The Mosque

Put our walking shoes on today for our last day in Amman - I guess we probably did about 8km all up.

We set out after breakfast to the main mosque in the city - the King Abdullah Bin Al-Hussein Mosque, a couple of kms from the hotel at the top of a large hill. It's a very impressive building, with a very distinctive blue domed roof that can easily be identified for miles around. Being mid morning, we had the place to ourselves, but Mandy still had to cover herself from head to toe in a black gown - certainly not the most elegant garment she's ever worn. All mosques are different, but at this one Mandy couldn't enter the main (men's) nave, and I couldn't enter the smaller ladies nave, so we went out separate ways to explore. It was a very impressive building, with a decorated, domed roof, and a clock on the wall that details to times of prayer for the day.

We then looked at the adjacent museum, which was really a commemoration to King Abdullah bin Al-Hussein, who galvanised the Arab nations in their uprising against the Turks at the end of the first world war, and was proclaimed the first king of Jordan in 1946 when the British pulled out of the region after the second world war. Along with most things in this part of the world, the history is not very straightforward. In 1948, shortly after being proclaimed a country, Jordan had an expansionist policy, and invaded and occupied the part of Israel across the Jordan River we now refer to as the West Bank. Both the Israelis and the rest of the Arab world were not at all impressed, and everybody fought everybody else over it. In 1951 King Abdullah was assassinated in Jerusalem by a Palestinian militant because of it. In the Six Day War of 1967, a now much stronger Israel took the territory back. Whilst Jordan has since given up any claim to the territory, the Palestinians are still fighting the Israelis for control of it today.

From the mosque we walked about 5 km or so away from town to the 5th Circle, where our original tour hotel was, and had some lunch and explored the Mall and shops for a bit, before taking a taxi downtown back to our hotel. It will probably be our last afternoon rest, as we start another tour tomorrow.

Enjoyed our meal last night at Ataba so much that we decided to go back again for our last evening in Amman.

There is so much to like about Jordan. They are a polite, well educated people, and English is their second language so communication is possible with almost anybody. Whilst the King holds a great deal of practical power, and it's not really a democracy as we would know it, the King exercises his power well, and for the good of the people, and he is almost universally revered. His portrait is everywhere. It means that the country is stable, and attracts foreign investment. Food, transport and other commodities are cheap, crime rates are some of the lowest in the world, and it's very secure, all of which makes it a good place to visit. They have some of the great wonders of the world, like Petra, but surprisingly not that many tourists. Like the rest of the world, Jordan sees tourism as important and are targeting travelers, so get in while it's cheap and unspoilt. We've had a blast, and if you are not into sitting on a beach in Bali, you'll enjoy it too.