The Trip from Petra to Amman!

19/9/09

1311 (local time)

We got up this morning at about 930. Our plan today, was to catch a bus from Petra to Amman. Amman is the capital of Jordan, and from Amman we are able to go to the Dead Sea and also Syria. So 930 was a good time for us, nice and easy start! So we got our stuff together and had a late breakfast of: Bread, Omelette, Marmalade and cheese. By 1200 we were on the bus paying our tourist price for the bus which was 5JD (about 7-8$AUD). Its so annoying, because we are tourists we have to pay the tourist price whilst everyone else on the bus, the locals only have to pay 3JD! Its stupid! Never mind though, that’s just the way it is.

The real reason I'm writing this is, the bus took about 30 minutes to get around the block, because we were stuck. Yep that’s right! STUCK! We went down a street that wasn’t big enough, and we were stuck between a truck and a ute! The cars behind us were building up, everyone was tooting their horns to get everyone moving. We were making tiny amounts of progress, people were getting out of their car to abuse the other drivers.

To make matters worse, I was taking photos of the whole event unfolding! Eventually the cops rocked up on their bikes and helmets that looked like baseball helmets, to try and sort out the situation!

The pictures tell the true story though.

FIGJAM STANDING BY!

Just to add to this 1427 (local time) the bus ride is going poorly, there are is a Jordanian family on the back seats, in which one of the babies has a REAKING nappy, so the bus stinks! And the bus driver has the radio up way too loud playing prayers that is giving me a headache even with headphones in. Its going to be a long trip!

Again to add to this epic journey! 2119 (local time) Checked in to this awesome 1 star hostel/hotel! An awesome couple are running it! Really really good! Anyway, at 6.30pm we ventured out and went to look at the oldest mosque in Jordan, ended up being pretty standard mosque, so we went on looking for some food! Ramadan was over! So there are people everywhere letting off fireworks and everything! It is awesome! Its a bit hard for Greg and Anna, because everyone is looking at Anna and giving her a bit of a hard time. But I was having a ball, there is a type of atmosphere in the air that everyone is excited and happy! But unfortunately there are always a few dickheads in the group that wreck it!

So we stopped off at this local restaurant that was recommended by the hotel receptionist, it was a chicken place that do falafels and salad with chicken etc! So we paid our 6JD (10$AUD) and got the biggest meal ever! We were so full after it all! I feel so fat!

We then were offered a bowl of fruit from the hotel people which we got stuck into. After that we went back out again to get some groceries for our trip to the Dead Sea tomorrow, and went back into the havoc that was Amman!

Anyway, I just thought I should write about the excitement that is the end of Ramadan!

RAMADAN R.I.P (I think)

Steve

Check out the Gap!

Unbelievable!

Look at the guy trying to pick the gap at the front of the car!

The queue of cars we held up!

So the cops rocked up to sort out the situation!

Cheers Steve