« Second Passport | Main | Hallelujah »
March 6, 2005
Trip to the North
Yesterday, I went on a trip to the north of Jordan. My friends and I saw Um Quais, Ajloun Castle, and the ancient city of Jerash. All three are ancient ruins and are pretty neat to see.
Um Quais is a Roman Decapolis city in the northwest corner of Jordan. From the city we could see Syria, the Golan Heights, and Israel. The coolest thing was a tunnel that connects the city with another Roman city that is about 100km away! We wern't allwoed in the tunnel but it is still neat to see it and to think about all the work that that it must have taken.
The second site, Ajloun Castle, was one of the best sites we have seen. The guide didn't seem excited but I definitely was. It was the first site that looked like it was actually livable. The castle was restored so that it had lighting so that we could see all of the details. Although some people thought it was just touristy, I am convinced that castles must have had some type of light and even, walkable floors. Although there were modern materials making these things possible, I think it is worth it to get the full effect of the castle.
The final site, Jeresh, is another Roman city. It is a larger Roman city and is a beautiful site. Every fall there is a month long singing and dancing festival there and they still host events like graduations in the theatre. The site even has a hippodrome where they used to race chariots. Yeah, it's pretty cool.
After Jeresh, we went home to Amman and I got a ride home with Annie's aunt. At home I got to watch Assad, the Syrian president, talk about Lebanon. It was neat to see it from the Arab perspective but I didn't understand much of the Arabic. My family did explain to me some of what he was saying so I could understand the major points. I think it is amazing to be here while all of this is happening but hope that it will all work out peacefully.
Posted by rcollins at March 6, 2005 6:56 AM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://test.gutwin.org/mt/mt-tb.cgi/167
Comments
Um...the Golan Heights is Israeli territory.
Posted by: Kazim at April 8, 2005 11:23 PM