Jordan day 1

Thursday we headed off to Sydney on the little plane at 6.20am and then the Thai 747 took off on time and arrived in Bangkok almost 9 hours later.  Not sure about the “smooth as silk” service the airline promised:  Singapore Airlines takes some beating.  The plane was quite hot, 26.8 degrees according to Mal’s  trusty travel watch.

There were 5 other people also on the tour around us, 3 from Canberra which has never happened on any other tour we’ve done. Then a loooong wait (8 hours) in the Bangkok airport which was hotter than the plane. The Thais certainly seem to enjoy their heat, and seeing as most of them were wearing long jeans perhaps they were a little cold. Julie can’t wait to get back here for 8 days to enjoy that mid-30’s humidity. 

Onto the El AL 747 leaving at 00.30 and a very long flight of 11 hours, presumably because the Israelis can’t fly over Iran, Iraq and Jordan and so the plane has to go the long way around, up the Red Sea and Gulf of Aqaba.  Didn’t take too long to clear customs and then the 16 of us (12 psychs and 4 partners) were met by the tour organiser and put on a bus to Jordan.  The route took us through quite heavily wooded areas outside Tel Aviv and lots of apartment blocks on hills,

then went around the outskirts of Jerasulem where we saw our first fenced off settlement area.  

 

Then down to -385 metres below sea level with glimpses of the Dead Sea. The desert around here is what we expected to see.

Crossing the Jordan River into Jordan involved long waits in about 4 different spots.  Apparently there were many Muslims on their way to Mecca.  Julie blinked and missed the Jordan River: it might have been 10 metres wide.

The trip through the Jordan valley and up into the hills where Amman is situated was interesting and Amman itself is a city made of large white blocks with the odd bit of standout architecture, as shown in this view from our hotel. 

 

The Jordan tour guide took us to a Lebanese restaurant where unsurprisingly all the middle east food tasted better than at home – creamy smooth hummus to die for, etc.  Dinner at 8 in the hotel then early night after a pretty gruelling 43 hours in transit.