WanderingTrader

Visiting Jordan: First 4 Days in Pictures

Visiting Jordan has been quite eye opening.  Exploring the capital of Amman and the surrounding areas for only 4 days it has been nothing short of spectacular.  Sand storms, elevated security thanks to a President Obama visit, sunsets, ancient Roman cities, desert castles, oh my!

The winner of the contest to Jordan arrives tomorrow after we get settled on the lowest point on Earth, the Dead Sea.

Many don’t realize that the Dead Sea is one of unique natural landmarks on Earth.  We can’t give enough thanks to the Jordan Tourism Board for sponsoring the trip for us.

The Dead Sea is shrinking at an alarming rate since it is rich in minerals.  The plan is to pump water from the Red Sea in order to help but that officially hasn’t been agreed upon.  The Dead Sea has such a high level of salt that one can actually float in the water without ease.

This will be my second visit to the Dead Sea!  The heated debate remains of who has the better side of the Dead Sea.  I will remain partial and just enjoy it one more time.

The picture below shows my first experience in a sand storm.  President Obama was delayed on his trip because of the storm and instead of flying he needed to travel via car to get to his destination.  The photo was taken from the same location at the gorgeous Le Royal Hotel here in Amman.  It was quite a sand storm!  Can now cross of bucket list number 324654247 of experiencing a sand storm in the Middle East.

Sand Storm

Sand storm in the Middle East that we witnessed in Amman, Jordan

The first day visiting Jordan I was able to experience the great sunset below.  One of the things a traveler may find surprising is that the picture was taken with a cell phone. In fact, all the pictures in this post were taken with my new Samsung Galaxy phone.    Safe to say I loved being late for dinner in order to take pictures of this almost every day.

Sunset in Amman Jordan

Sunset in Amman Jordan

One may not think of Jordan hosting one of most well preserved Roman cities outside of Italy.  The ancient Roman city named Jerash was nothing short of incredible.  This is a complete complex that hasn’t even been fully excavated yet.

A entire city where one can delve into how Roman urban planning was done and take great pictures in the process.

The weather didn’t want to behave but there were intermittent blue skies.

The picture below is on one of the streets that sits east to west called Decumanus Maximus in Roman times.  Decumanus Maximu is a street that always runs east to west and splits the city into parts; north, south, and middle.

Another fact that may be surprising to many is that most of ancient city of Jerash is still underground and is only roughly 40% to 50% excavated.  Once everything is unearthed its going to be even more impressive.

Jerash Jordan

Roman columns in Jerash Jordan

The picture below was taken at the southern Roman theater in Jerash.  The locals below are former military personal that play bag pipes for tips.  While bag pipes are a national symbol of Scotland there are many that believe they have been around for much longer.

My tour guide stated that they have been in the Middle East for at least a thousand years and Iraq has a history of using one bagpipe.

The Scottish added the extra bag pipes stated my tour guide.  A quick search on online reveals that bagpipes may have been around since 1000 BC.  Sorry Scotland.

Jordanian hospitality is second to none and the locals are extremely friendly. Don’t forget to tip!

Roman theater in Jerash with locals!

Roman theater in Jerash with locals!

The Oval Plaza below in the Jerash complex is one of my favorites.  You can really see the scale of the plaza with the tourists in the picture.  One can also find the new city in the background which reveals even more interesting history.

The site where the new city lies is where the old Roman Citizens used to live.  Considering that just part of the current complex has been excavated one can imagine what we could find if we began to look under the new city as well.

Oval Plaza in the Ancient City of Jerash Jordan

Oval Plaza in the Ancient City of Jerash Jordan

One of the first photos taken in Jordan is of the Amman Citadel below.  The Temple of Hercules sites atop an ancient Ammunite temple.  The Amman Citadel site high above in the center of the city with ancient ruins that go back thousands of years.  From the citadel the city is split into north, south, east, and west.

Amman Citadel

Temple of Hercules at the Amman Citadel

Great pieces of work I purchased at the ancient city of Jerash.

Art in Jordan

New pieces of art I purchased for our new trading center

The Royal Automobile Museum was extremely interesting. Below is one of my favorite cars I saw at the museum.  Can never go wrong with the classics.

 Royal Automobile Museum Amman

One of my favorite cars at the Royal Automobile Museum Amman

And of course the Food in Jordan; fatush, hummus, olives, and many other things I cannot spell or pronounce.  Safe to say I won’t be losing any weight while in Jordan.

Food In Jordan

Food In Jordan

A sneak peak into my visit to Jordan over the last few days.  Very excited to start training the winner of the contest how to day trade using my day trading strategy I’ve been using over the last 10 years.  For those of you that have no idea what day trading is peruse the post talking about how easy it actually is (click here).

18 Comments

  1. Hello,

    Now you are wandering the vast desert of Arabia. Could you tell me if you ever had camel milk in your life? Only strong people can go through deserts while milk drinkers of camel milk live longer with very little diet.

    Have you been yet to Somaliland?

    Egeh
    Malaysia

    1. Egeh I have heard about the camel milk and plan on trying it here in Jordan. I have been to Somaliland when I was living in Eastern Africa. I lived in Ethiopia for over 3 months.

  2. Love all the photos, follow you on Facebook also. I would be afraid to go to the middle east now so glad you went and shared your photos !

  3. I lived in Jordan for two months in the beginning of 2011. This post really brought me back to my time there, so thanks for the trip down memory lane. Be sure to go to Aqaba and the Wadi Rum Desert – two can’t misses!

  4. Wow, you certainly have a fantastic eye and do some great post production too! Just gorgeous photographs!
    Was surprised not to see the classic photo of Petra on the blog post but I guess that’s for day 5 and beyond! Loved the post and looking forward to reading the piece on Rajisthan (one of my favorite trips in the desert!).
    Happy travels!

  5. Very interesting, and the photography is stunning. The ancient Roman city of Jerash is indeed incredible and on my bucket list. Great post, thanks for sharing not only the information but the wonderful photography!

  6. That looks like an antique Cord auto in the Royal Automobile Museum, good old American technology. The pictures are just top quality, great post,

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