Transjordan, Day Three: Crossing To Amman

We left early for the King Hussein/Allenby Bridge and managed to arrive there in good time, at around 10:30am. The crossing itself took longer than our entry into Israel did; not as much questioning this time but in its place a whole bunch of waiting instead. Thankfully we avoided all stamps associated with the crossing; although people often worry about Israeli entry and exit stamps they often forget that a Jordanian entry stamp marked "King Hussein" is just as damning.

We entered Amman proper at around 2pm. According to my trusted Lonely Planet (and I've found these to be increasingly invaluable wherever I travel) all sites and things were due to close at 4pm during the off-peak season we were in. Still there wasn't much to do in Amman sightseeing-wise and we only had to choose between the Roman Theatre and Citadel. We chose the latter which turned out to be a fairly good pick being an ancient site situated atop one of Amman's tallest hills.

After a Burger King dinner we offered Maghrib at the King Abdullah Mosque. It was after that that we were picked up by a fellow traveller's Jordanian uni mate. Local friends always seem to make a trip for me and this time was no different; we were taken to Mecca Mall where the boys hung out in a cafe while the women shopped, chatting and watching the people go by.

Which I guess brings me neatly to Jordanian women. I preferred them to those I saw west of the River Jordan, even though the likelihood was that they were Palestinian (since they make up 60 percent of Jordan's population). It could have merely been the western style they demonstrated, and in fact I did feel like I was walking through an affluent district of Pakistan at times.

Despite the lack of time spent being an actual tourist in Amman, I really enjoyed my time here today, much more than I did in Jerusalem anyway. There are good people here with whom you know where you stand, and it's easy to be confident and self assured in this place. I'm really looking forward to the rest of my time in Jordan.

Pictures from my time in Amman can be found here.