Amman Cham Palace

Our flight arrived the afternoon before from Egypt and we were duly picked up by a representative of the tour company we had booked through (Bunniks). For Jordan and Syria we opted for an independent tour designed for just us, but with all accommodation and tours organised and booked ahead. This is not our usual way of doing things but thought for the Middle East this would be a good alternative. After being picked up it was explained to us that they (Atlas Tours the Jordan Travel Wholesaler)...

People strolling nonchantly along the beach caked completely in black/grey mud, steaming hazy air and lukewarm water that forces you to float 1/2 out of the water- sounds crazy? The Dead Sea is crazy! For a start it is the lowest point on earth at 400 metres below sea level. Then its chemical makeup means nothing, absolutely nothing, lives in it. You are not going to step on a crab or have a bit of seaweed drift by. Then the other weird thing is that there are no craft whatsoever on the sea. ...

We flew from Zurich, Switzerland, to the Jordan capital Amman. After a four hour flight we arrived at 5 p.m. at the Queen Alia International Airport. We had to wait over an hour till our guide brought us our visas. Then we drove to the Amman Cham Palace Hotel. After a late dinner we went to bed. Tomorrow our trip will beginn.

Today, on Friday the 13th!, we went to the Dead Sea in the morning. The lake lies about one hour drive south of Amman and is the deepest point of the earth (ca. 420m/1380 ft below sea level). The water level is dropping constantly. One reason is the river Jordan, the only inflow to the Dead Sea. The people who live by the Jordan take a constantly growing amount of water from the river. It is a weird feeling to "float" like this in the water. But swimming is far more exhausting than in "normal...

Very early in the morning we left the hotel and drove to the airport. We tought how fresh the air was; so much fresher and cooler than in Aqaba. And then we saw a sign that read: 77° F/25° C. It felt so cool! How hot were the nights in Aqaba, when 77° F is cool! As usually we had to wait for the flight home. Thank goodness the shops were already open, so we could do a little shopping. The flight back to Zurich had a stopover in Geneva for 45 minutes. In almost no time we were in Zurich. The t...

Today our trip started for real. In the morning we visited the citadel in Amman. On the hill you can see ruins of the Temple of Hercules, of an old Byzantine basilica and of an ancient palace. In Amman there is the second largest flagpole of the world: the Raghadan Falgpole. He is 416 ft/126.8m tall and carries the flag of Jordan. By the way, the largest flagpole stands in Aqaba. After Amman we went north to Ajloun. There is, on top of a hill, the castle of Ajloun, Qalaat ar-Rabad. Its one of...