Its Ramadan Time!!!!
Trip Start
May 08, 2006
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60
108
Trip End
Mar 07, 2007
Amman,
Jordan
Saturday, September 30, 2006
I got a taxi to my hotel. The taxi driver informed me that Ramadan was on. I remembered reading about it being on. This taxi driver was so nice. He gave me a run down on the entire jordan. He was smoking like a chimney because for some people in Ramadan you cant smoke while the suns up. Ramadan lasts from sunrise to sunset. You cant eat, drink or smoke. Its actually pretty amazing to experience a whole population doing Ramadan.
I get free breakfast from my hotel
n. The citadel
. Then after that i dont eat till the sun goes down. The streets are crowded during the day, come 4:30 its chaos, people are driving crazier than normal. Buses are going round the corner on 2 wheels not stopping to pick up passengers. Shops are all closing. Everyone is getting ready to go eat. Come 7:30pm, the centre of downtown amman is a ghost town. I can walk down the middle of the main road, which i would barely dare cross in the day. Its like playing chicken. Even the shops that sell food are closed. Its madness. How are you meant to eat when the people who sell food are eating. The places round the big mosque stay open. And some restuarants are open. They are absolutley bursting with people though. I went to one called the Cairo Restuarant. Nearly got trampled when i stopped to look at the menu. Got pushed upstairs and sat down next to some old Jordanian guy. People eat like slobs because they are so hungry and so did i. They have jugs of water, they fill up their glass, slam one down, fill it up and slam it down again. In the restuarants there is usually one big area for the men, one for the families and a smaller section just for women. Also on mini buses and stuff you are sposed to not sit next to women, and give up your single seat if a girl walks on and she has no where to sit but with men. It sort of all makes sense in a way.
a. Mosaics in Madaba
In the restuarant there was no menu upstairs, you just had to go from memory. They were out of spagetti, so i got the chicken with rice. It came with a little starter, vegetables and stuff. Or what i thought was vegetables. I bit a massive chunk of this green chilli and swallowed it. After that i cryed. My cold turned into a waterfall, there were no napkins. All the people around turned the place into a sauna. A typical dinner costs you about 1.5 jd. Bout 3 bucks. Thats all i have to say about that...
First day in Jordan i did a trip with the hotel out to a town called Madaba, Mt Nebo where Moses saw the promised land and the Dead Sea. The dead sea was awesome, i cant explain it in words, but you could go out to where you could not touch the bottom and you would bob up and down like a cork, you can run in the water. You cant sink below your shoulders because of all the salt. There is rocks of salt on the ground. Its amazing, you cant swim either because your legs dont sink into the water. Its like you have a life jacket on but you dont. Its a bizzare feeling. All the bites i have burned in the salt. Like putting salt on the wound. They say jesus walked on water, i think he just walked in water.
I was really sick with a head cold the first day, felt like i was going to chuck
b. Me at Mt Nebo
. Forgot to mention i chucked up in athens from sickness. Didnt eat at all first day. Only nutella at night when i felt better. Bites are back in full force. Back on the treatment again :( Washing clothes again :( at least its all cheap now. Everything is cheap. Decent Accomadation is 10 bucks, food is a dollar, good stuff!Second day i walked around dowtown amman. Got absolutley lost. Amman means 7 mountain town. Its a killer!. I walked up and down mountains all day. Bought like 6 bottles of drink. I felt guilty downing a coke in front of people who cant drink. So now i drink in secret...
Went to the citadel on the top of town and the Roman theatre where the people got shot. Tried looking for a souveneir shop that goes to charity. It was closed. A lot of things are closed at wierd times due to Ramadan. Walking around the streets, i felt more than safe. There is police walking the streets everywhere. Most on mobiles. They always wave and say hello. Kids walk by and say hello, teenagers walk by and say hello. They all say welcome to jordan!. They all love Australia. Everyone, even 15 year old teenagers are so polite. Complete strangers ask how your day has been, how is your family back home. Its a hospitality we dont have back home. That stupid shooting killed tourism here, all the sites are empty
c. Goats on the way to the dead sea.
. Good for me, bad for Jordan. All it has is its tourism industry.Last full day I slept in till mid day. Getting used to the Ramadan way. Stay up late watching a string of becker, friends, fraser, seinfield then sleep in. Went to the town of Jerash with an ancient Roman sight. Got the service taxi to the minibus station. (A taxi that only goes when full), (there is normal taxis as well - yellow taxis). Had to hitch back with this american guy. "Friday in Ramadan no bus back". Hitching is different here to home. Hitching in the middle east you pay.
I only have to biffs in this entry. The first is that i bought this cool glass bottles with sand designs inside from the only guy that sold them in amman. Spent about 20 bucks on this smallish size bottles and also bought a keffiyeh (head scarf) Its awesome. Maybe i was meant to bargain but i forgot. When i went to Jerash, they seemed to be everywhere. This one guy was selling bottle twice the size for the same price, and the bottles i bought for half the price beacause of lack of tourists. I was fuming. But ohh well... Often i wait and miss out on buying stuff beacause i never see it again. My last biff is the american guy. Biggest tight arse on earth. To get a taxi back from the bus station it was 250 fills each
d. Dead sea
. (about 50 cents oz.) 2 k walk. I said fine. He didnt want to because he got it the other way for 150 fills (35 cents roundabouts). This guy got on my nerves after 10 minutes. Especially when i was looking at sand bottles. Dissing the sand bottles. Its an art dammit. How do they get the sand to make pictures in the little bottles... how! Tomorrow morning i leave for the town of Petra. Indiana Jones town...
It will cost me about 2 bucks to travel a few hundred k's. So different to Europe.
Jordan is definatley changing my perception on the middle east. Its completley safe and the people are the nicest ive met. The tv is hillarous too.
When you read this i will most likely be heading for the grail..... !!!!!
