In a way, I kind of short-changed the vibrant capital of Jordan. I arrived in the afternoon on a bus traveling from Nazareth and left the same night on a plane bound for Dubai. I think it was enough time though and certainly one of the most exhausting days I’ve had on my trip.
It was a pretty tough morning starting the minute I left the hostel in Nazareth. The only two ways to get from the hostel to the bus stop were taking a taxi or walking. The distance was less than 2km but the taxi fare would have been about $30?! I refused. So, I set off with my pack a little before 7am and arrived exhausted and drenched in sweat. (I wasn’t quite sure where the bus stop was located or if I had given myself enough time to catch the bus. So Stressful.)
It was a relief to finally get on the bus however the first border stop was a stressful experience as well. At the Israeli border, the conductor said we had one hour to be back on the bus or it would leave without us. I think we had to be back at 10am or so and at 9:57am, I was still in line waiting to get my exit stamp. I have added pages to my passport twice and I know there are a lot of pages to look through if, say, an immigration officer is looking for a specific stamp. Aggravated beyond belief I offered to help the woman find my Israeli entry stamp, but she refused and took her time casually flipping through my passport. (Are you kidding me right now?!) Luckily, I ended up making it on time and as it turns out, I had been needlessly stressing myself out. The Jordanian border was easy except they made me pay for another visa - I was only transiting through and would be in the country less than 24 hours.
The bus from Nazareth arrived at a random hotel where the hotel staff was unable to provide a map or any indication of where in Amman I was. I did start talking with a gentleman from New Zealand and together, we refused the taxi drivers who didn’t want to turn on their meters. I had read online that cab fare anywhere in the city should not be more than 1-2 JOD – the cab drivers wanted 5 JOD. We started walking out of the hotel’s driveway and caught a metered taxi; I wanted to meet a friend at a bus station and he wanted to go to his hotel downtown. I had read that the bus station might be closed, but my friends who were already in Amman seemed to believe it was still open. Trusting that, we told the cab driver to first go to the bus station and then the hotel. The cab driver did not speak much English and did not fully understand what we wanted. He ended up calling his friend who spoke to the gentlemen I was with for a bit. Lots of talk with very little understanding both ways, but the gist: The bus station was closed. So I end up going to the hotel that this gentlemen is booked at and the receptionist there was fantastic! She gave me a map and oriented me to the city, allowed me to store my luggage for free, and told me where I could catch a bus to the airport since “my bus station” was closed.
I got in touch with my friend and after agreeing to meet her later, I set off to explore the city. I talked to a very nice officer at a tourist information desk and then spoke with several nice guards at the entrance to the Roman Amphitheatre. I was trying to get exact details about the bus to the airport…. Success! And, one of the guards named me his friend so I didn’t have to pay to enter the Roman Amphitheater and museum. He kindly gave me directions to The Citadel and I was off to see that next.
Temple of Hercules - Roman Corinthian Columns
The Citadel is an important military and religious site in Amman, although there was nothing too exciting here. The site Does house the Jordan Archaeological Museum.
It would have been nice to watch sunset from up here, but I didn’t want to get lost in the dark on my back. (I had gotten lost on my way there...) I met my friend Laura back at the hotel for some last minute shopping and dinner in a popular alley in the market area. It was a pretty unique dish I had – meat (goat maybe?) with shredded potato on top and a very rich sauce on the side. The sauce was like a liquid version of ultra-flavorful hummus. A dish probably too rich for me, but great to try and super cheap! (1.5 JOD)
After picking up my bags from my hotel, Laura and I caught a cab – I was going to drop her off at her hotel and then head to the bus station from there.
Paying for this cab marks the last time I get screwed over! I mean it!!!
Background: When I arrived at the hotel with the New Zealand gentleman, I thought the fare was 7 JOD because of what the meter read. This is approximately $10 and for the distance and time we traveled with the cab driver, I thought it was a decent fare. But cab fare is cheap in Jordan, almost beyond belief how cheap it is. Unfortunately, when you pair shady cab drivers with meters that look deceiving to the untrained eye, you can end up paying way more than you should be paying. I thought the meter read 7 JOD when it actually read .700. Good thing the New Zealander new well enough and though the cab driver kept demanding more than the 1 JOD on offer, the New Zealander stood his ground and refused until the cab driver stopped being an asshole and accepted the 1 JOD (fare + a generous tip). Good job him!
I wasn’t so savvy. Basically, my prick of a cab driver caught me in a moment of confusion. Before she got out of the cab, Laura handed me what I thought was a 1 JOD note. So I handed that to the cab driver and was looking for change in my wristlet. Then he gave me 5 JOD in change. What??? I was seriously confused and asked him what was going on. Turns out, Laura had given me a 10 JOD note. I was so disoriented and tired that I let him convince me that the number on the meter read 7 JOD for the fair and 1.5km for the journey. (It was actually the opposite.) So he took back 2 JOD and fucked me over even more! This happened even after I went through a similar cab experience earlier that day! How stupid am I!? I wasn’t thinking. I think that’s the part that makes me the most angry – I just didn’t think. It’s probably the stupidest I’ve been in the last year of traveling and I am well prepared to throw a fit at the next person who tries to do something like this to me again. Hmpfh!
Thoughts on Jordan in general: I accept that there are people willing to take advantage of tourists in every city, so I can forgive Jordan that. I found many people to be kind and welcoming despite the fact that I was American. They probably thought I was Japanese. When, in fact, I was greeted with “Konnichiwah” as I walked into some stores, I made a point of stopping suddenly, turning around, and walking out. No more tolerance for that either! Another thing I definitely didn’t tolerate were some of the men who got touchy. I think they have ideas about women who travel alone being loose and so in Petra, for example, the hotel employee thought it was appropriate to put his arm around my shoulders. (I shrugged his arm off with a disgusted look on my face and he didn’t do it again.)
I don’t really have strong feelings for Jordan other than the fact that Petra is a must-see. Amman and Aqaba are typical Arab cities with typical Middle Eastern food, crowds, and streets that are terrifying to cross. I Did appreciate how cheaply you could travel in Jordan though given the surprisingly low cost of food, transport, and accommodation. I probably will never go back to Jordan on my own, but I could see myself taking family one day so that they can see how incredible Petra is.
Up Next: The last of the catch up posts on skyscraper city - Dubai.
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