On our last full day in Jordan, the weather turned it on for us. It was like a great NZ summers day. Thankfully it was hot and we didn’t need a full breakfast (cos we couldn’t have one – the hotel had run out of hot food – and we had breakfast before 8am!!!).

First stop was the mosque for tourists. It is the only mosque that we could go to in Jordan. Sandra and Karla donned some long sleeved hooded garb so that we didn’t offend anyone when we entered the mosque. The mosque was one big open space, with busloads of tourists trooping through. The three of us got a bit lost with the large groups…

Next stop was the roman amphitheatre – which is as impressive as it looks in photos.

Roman Amphitheatre

Neil and Karla climbed all the way to the top – and boy those steps were steep. There were two museums in the complex, and they were both very good – one had an excellent collection of models in local costumes. In one museum, Neil was inundated by school kids – they tried their English on us, wanting to know what our favourite fish, bird, season etc was. It was classic!

Neil with school kids at museum

BsKnee near the Throne Room

We then made it up to the Citidel again – which was a completely different experience to our first day here when the heavens were full-throttle open. Our driver, Ibrahim, insisted on taking us to a local place to eat Kanafa – which is a sweet sort of cheese thing. The place apparently has a very good reputation and the Kanafa was delicious!!!

Apparently there is nowhere for tourists to stay in Salt – and we certainly felt like we were the only non-locals when we went to visit this town. The museum was opened up for us, room by room, and we got some strange looks as we wandered through the town. They had a souk of sorts – but looking closely, a lot of the stuff was made in China – shame!

Old guys playing a game in Salt

On our wander, we saw a bunch of older men playing a game with stones – looks like they were having a great time!

Lunch in Fuheis

For lunch, we thought we would try a restaurant recommended in the Lonely Planet: Zuwwadeh, in a place called Fuheis. It turned out to be a real gem. On our way out, the owner/manager insisting on showing us where the King ate when he came to visit the restaurant! We figured if it was good enough for the king – it was certainly good enough for us!!!

Last stop for the day was a bazaar with some really high quality items on sale. We didn’t feel like buying anything – but we still got a gift on our way out! That sort of thing epitomises the Jordanian people – they are just so generous, and all they want is for you to have a good time in their country. Everywhere you go, you get “Welcome Jordan” or if their English is very good “Where you from? Welcome Jordan”. This has been a fantastic trip – pretty busy in the 10 days we’ve been here – but we wouldn’t give up anything (except maybe 1 or 2 hours of the 4×4 trip in Wadi Rum).

We probably won’t blog tomorrow – as we arrive in Dubai late – so look for a double instalment the following day.