Friends, Romans, Countrymen!
Friends, Romans, Countrymen!
These words used to echo in my mind for decades and when I could speak these words standing in the Roman theater, it felt like a waking dream wish fulfilment.
November 16th, 2022, was the date that we embarked on the journey. We reached Amman, capital city of this Middle Eastern country – Jordan, in the wee hours of 17th November. It was quite an overwhelming moment. Everything was smooth till our landing and then the Airport authorities thought of picking me and my daughter (Aditi) for complete scrutinizing of documents and purpose of our visit. Although, we had all the papers but being in a different country gives you the goosebumps. To add to our plight, we had a language barrier. Google translator app came to our rescue, and we could convince the officials of our visit. Now, to add more to our experience, it turned out that our luggage hadn’t reached Amman. We had to wait for two days to get our luggage. We had only our handbags with us, and we went to the hotel. Well, now with hindsight, I feel that was an interesting experience. Living life with minimalistic things:).
We stayed in Arab Tower Hotel in Amman. It was a good hotel with pleasing and helpful staff members. And the best part was that we could see the Roman theater from our room. There was an interesting mix of graffiti and strange street art on the walls of buildings. We had a stay of four days in Amman. As Abhishek (my son)had already visited the place, he made a remarkable itinerary to get the best out of these four days. First, we went to see the Amman Citadel National Historic Site. From there we could see the beautiful panoramic view of the city. It has the temple of Hercules, Byzantine Church, the Umayyad Palace, and the Jordan Archaeological Museum. There were colossal remains of the great statue of the Roman Hero – Hercules, including his hand and pillars. There were inscriptions all around to tell us that it dates to 160 CE. The Palace was built during the Umayyad dynasty and is mostly in ruins due to an earthquake. The Byzantine church had its pillars; mosaic covered floors and floor plan. It was a very captivating sight to behold such precision and art in its basic form. We couldn’t go to the museum but had a fair deal of archeological sites in our list.
Next day we went to the Roman theater early morning before leaving for Jerash. The theater was built during the reign of Antoninus Pius, when the city was under the control of Romans and was called Philadelphia. The curved stairs gave a magnanimous view. It could accommodate 6000 people at a time. It had been my long pending desire to visit Roman Theater and once it got fulfilled, it was an exhilarating moment for me. There were two museums adjacent to the theater on both sides. One was Jordanian Museum of Popular Traditions and other one was Jordan Folklore Museum. It really gave a sense of accomplishment.
Jerash city is in ruins, but it’s preserved in the best possible manner. Luckily, it’s not crowded with tourists, and we could visit each site with ease. The temple of Artemis was built inside a gigantic courtyard. The Oval Forum is also an iconic ruin with a huge line of high columns, up to 8 mt. height. The Northern and Southern theaters provide a marvelous view. There was a Hippodrome within the ruins of Jerash, which was built for Roman horse chariots. It’s a spectacular experience of witnessing history that’s left behind. The temple of Zeus was another site which was ruined due to an earthquake.
Next day, we went to the Jordan Syria border and had a good experience of meeting people of two different nationalities. Inspite of the language barrier, we could feel the warmth of their heart. In the evening we went to Gadara and Irbid, where we could see two nations Egypt and Israel in front of us.Having a sip of Bedouin coffee watching these two nations was fantastic. Last day in Amman was devoted to the Dead Sea. It’s the saltiest lake along with being the lowest water body on earth. It was an amazing experience with the vast expanse of the Dead Sea on one side and Jordanian hills on the other. Taking a car for all these days was the best decision and such road trips add more to the overall feel. The weather was perfect for our visit and we could successfully float in the water. I remember, when I was stepping in the water and it took me in for a second, I had the scariest of all experiences. I knew that I won’t drown, but the love of life, you know…Later on , I floated (body’s buoyancy), for half an hour in the sea and thoroughly enjoyed. Best water experience ever (and the only one too;).
Before I move ahead, the foodie in me must mention the Rainbow Street and Mijana Café, which has a part of my heart left there. It serves the world’s best bread and hummus. We couldn’t stop ourselves from going there again and again. Another interesting eating joint was Hashem. Falafel, kunafa , baklava, harrisa, mansaf and the list goes on. The Bedouin coffee was an added extravaganza to the sumptuous meal everytime.
Well, this is the end of part 1 of our Jordan trip. See you soon in the next episode of Petra vist!