On Saturday 13th April, a group of intrepid U3A Moraira Teulada Travel Group members set off by plane our flight for Jordan led by Coral. Arriving in Amman, late that evening, we were greeted with the news that ours was the last flight in, as the Airspace was being closed. Were we facing an indefinite period in Jordan? Luckily as soon as we met our guide Jaber, he put our minds at rest. Apparently Jordanians are used to their neighbours causing problems. “It will open again tomorrow”, he said. And it did!
Jaber proved to be invaluable and filled our week in Jordan with visits to ancient sites around Amman, Jerash the best preserved Roman city in the Middle East and Ajioun Castle built in 1185 by the nephew of Saladin. Leaving Amman on the third day we visited Madaba , which is called The City of Mosaics. There we saw a Greek Orthodox Church with a mosaic map constructed in the 6th century, depicting a map of Palestine at the time. We walked in Moses footsteps, and visited a church dedicated to him, set on Mount Nebo, overlooking The Promised Land which Moses was able to show to his people before he died.. We rode across the desert in 4 wheel drives in Wadi Rum and sampled local teas with the Bedouin people.
We drove to Petra and were given delicious local foods in the hotel. The next day after walking through the narrow gorge which kept Petra hidden for centuries, we able to view the fabulous sites there with the Treasury and many other building carved out of the rocks.
We all walked many miles in the ancient city and at the end of the day we tired but all agreed it was really worth it. We then made our way further south to Aqaba, situated on the Red Sea. We were able to paddle, swim or boat in the Sea followed the next day by visiting the Dead Sea where we floated whilst peering across to the Israeli bank . All was peaceful!
Our last afternoon in Amman was spent wandering through Markets and Bazaars and, for my part, eating Mango ice-cream (delicious ) while watching Hookahs being smoked, filling the air with strange perfumes.
We were so fortunate to have Jaber as our guide, a mine of information and always cheerful as well as our Trip Leader, Coral, who has worked so hard for the last 15 months, preparing the trip.
Many thanks to them both for being so enthusiastic about Jordan and organising us.
Eileen Brown – Travel Group Coordinator