Jordan : A journey back to past

There was not a tourist soul in front of the on-arrival visa counters. The immigration officers were idling their time. As I approached one counter an officer handed me a form and advised me to go to one room. As my and I entered the room I saw two officers sitting.

- What kind of visa are you looking for and you are from which country? One of those officers asked me.

- We are tourists from India.

- Do you have 2000 dollars with you. For each person you need to have 1000 dollars with you.As two of you are there, it is 2000.

- Yes we have.

The officers started counting our money.

- Ummm. You have only 900 dollars. You are short of money. One of the officers who were counting my money exclaimed.

- I have Jordonian Dinars with me. I have just exchanged some of my dollars to your country’s currency. I flashed some 100 JDs in front him and he was satisfied with that. Without any more hesitation he signed our forms and told us to go to the immigration counter.

- You would only get seven days to tour Jordan. The officer at the immigration counter was saying to me in a menacing tone.

- We would be here for only three days. I answered him back and immediately saw that his menacing face has turned to a smiling face.

My next target was to find the driver who was sent from my hotel in Petra. I tried searching for the wi-fi network of this Queen Alia International Amman airport. As soon as my mobile was connected I made a watsapp call to the driver. The driver’s mobile was switched off. Then I tried searching for him in the airport. It was a small airport and I would not miss him if he flashed my name on a placard.

Unable to find my driver I went to the taxi stand. They charged me around 63 JDs to drop me to my hotel in Petra. It was a four hour drive to Petra from the Amman airport. Our car started its way on the highway.

The scenery around was so beautiful. It almost seemed we were moving in the mountainous roads of Switzerland. There were green meadows and the trees resembled those trees which I have seen in the computer games of Age of Mythology. It seemed to me I was traveling through a time corridor back to the ages of Greeks and the Persians.

Next morning we started early for Petra. I had learnt that in the wee hours of morning the complex is devoid of tourists and you can have the place all to yourself. The Petra tourist center, where you can buy your tickets, was a two minute downhill walk from my hotel. Tickets were very costly. 50 JD per person, which means I have to pay a whooping 10,000 rupees for visiting Petra. Very costly indeed.

The sites of Petra were built by the Nabataean Arabs during 300 BC. The site was discovered in 1812 by a Swiss explorer. Greeks were not able to conquer the city though it came under Roman rule with the turn of time. This place was abandoned because of earthquakes.

On entering the Siq we were stupefied with the view around. All around us were rocky mountains and the path to the Treasury was a narrow one. It was a perfect combination of colours. The mountains were of a pink hue and the road below was alabaster white. Finally we got the first glimpse of the Treasury. It was so photogenic. So many cinemas have been shot over here. I took countless photos.

The place was so quite. There was not a single tourist around. The scenes from the Indiana Jones cinema came flooding to my memory. Entrance to the Treasury is not permitted. We sat there for about half an hour. Slowly other tourists started coming. It was time to explore the other parts of the complex.

We went further ahead. We came to a place where there was a colonnaded Roman street. To the left there was a temple and farther ahead there was another temple which was built by a pharaoh. The inscription in the temple read that the wealth of Egypt was kept hidden over here. I really wondered how could a king of Egypt kept is gold so far from his own read.

We came back to my hotel and it would be soon time to check out from this hotel and head for the net destination. We packed our luggage in a hurry and we checked out. I went outside to look for a taxi.

- 80 JDs to Amman. A taxi driver was telling me.

- No 70 JDs via the Kings Highway.

- 75, with a stop at Dead Sea.

- Done.

I had to pay another 70 JD to enter the beach resort at the Dead Sea. Jordan, I found, is a very costly country. We boarded our taxi to take us to the Dead Sea. On the way I found the scenery to be quite impressive. It seemed to me the landscape was similar to that of Ladakh in India. There were rocky jugged mountains.

Finally we reached the Dead Sea resort. The place was a kind of a fanfare which was going on. There were three swimming pools in this resort. So many westerners were lazing beside the pools. We changed into our swim wear and headed straight to the beach. We could see the Israel side from here. Both the countries have fought bitter wars for controlling the Dead Sea region but now there is relative peace between the countries.

Dead Sea’s surface and shores are 429 meters below the sea level, making it the lowest elevation on land. It is 9.6 times more saline than any other ocean water. On account of its salinity plants and animals are not able to survive here. King Herod the Great had built a number of forts along the banks of this sea. Even Queen Cleopatra had visited this place to just stay here for some days.

I had read that floating in the Dead Sea was not that easy. To my surprise I found it to be a simple thing to do. Just lie on your back and you would start floating. It is very simple.

After having our lunch we boarded our taxi and we were on the way to Amman. As soon as the city approached the desert landscape changed to flyovers and sky high buildings. There was one signboard we saw while entering Amman and it read ‘Welcome back to earth’.

Our hotel, called Amman Pasha Hotel, in Amman was located in a prime location. In front of the hotel was the Roman Amphitheater. When we arrived in the hotel we were given a welcome tea. The taste of the tea was wonderful. It was Jordanian tea and never had I tasted such a wonderful drink.

I woke up the next morning and the very next thing I did was to see the Roman Amphitheater from my hotel room. It was time to take breakfast and go to the temple of Hercules. Breakfast was complimentary. So we went downstairs to the hotel restaurant to have our breakfast.

We ate many items at breakfast. The restaurant table was decorated with coins and currencies of different countries. After our breakfast we went to the reception counter. Our car was ready to take us to the Temple of Hercules.

It was an uphill drive. It seems now that our hotel is located at the base of the mountain. As we climbed higher and higher the panoramic view of Amman was looking very scenic. Tickets to enter the ruins of the temple were much cheaper than that of Petra. They charged me 4 JD for two persons.

On entering the premises I saw the history was Amman was explained in a stone tablet. The city was called Rabboth-Amman and during the Roman period it was called Philadelphia. Then as we went up farther we saw the ruins of the once majestic temple.

I started exploring the area. I had seen pictures of this place. There is a certain statue called ‘The hands of Hercules’. I definitely would want to see that. I asked so many people around about where that statue was. No one had any inkling. I have to search for that statue myself.

There was a Byzantine church a few paces ahead. There was also a beautiful mosque. Further ahead there were Roman ruins. I had my fill of lust for wandering in the midst of Roman ruins. Each place here was a photogenic one. Here again was a colonnaded street. There were some tourists coming from the church.

- Have you found your statue? One of the tourists asked me. I had asked them about the whereabouts of ‘The hands of Hercules’.

- No. I answered back.

- It is near to that temple.

I went to the Temple of Hercules once again. Finally, after a brief search, I found what I was looking for. It was actually a small portion of the once large statue. I had imagined it to be colossal in size but it was nothing like that. After this I went to see some pre-historic caves in the complex.

There was also a museum in this complex. Entry to this museum was free. There were some statues and coffins. Photography was allowed inside this museum. Finally we decided to return. This time around it was downhill walk on the way to the hotel. Within minutes we came back to our hotel.

I decided to visit the Roman Amphitheatre, which was next to our hotel. Entry to the Amphitheater was again cheap compared to that of Petra. It took me around 2 JD to enter the area.

I was overjoyed to enter this place. The theater was built during the time of the roman emperor Antonius Plus during the second century. It had a capacity of 6000 seats. Nowadays this place is used to host cultural events like music concerts and book fair.

This was the very place where they had gladiatorial fights and plays. There was another small marble built amphitheater next to the big amphitheater. I learnt this was where the kings and nobles came. I returned back to the big amphitheater and climbed the steps. Climbing the steps was a bit precarious. The view from here was wonderful. I could even see the Temple of Hercules from here.

Finally I returned to my hotel. I brought a music CD and a perfume bottle from the streets. The music CD contained Egyptian and Jordanian music. My taxi was ready to take me to the airport. All my memories of this country intact on my memory, I boarded the flight to India.