Posts Tagged ‘cold’

Jordan… first impressions

January 27th, 2009

I am currently listening to the muslim prayers coming out of loudspeakers attached to Mosques. It’s loud, and as Stephan and Luke said when we were in Israel, they sound like racing cars going round the track, accelerating and changing gears. It’s rather hilarious when you think of it like that!

This morning we went to Petra. It was really quite amazing. We rode a donkey up to the top where the monastry is, and I can’t wait to show you some awesome pictures! It was Luke’s first time riding a donkey, and a horse, which we rode later.

Petra is basically just HUGE temples etc. CUT into the side of the cliff. We also went to the edge of one cliff that claims to be ‘the top of the world’. It certainly did feel a bit like it, and it looked over the desert. Petra is a LOT of walking (about 15km), which is why we took the donkey and horse some of the way. We did see some parents with two small boys, and two babies. I asked Luke to remind me about this day if we have kids and I stupidy think I want to go on a holiday to somewhere like this. I do not fancy being a pack horse!!

There is not much else to do in Jordan, so we’ve been walking around the street buying cheap 7-up, and shwarma. Not as good as in Israel, but I like the way they wrap it up here- more like a ‘kebab’ at home, but yummier ‘bread’.

It is freezing cold here, and as soon as the sun sets (about now) it gets a LOT colder. We buy hot food to keep us warm, and read by a gas heater in our ‘hotel’.

Our room is about 2m x 3m, or, for those of you who have been to our house and seen our bathroom, about that big! It fits a double bed, and has a small corridor of sink, toilet, shower. The door to this corridor is broken, and our main door doesn’t close unless locked, so it’s a process to get into the freezing cold shower, which appears to have no hot water option. Oh, and the toilet seat detatches. We will try to take photos, as this is an experience we’ll never forget.

If you didn’t know, Jordan uses Jordanian Dinars as their currency, and 1 JD is about 2 AUD, or 1.5 USD.

Appatently it’s customary to voice your appreciation for arab mens moustaches, but when Luke tried to compliment the man at the restaurant we went to last night, he was quite confused. Perhaps he didn’t know what a moustache was…!
People beep their horns a lot in this country. On our way here our taxi driver seemed to beep whenever he saw a police man, someone he knew, and for all we know, people he did’t know as well. As we walked to Petra today we heard many car horns beeping around us.

We’re off to catch the ferry across to Egypt tomorrow, and will leave Egypt next Tuesday, and be home next Thursday the 5th. We’re thinking of skipping Alexandria, cause things are more pricey here then we first anticipated. But it’s all good, and we’re having an enjoyable, and memorable time!!

Luke & Talia