Farewell Syria, Hello Jordan

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  Amman, Jordan
Sunday, October 12, 2008

Well today was our last day in Syria - sad, but our first day in Jordan - yay!! We left Damascus early and said goodbye to George who was flying home, that was sad because he was such a nice guy and he gave great massages. We got on the bus and then went to a bus station and then another one and this is where Bish left us. He didn't make a fuss, we were all sitting in our seats and he thanked us for being a great group and that was it, he was gone. We had a bit of a drive before we reached the border, but on the way we stopped at a supermarket to pay for our exit card - 500 Syrian Pounds, it was a bit strange, people were buying their snacks and their exit card. We arrived at the border and got off the bus and presented our cards and passport and got our exit stamp. We then crossed into Jordan and this is where the fun began. We had to get off the bus and get all our bags off the bus for security to check and we were then supposd to change money and buy our Jordanian visa. Once were all off the bus the security guard did such a thorough check of the bus, I couldn't believe it. It would have taken almost an hour, the driver had to unscrew all these different things and they checked the wheel hubs and then when he was done, he walked past everyone and their stuff and that was it. He didn't care what we could have been carrying in our suitcases. We put our stuff back on the bus and then went to the currency exchange. For my leftover 1000 Syrian Pounds I got 13 Jordanian Dinar (JD) - just enough for the 10JD visa. We then went to get our visa but the guy sent us to the counter with the man that stamps the pasports when they are accepted. We all thought we needed the visa first so we went back and kept trying at the visa counter until the guy told us - over there first, then come here, then go back - OH OK!!!! We went and stood in line when a man tells us that it would be easier to give all our passports to one member from the group and get them to out everything through and give them all the money for the visas and they can do it all at once. It sounded like a good idea. It turned out that this was not the way to do it! The guy only wanted us confused and out of the way so he could arrange his tour group's visas. We all then had to line back up and wait while they searched through the stack for our passport, checked it, asked our job and then sent us to get our visa. Got the visa, lined up again and got the entry stamp - OH BOY!!!! 
We finally arrived in Amman and everyone was buggered! My travel pillow died as I was getting off the bus which was ok cos I was getting sick of carrying it. We met our Jordanian tour guide Naim who will guide us at sites and on the way to sites and he organised our transport to the hotel. However, the van that I got in dropped us off at the wrong hotel and waved and said it's down there. Ok! We were thankful that Terry had written down the name of the hotel cos a man walked past and asked where we were looking for, he took us right there and said that he used to work at the hotel. We finally arrived and as we were about to get in the elevator the hotel manager came out and apologised saying that the drivers don't get paid so they don't care - well maybe now they shoudl be paid. We got settled into our rooms and since we missed lunch we decided to look around town with the new guy to join - his name is Justin and he's from the UK and he already annoys me. Terry and I wanted to go to the post office to post some of our books back but I don't think I will be posting anything from Jordan as it cost Terry 33JD for 1kg and mine is over 2.3kg. They also didn't have envelopes so I trudged my stuff back to the hotel. I then had to find an ATM as I had no cash and then we were told there was a good place around the corner for lunch. The food didn't look great so I bought a drink and then went to the pharmacy for insect repellant. It was then 4pm and our meeting with Jamie (our new tour leader) was at 5 so I decided that I had enough of Justin already and would wait for the meeting. Jamie is very cool, she has great hair - short and wavy, bloody Lanie, I always have to look at hair. She is also very organised which is always helpful. She gave us a list of what all the optional activities will cost and she will collect the money for what we want to do in one big lump sum so then all the money we need to get out would be for food and shopping. She then mentioned that the hotel had a bar but not to go to it because it was Wah chicky wah wah - I understood what she meant but she had to explain to the rest of the group that it was a brothel and that most hotels in Amman have one. Jamie then told us about a great place to go for tea that served western food and that sounded good. It was Terry's birthday as well so we had to celebrate. The place went to was in Shmeysani and was called Moonlight Cafe. I had fries with melted cheese and chicken, mushroom alfredo pasta - it was sooooooo good!!!! We stopped at a supermarket to get some alcohol for the desert camp and they sold lots of SA wines which was funny. We then got a taxi back to the hotel and the driver tried to charges us 8JD - crazy considering the cost to the restaurant was under 1JD. We asked the other group what they were being charged and they said 4JD so that was all we paid. So that was the end to our first eventful day in Amman, tomorrow we have a few tours so that should be good. Bye

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