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I had pictured a perfect desert on setting off to my new destination. It was Jordan, an Arab country with Syria, Iraq, Palestine, Israel, and Saudi Arabia as its neighbours. Naturally it was the image of a desert land that my limited knowledge of world geography propped up in my mind. I boarded the plane expecting date palms, camels, searing winds, and sand dunes.

We passed Muscat and the scenes underneath buttressed the image of Jordan that I had in my mind. Nothing could be seen below except vast areas of desert. After three and a half hours from Muscat we were about to land in the Queen Aliya Airport of Jordan. I looked down and was crestfallen. There was nothing but a desert with an average airport in the middle.

The plane landed smoothly. Checking didn’t cause much delay. Out there, I found a man holding a placard with my name written on it. He introduced himself as Mohammad, sent by Arena Space, the 4-Star hotel where I had booked my stay. He left to bring the car and I stepped out of the airport through a glass door. Suddenly, an icy breeze hit my face. The atmosphere was extremely chilly that I checked the time. It was 1 o’clock noon! Sweaters and jackets were in the luggage box. I waited there shivering from head to toe. Fortunately for me, Mohammad arrived soon with his Benz E-Class. I sought comfort in the warmth of the car heater and asked him whether it was normal to be so cold there. His answer astounded me. “It snowed here last week”, he replied.

' Lots of Ferraris, Maseratis and Lamborghinis could be seen plying on the roads. All the taxis were new modern cars 'We entered the city of Amman. It was a neat, big, modern city with highways, over-bridges, and gardens which flanked the roads. Everywhere I found pictures of the king placed reverently. Even in the car they were pasted here and there. In Jordan all the executive and legislative powers rest with the king. Formerly a part of the Ottoman Empire, it was in 1946 that the country became the Hashimit Kingdom of Jordan (Hashimit is the name of the ruling dynasty). The first ruler was King Abdulla, but the maker of the present modern Jordan was King Hussein who died in 1999. The present ruler is King Abdulla II who is believed to be a 43rd generation descendant of the Prophet.

Lots of Ferraris, Maseratis and Lamborghinis could be seen plying on the roads. All the taxis were new modern cars. There were not much skyscrapers but the buildings looked neat. My impression of the place had begun to change by the time I covered the 32 km distance from the airport to the hotel.

I set out from the luxurious room of Arena Space wearing a jacket and a sweater. It was 5 o’clock in the evening and I was planning to take a stroll through the city. I do that wherever I happen to land because it had proved to be a great way to understand a place. My hotel was some 4-5 kms away from the heart of the city. The road was busy with intermittent traffic, rules being followed meticulously. And either side of the street was alive with supermarkets and hotels.

The road went up and down over small gradients. In fact, the city was built over a number of small hills. Over those hills, houses painted in white shone red in the splendour of the setting sun. The awesomely tempting smell of kebabs emanating from the way-side shops pulled the passers-by to them. The city seemed to possess an alluring charm that evening.

I quickly learned that Jordan is one of those countries with a very rich past. It has a long history which dates back to 7000 B.C. There are numerous remarks about Amman and River Jordan in the Bible. Wars were waged constantly and conquerors one after the other subjugated the area (Amman was called Philadelphia in the Hellenistic times). It was under Roman rule for many centuries and that is how we find the innumerable remains of the mighty Roman Empire in many Jordanian sites like Petra, Jerash, Um Qais, Pella and Irbid. The prominent position of Jordan began to decline with the onslaught of the Persians and later its identity itself was transformed when the area passed under Islamic sway.

Though most of those Roman and Byzantine period structures were razed to ground and streets destroyed, we can still spot them at many places. These places still carry their old Romanesque beauty and Amman itself has a number of old Roman style buildings rising majestically over here and there.

The 'little Rome' of Amman

I had a good sleep though the night was chilly. The coming day was reserved for a visit of the ruins of the ancient amphitheatre in the city and also the Royal Car Museum which exhibits the vehicles possessed by the late King Hussein who was a known vehicle freak. The taxi arranged for the city tour arrived at sharp 9 o’clock. The driver was another Mohammed. In the six days that I had been in Jordan I met three more Mohammeds, all taxi-drivers, and I was inclined to think of the name as a title for taxi-drivers in the country. The taxi went up and down the hills. I tried to have a chat with Mohammed but he didn’t speak English. He could figure out that I was an Indian. He pointed out the great hanging bridge known as the ‘landmark of Amman’ and said, "Indian... Indian company". It was only later that I understood that the builders of the bridge were L&T, the Indian construction company. It was a gigantic bridge which connected two hills.

The taxi sped through a narrow path paved with stones. We were on the peripheries of the city and went down a large hill. Mohammed pointed down and informed: the Roman amphitheatre...

' I stood in awe of that wonder which survived the ravages of more than 2000 years 'The theatre had been built by the Roman emperor, Antonios Pius. It was constructed in way where some 6000 people could be seated comfortably to watch the plays and wrestling matches. Two large gates provided the entrance and though the upper part was damaged here and there, the structure on the whole was in good condition. If you get to the top of the steps you can have a fantastic view of the entire area in and around the theatre. I stood in awe of that wonder which survived the ravages of more than 2000 years.

Below, there were two museums, each on either side of the theatre – Jordan Folklore Museum and the Museum of Popular Traditions. Both were equipped enough to provide a peek into the heritage of the country. They revealed the various stages of the transformation of ancient Jordan into the ultra-modern nation of the present day. Then we found another small theatre called Odeon near to the great one. This 500 seat small one too was built at the same time, but featured only musicals, it is said.

The Ceylon Street, located near the amphitheatre, is a virtual meeting venue of the Indians and the Srilankans working in Jordan. They come here to the Indian hotels, shops with Hindi-Tamil-Malayalam movie CDs, and barber shops.

I was hoping to visit the celebrated Petra the next day. The place, which can easily be called a treasure pot of history, was some 300 kms away from Amman. I learned from the hotel receptionist that taxi will cost around 300 Dinars (approximately 18000 Rupees)! I was in a fix. I had a lot more to travel and couldn’t have afforded to spend all my money for the Petra trip. I let the matter lie for a while and set out to see the night life of Amman. (Later that night I learned from a café that there was a bus leaving for Petra in every half an hour from the downtown bus stand.) Continued...

© travelbird