Syrie - Jordanie 2001

August 1, 2001 – Damascus – Amman – Dead Sea – Amman

After some problems to get ou their hotel, Laurent and Aurelie join me and we take a taxi to go to the bus station. At our arrival, every seller of tickets is on our tail to propose us many trips for all prices. Fortunately, we already have the tickets.

We finally leave Damascus and one hour later we are at the border near Deraa. On the Syrian, everything is done quickly. We think that we will arrive in Amman before our expectations but we had not think that things will be done so slowly at the Jordan checkpoint. It was amazing, everyone was trying to have his passport stamped at the same time. The officials take their time to have breaks or to speak with each other while we were waiting for them.

At the Jordan border you have to buy the stamp for the visa before you apply (JD 10). The better solution is to change some Syrian pounds into Jordan Dinar. After the challenge is to find an official to get the stamp.

Jordan visa (on the left)

It takes us 2 hours to have all the passports stamped.

Welcome to Jordan !!

So we arrive at 11:30 in Amman in a station a few hundreds meter after Abdali Station because we didn’t take the Jett Bus company. So we decide to take a taxi to reach the Cliff Hotel in downtown. The driver comes from Chechnya and decides to visit the city before dropping us near the hotel!!

In the hotel, I am very surprised to see familiar faces, Bertrand and Jacqueline, that I haven’t seen since Aleppo are on a sofa ready to go back to France. They give their impressions on Jordan where they spend a great time. Normally I should meet them again tonight when we will come back from the Dead Sea.

The town is funny because she is built on many hills without a clear separation between downtown and the other neighborhoods. After a little lunch made of Hommos and a coke in a narrow street in front of the hotel, we decide to go to Muhajirin Station near the city hall to catch a bus for the Dead Sea. At the station a guy tells us that we have to take two minibuses because the direct minibus missed us. At Chouanne (?), a few kilometers before the guesthouse, we take a taxi to do the last kilometers.

The entrance of the guesthouse is JD 3 (showers included). We directly go to the beach after a pit stop to put the swimsuit. So I discover the Dead Sea whereas Laurent already knows it from the other side. The beach is definitely not beautiful with a lot of rubbish everywhere, don’t try to find sand there is not a lot but stones. We can’t resist and we walk into the sea. It is very strange to float without using your legs or your arms. I am sure that you nearly can sleep on the water, hands behind the head and crossed legs. But be careful of little injuries because the salt will wake them up and it is a tough sensation. Be careful also to water in your eyes, it is really painful. So there is nothing much to do in this water but to take a picture, I was here and I float!!

After these moments you need a shower because your skin is covered by salt and it feels like having cream on your body, the sun can’t dry it. We float a couple of time before enjoying the sun.

At the guesthouse, every item is very expensive. You need a chair, it is JD 1, a 330ml coke is JD 3 (JD 0.25 in Amman)…

Hopefully, there is a shop outside the resthouse and they sell coke for half dinar. We seat down and wait for the bus that should be here at 6pm, the last oe to come back to Amman. But it is 6:30 and there is no bus, I checked with the guy at the entrance and this time he says to me that sometimes there is a bus and sometimes not. Great welcome to us! We decide to hitch hike on the highway near there when we see a minibus. Inside there are two French who are very angry because they leave Amman at 3:00pm and they arrive only now at 6:30pm. As it is the last connection for Amman, they can’t see the Dead Sea and they have to come back to their Hotel. It was their last day in Jordan, what a shame!!

At the hotel, Samir, the manager tells me that my friends just left the hotel to go to the airport, too bad! We go to eat at Jabri restaurant near the hotel: it was a good choice.

Tonight I will sleep on the roof (JD 2 + JD 0.5 for the shower) with a lot of dust that workers are sending to us from their location at 100 meters.