Trip to Jerash and Ajlun Castle

As I wrote in a previous entry, the Islamic holiday Eid postponed classes. In the interim we are speeding up some of our touring in country. Yesterday we went first to Jerash, a city about an hour north of Amman, and passed rolling hills filled with olive trees. We also passed the Baqa'a refugee camp for Palestinians who fled to Jordan during the 1967 war. It is the largest refugee camp for Palestinians in Jordan still housing over 100,000 people. The original tents have long since given way to concrete structures but it is still a labyrinth of narrow alleyways. Our driver told us that many refugees became productive citizens, here and abroad, and interiors of homes can be quite elaborate.

Jerash is a small city with extensive Roman ruins which include standing buildings, a hippodrome (racetrack for chariots), places of worship and long streets lined with what used to be shops. Frankly, the ruins seemed to me more extensive than the area around the Forum in Rome. It's striking to walk among them and think about all those who passed through over the centuries. Unlike museums elsewhere, you can walk right up and touch the walls, the mosaics, the delicate patterns carved into stone. It took us about an hour to walk through before yielding to the heat. Just like at Wild Jordan the visitor's center has a plaque saying it is a gift from the people of the United States through USAID. As a tourist destination Jordan has always been relatively undiscovered, even more so with all the turmoil in the region. Many are unaware that Jordan is safe, relatively crime-free, many people speak English, are friendly, and appreciate showing visitors around.

An hour away from Jerash is Ajlun Castle, perched high on a very tall hill. It is awe-inspiring to drive by on the highway, look way up, and see a magnificent castle built by Saladin in the seventh century A.D. to defend the area from the Crusaders. It is not for those afraid of heights. While touring the castle we came upon a group of colorfully clad Bangladeshi schoolgirls. When my wife rose to avoid ruining their photographs they loudly demanded of her (smiling all the while), "SIT! SIT!" then proceeded to throw their arms around her in an embrace and posed for photos.

Everything we experienced was equal parts welcoming and friendly, fascinating and fun. And hot. On our way back I asked the driver to drop us off at the renowned Blue Fig restaurant because I thought my poor wife was going to faint. The restaurants, again, are equal parts exotic and Western. Yes, they had pizza, but it was like nothing you have ever seen. Yes, they had salads, but they included local produce and balls of labneh, yogurt infused with mint and thyme and rolled in a patina of fresh crushed nuts.