Day 43, 16 August 2012, Impromptu trip to Jerash, Jewellery shopping and lunch en route to Shobak Castle then onwards to Petra and "Petra, by Night!" -
What a day! We left on time for the one hour drive to Jerash and initially we had a look around the imposing entrance gate and thought - hmmm... not as much here as expected for the second best attraction in Jordan. Then we turned a corner and saw the Roman ruins stretching into the distance. One of the highlights was the intact theatre complex. They even had A-reserve seats way back then - ticket stones have been excavated that have markings matching those of the best, shadiest seats in the house. Historians believe they were the equivalent of season passes. We walked around 3 kms to see the various temples (Greek/Roman), churches (Byzantium), mosaics, the forum, the Nympheum (more info with the photo...) and the main street with columns and shops quite intact. Earthquakes have made their mark here, but they were canny old souls 1800 years ago and columns were constructed to be almost- earthquake proof. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerash. Our guide's husband brought some date and walnut cookies to the people-mover in our absence so we tucked into those on the drive to Petra - 3 odd hours. We stopped at the Midway Castle for a cracking lunch purchased some 100% necessary jewellery before we headed to Shobak Castle (http://www.lonelyplanet.com/jordan/sights/castle/shobak-castle). Another hour or so and we made it to Petra. The Petra Moon Hotel to be exact and we immediately jumped into the coldest swimming pool since Africa - it would have been lucky to have been 22 degrees. Petra is 1400m above sea level and was positively cool in the late afternoon. After a less than successful dinner (never order pizza in Jordan) we entered the gate to Petra and walked along a candle lit Siq (long canyon - with walls 100m high) before we reached our very first view of Petra's iconic Treasury building. Never actually a Treasury but rather a tomb, it was breathtaking with hundreds of candles in front of it. We departed before the crowds and embraced the solitude for the return walk. Big day tomorrow - 16 km odd around the 2300 year old Rose City - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petra