Border Crossing

Sunday February 3, 2013 – Border crossing

(Warning: there is some grouchy coming up.  I am not grouchy with a new culture, or that I was challenged, these are why I travel.  In the next couple of paragraphs I am grouchy with people who didn't do what they said they were going to do to or told me things that were misleading, wrong, or didn't tell me things I think they should have.  I am sorry if I have come across as grouchy in the last couple of blog posts.  I am working on it.)

I was ready and waiting to go when the taxi showed up at 7:45 with a woman in the front seat.  We drove through town to the north where we dropped her off and the driver told me she was his wife and she was going for a walk.  He then asked me if I wanted to take the toll road which cost 45 shekels or the free road which would take half an hour longer.  I might have had exactly 45 sk left, but I was already paying an inordinate amount for this ride to the border I didn't want to pay any more, so I said the long way.  Last night Myriam had assured me that the ride to the border was 1 hour 20 minutes and that by leaving at 7:40 I would be there at 9, which is 10 in Jordan.  I responded to an email from the Jordanian tour confirming my pick up reminding them that I would be at the Israeli side of the border at 9 then would cross over and lose an hour so would be there sometime after 10am Jordan time.  Well, at 5 past 9 I ask the driver how much longer is it, and he says 20-25 minutes.  What?  That was not what I was told.  He calls Myriam, puts her on speaker phone, but the connection is bad and we can’t communicate.  He insists that the trip is always 1hr 40 min to 2 hours.  I said that is not what Myriam told me.  I am frustrated because this is why I paid for a tour coordinator, she knew what time I needed to be there, it was her job to arrange for the ride in time.  But what can I do at this point?  I can’t call the Jordan connection, I am going to be a minimum of 30 minutes late plus what ever time it takes to get over the border.  (Which Myriam said could be 10 -20 minutes depending on how busy they were.) 

Ok, he drops me off outside a gate where there are a bunch of other taxis waiting to pick people up and points me in the direction through the gates.  I walk that way on the side walk until I get to a guard, he asks where I am going, I say to Jordan, he says where are you from?  I say America, and he points me to  a big building.  I go inside there and there are two lines.  One says exit tax (which no one had told me about) and the other said passports.  I get in the exit tax line and it is 110sk, which I have to pay by credit card (which at least they take) before I can to go the passport line.  They asked if I was staying in Jordan, if I was planning to come back to Israel and if I wanted my passport stamped.  Yes, not soon, and sure. 

Then I walk through duty free and think I am across the border.  (It could have been the welcome to Jordan sign on the side of the road that made me think that.)  I can’t see anyone who looks like they are looking for me, so I go up to a taxi driver and show him the name of the person I am supposed to be meeting.  He asks, is he Jordanian?  Yes, I reply.  Oh, then he will be waiting on the Jordan side of the border, to which I am thinking, what side of the border am I on?  Fortunately he continues, you need to take that bus to Jordan from here, it will cost 5 sk.  (it is a good thing I didn't pay for the toll road as I wouldn't have had enough for the bus)  I head over there and stand with a  group of folks who are all traveling together.  They listen to the bible podcast all over the world and decided to travel to the holy land together.  They were nice and confirmed that I was on the right bus.  The bus was running, but wasn't letting anyone on nor going anywhere for probably 20 minutes.  When we did eventually get on (with another passport check and paying our 5 sk) the ride was about 5 minutes to a similar bus depot on the other side of the Jordan river. 

There were some guides waiting here, but again no one who looked like they were looking for me, so I go into the building where there are again two lines.  One for visas and one for passport control.  The visa I did know about and I knew that it would cost Jordanian Dinar, which I didn't have.  There was a change office, so I started there by changing some of the dollars I bought from Sandra.  In exchange for $101 I got 70JD, so there was no mistaking the exchange rate here.  Then the visa, 20JD gone right off the bat.  Then the passport control, then back out to see what I could see.  Still no one was looking for me, so I head over to the taxi stand and ask another taxi driver if they know this Ahmad guy.  I don’t know why I think a taxi guy would know my driver, but I don’t know what else to do.  He points me to a small building where there is a guy behind the counter who does know Ahmad and for 1.5JD a taxi will take me to him.  I guess he is the taxi boss and regardless of where you want to go, you have to talk to him and pay him and then someone will take you.  I pay the 1.5 JD and head out with a taxi driver out of the border control area to a car that is parked by the side of the road, I guess this is Ahmad.  I put my bag in his trunk and climb in the back seat where he hands me a copy of the itinerary I already have and tells me he has been waiting for three hours.  I apologize, knowing that it wasn't my fault that he was waiting for so long.  First, he should only have been waiting for 2 hours if anyone had understood and relayed my message about when I was coming.  Second, the Israeli taxi driver/Myriam is responsible for 30 minutes, I had no control over how long it took me to get over the border and finally, if he had been waiting for me where the bus let me off (which is where I was told he would be, in preparation to help me with the visa and where the other guides were waiting) we would have connected 30 minutes earlier.  Anyway, I made it, it was quite an experience, no harm was done except that I am grouchy too much these days. 

(I didn't take any pictures at the border crossing.  Partly because I was too busy trying to figure things out and partially because I didn't want to get deported or exported or ported of any kind.)

I entered Jordan from the north bridge, today's stops were Ajloun, Jerash and Amman. (Map source: http://www.atlastours.net/jordan/sites.html) 

Ahmad was not a talkative guy, but he was a good driver, which was more important.  Our first stop was Ajloun Castle.  Built by the nephew of Saladin in 580AD it over looks three major wadis (valleys) so you can see who is coming and going.  In 1260 the Mongols destroyed parts of it, but the Mamluk's took it back.  Almost everyone I met who had seen it, referred to it as 'the Crusader castle' which I don't understand as the information panel at the entrance doesn't mention Crusaders at all and it predates them by 500 years.  I do think it is interesting that the Mongols make an appearance here.  I wonder how far they got. 

The Ajloun Castle from the road up

The plan of the castle during the late 12th and early 13th centuries.

 I chose not to get a guide to show me around.  I suppose it would have been helpful, I might have learned something, but I am sure I would have forgotten most of it by now, so I am not sure it would be worth it in the long run.

The view of the modern town from the castle.  Northern Jordan is very green an agricultural in contrast to the south and the east.  

Stop, twice.

 I made the mistake of packing my tour books with my big backpack which was in the trunk.  I didn't feel like I had a sufficient relationship with Ahmad yet to ask to retrieve them, so I was kind of running blind regarding what we were seeing, but I did notice the stop sign difference vs. Israel.  I guess two languages is ok, but three was too much.  I would have thought the red octagon would be enough... Wikipedia has interesting things to say about the stop sign.  Some highlights: 1) it is internationally governed by the Vienna convention and 2) STOP is officially a French word for the purposes of the sign, so the signs in French speaking Canada can no longer say both STOP and ARRET because that would be redundant.  Anyway, I am a big fan of stop signs and try to take a picture where ever I go.

Our next stop was Jerash, the ruins of an ancient city.  "One of the best preserved and most original Roman cities in the Middle East." Eyewitness Guidebook p 210. It was on the trade route and a member of the decopolis, a confederation of 11-12 (don't ask) Greek cities, later the Byzantines took over and finally the Muslims, but then there were some earthquakes and then the Crusades and it was hard to keep up appearances.

Hadrian's gate into the city of Jerash.  Hadrian was a big fan of the city and therefore a patron.

The Greek and then Roman Forum or oval shaped meeting area, with the main street and shopping district in the background. 

Actually taken at the end of the tour, but a nice perspective on the forum.  Note all the blocks that have yet to be reunited with their fellows. 

Walking on Main Street (Cardo) Jerash.  It does look like I am wearing a funny hat.

A nympheum with fountains and niches for statues, with the woman's pleasure house located behind, which my guide was sure to point out to me.

Byzantine mosaic floor.

The smaller of the two theaters in Jerash

Rich families have designated seats with their names carved into the seats, makes a little bronze plaque look lame.

The Temple of Artemis  in Jerash.  According to my guide, it hasn't been reconstructed - it never fell down in the first place.  

The tunnel below the theater - a place you can go to have a good time.  

 On the topic of a 'good time,' my guide was constantly alluding to 'enjoying every minute' and 'having fun' sometimes in tunnels (most of which were thankfully off limits just now) and some times out in the open.  He came close to offering to show me a good time without saying anything that wasn't officially innocent.  He was an older guy with pretty good English, who claimed he had been an archaeologist but he was also kind of creepy.  I played along for awhile, knowing that there were enough people around and that we were out in the open, and giving him the benefit of the doubt that he wasn't talking about what I thought he was talking about.  Eventually I got more firm with him saying I thought the tunnels might be interesting, but I didn't want to see them today.  At the end of the tour and it came time to give him a tip (my least favorite part of traveling) I gave him 2JD.  Since I didn't pay for the tour directly, I have no idea how much it cost and usually use that as a guideline for how much to tip.  He was clearly disappointed and that made me feel guilty, but I have talked myself out of that by now, thinking he made me feel uncomfortable, I didn't have to tip him at all.  

Jordanians playing American music on Scottish instruments - I wont subject you to the video I took.  

Lawn mowers

 Jerash was pretty cool.  More to see and in some ways better preserved than Ephesus, certainly with more left to be excavated (which needs money and time as my guide kept repeating over and over).  I hope that it does get some more attention and that if I make it back to Jordan in 20-30 years there will be more to see.

The volume of a can of soda is 355ml,
just like the US, but different from
both Israel and Turkey...

On our way in, the tout from the restaurant in the same parking lot as Jerash 'invited' us to eat there when we were done, but just as I was coming out I ran into two tourists I had met at the Ajloun castle as they were coming in.  They had gone to lunch in between at a restaurant called Green Valley just a few blocks away and highly recommended it.  When I got to the car, I told Ahmad that I would like to go there instead of the parking lot restaurant and he was ok with that so off we went.  It was a big place, but most of the folks in the restaurant appeared to be locals.  We both ordered the mixed grill and we got all these salads and mezes as well.  The bread in particular was sooo tasty.  I forgot to take a picture of the meat, but it was very tender and flavorful.  I could have eaten this meal again and again.

Green Valley Restaurant - fabulous food.

Besides keeping track of stop signs, I also like to keep track
of gas prices.  It is hard to see in this picture, but a liter of
 super is 0.970JD, or about $1.39, there are about 4 liters in a
gallon, making it more than $5.50/gallon.  

From here we went to my hotel.  I was stuffed from lunch and didn't make it down to the restaurant for dinner even though it was 'included' in my tour. Anything would have been a let down after lunch.   

The hotel was fine, my room was at the front, just behind the hotel sign which meant I had a weirdly shaped window (giant quarter circle) cut out of the room.  It had wifi and a table to work on so I organized pictures and wrote and watched some MythBusters and processed the day.