading to the roof for some great views of the local area. The castle was very empty and it would have been nice if there were some exhibits and more information. We then headed to Jerash - one of the best preserved Roman ruins in the world. The site is enormous. There are literally hundreds of columns complete with some very beautiful and intricate friezes. All the information from my degree about ancient architecture came flooding back. There was a stadium where they did chariot racing, an amphitheatre and several temples. The site had been inhabited since Hellenistic times so there was an interesting mix of designs that had been gradually updated - Greek designs changed into Roman, Pagan into Christian etc. We were shown how the two thousand year old columns move constantly to help them survive earthquakes. A guide jammed a key into the base of a column and the end of the key bobbed up and down. Amazing.

On day two of our tour we firstly visited Madaba. Madaba is famous for its mosaics and we visited a Greek Orthadox church to look at some beautiful examples. After that we went to Mount Nebo which was where the bible states Moses went to die. It was also where Moses was told that all the land he could see belonged to the Israelies. From the top you could see all the way to the West Bank of Israel and there was a sign showing the locations of Jericho, Bethlehem and other holy cities. When we had finished looking around there, we were then taken to the Dead Sea. We were lucky that although it was 33 degrees temperature, when we actually went into the sea it went a bit cloudy and cooled down a bit. We floated around for a while. It was really strange - my legs kept rising to the surface and it took a lot of effort to swim. It also felt very slimy. Shil got a mud body mask. Apparently it costs quite a bit in London and it's very good for you. All I know is that she looked funny.

We went to visit some desert castles on day 3. I was a bit worried that it would be a bit boring because when you've seen one desert castle, the rest would be pretty similar. The first one was a royal retreat in the middle of nowhere. It was still being excavated and restored by archaeologists. It was interesting to see them all working away. The building was still in very good condition considering it was about 500 years old. The walls were plastered and smooth. The wall paintings were still clear and some were very colourful. We left the castle and headed east. Very far east. The signs showed we were getting closer and closer to Iraq. Our driver offered to take us there - "No problem" he said while laughing. Thankfully we stopped at the next castle before we reached the border. The second castle was originally a Roman fort and was about 1700 years old. Parts had been rebuilt 700 years ago and it was used up until Laurence of Arabia stayed there about 90 years ago. We were actually shown Laurence's room. Our guide told us all the fort is made of stone - no cement, wood or metal. We saw a light switch though that was made of plastic. The third and final castle was much bigger than the other two and was in the best condition. It was very impressive to look at. It looked a bit like I'd imagine a foreign legion fort to be. There were two floors and a maze of rooms. They always seem to save the best until last on these trips! The three castles were all very different and it was a very good trip. We finished off the day with a trip to the City Mall where which had all the English shops we liked - Debenhams, Next, Accessorize etc. There was even a Brighton fish and chip shop. It was like being back in the UK.

On day 4 of our tour we visited a couple of sites in Amman. The first was a huge Roman amphitheatre. I think they still do shows there because there were spotlights set up. Some guys were putting up scaffolding and one dropped a large metal pole. It fell all the way from the top row of seats to the bottom and just missed Shil. We then looked at some costumes and jewelry in the museum. After the amphitheatre we went up the hill to the old Citadel. There were lots of ruins of temples from various time periods. The most impressive ruin was of the temple of Hercules. There were some remains of what was a 13 meter high statue which I'm sure must have been amazing back in the day. While looking around the Citadel we had great views of the city. It's really strange. As with all Islamic cities there are Mosques and towers broadcasting calls to prayer every few hours (starting at 4am), however it is quite western as well. I've not seen anyone praying. Most people seem to drink quite heavily and smoke like chimneys. There's all the western shops and restaurants. It's certainly not what I'd imagine a typical Arabic city to be like. Most people seem really nice and welcoming though. We left the Citadel and were taken to Rainbow Street where we went to an Artisan cafe for some over priced sandwiches and cake.

Tomorrow we leave Amman and head to Petra. I've wanted to go there since I saw Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. I hope it's not too touristy.

D