Ajlun Castle

Waking Up

I woke up before 10am, showered, and waited for contact from the guys. I didn't bother packing my things up because I incorrectly assumed I was spending another night in Irbid. After getting ready I made my way to the restaurant for breakfast. Breakfast options were limited. All the hotel offered was bread and one kind of cereal. The drinks were far off by the kitchen and staff was nowhere to be found. If I paid full price for the room and expected breakfast I'd be furious. For what I paid for the room though, eating anything that didn't make me sick was a bargain.

Ajlun Castle

Between 11 and 12 the guys arrived with the car and were ready to go. They hadn't yet had breakfast so I asked if they wanted to stop. They insisted we get to the castle first. Ajlun Castle is about a half hour drive away. When we arrived the guys were able to convince the guards I was their cousin, resulting in a steep discount for admission. The castle was build in the late 1100s and added on to throughout the 1200s.

During the tour Yasaar lost his mind. He crawled under a fence, jumped a drop at least 10 feet, and scaled a wall to climb to the very top of one end of the castle. I had been tempted to follow, but I had no idea how I'd get back up the wall. Plus, I had my day pack on me that had too many fragile items. The photo I got of him is incredible and included far below. If he didn't have cat like reflexes he would have been killed.

Touring the castle with these guys was a lot of fun. We had bonded well the night before, so it felt as if I was walking around with friends I've known for a long time. Shortly after finishing we went to a Turkish chicken place and I bought the guys lunch. We had originally planned to tour another site, but since we were running late we had to jet to pickup Ibrahim. When Ibrahim called he asked what my plans were and when I was leaving. I had yet to make exit plans, but intended on leaving the next day or so via plane. When we discussed lodging arrangements he suggested I check out of the hotel and return to Amman, since it was near both the bus depot and airport. I wasn't sure how that would work out - it was after 4pm and I figured the hotel would charge me the entire night. Fortunately the hotel was fine with everything - they even gave me the same discounted rate as the night before.

 

Castle from afar

 

 

Entryway to the castle 

 

Around the outside of the castle

 

Slits for a bows and arrows

 

Me, outside the entrance

 

Incredible views from the top

 

Yasaar, after ignoring several warning signs

Back to Amman
 
When we were out the night before, Yasaar's mentioned his friend Evo was a barber. It's been a month since I've had a haircut and I asked if he could give me a trim. He happily responded sure, provided I let him cook dinner or me. I told him I'd go along with it only if he let me pay him - I didn't want a free haircut since it's his profession. He refused, he said he would not take my money since I was a friend. I figured I was in Irbid another night and we'd all be together again - I was mistaken. On the way to the hotel Yasaar asked if I wanted to stop by Evo's to get the haircut. I wanted the haircut, but since we already had to stop by the hotel we didn't have time without making Ibrahim wait. I think Yasaar was mildly annoyed, but the last thing I wanted to do was irritate Ibrahim. After we picked up Ibrahim, to my surprise, we dropped off the guys. I bid farewell and thanked them for the great time.

Ibrahim mentioned his cousin Taraq either had business or wanted to come along to Amman, so we picked him up. Once in Amman I reminded Ibrahim his wife had wanted me to snap a picture of the green lights of the mosques. I tried to get shots using my awful tripod, the best photo I managed to get is the fourth picture below. After we reached Amman we walked around the town, visiting shop after shop. We also stopped by a shopping mall for tea. The guys did shisha and we chatted about Taraq's plans to continue his education in the states. Ibrahim had mentioned that a western education carries a very hefty premium in Jordan and Saudi Arabia and was encouraging his to go to the states for his masters degree in accounting. Afterwards as we left I strolled through a Best Buy type store called Smart Buy. The layout was very similar to Best Buy - with the familiar yellow used extensively. One difference, Smart Buy does not sell music of movies. In fact, I couldn't find a single place that sold legal movies or music. I wonder if the lack of a market is the prevalence of widespread piracy or issues with distribution/licensing agreements. I'd guess the prior.

 

 

Look twice, it's not Dunkin Donuts!

Big Boy Burger's mascot was also stolen by the shop next door

 

Streets of Amman

 Shops selling pirated CDs, DVDs, and BluRays were everywhere.

Prices are 1 JD per DVD, 2 JD per Bluray

 

Amman at night - green lights are mosques

 

Abdoun Bridge

 

Me and Ibrahim

Checking In

We returned to the hotel I stayed at the two other times I was in Amman. Ibrahim negotiated the same rate and this time around I got a very nice junior suite again. Since i could connect to the hotel router I thought there was a problem with the internet. They sent up a maintenance person who had a tablet to check the connection. He confirmed things were working fine, but also confirmed the signal was weak farther in the room. He helped me move the couch closer to the door which helped a little bit.

Tomorrow

I had originally planned to leave Jordan on Sunday, Monday at the latest. Since I was having a good time and did not have exit plans when I entered, I stayed longer than expected. I knew entering Jordan that airfare leaving would be expensive. One thing I didn't consider prior to entering Jordan was flights from Tel Aviv, Israel. Amman is only a few hours away from Jerusalem, Jerusalem is about an hour from Tel Aviv. Transportation between all cities was relatively simple. I'd discover flights to Istanbul, Turkey from Tel Aviv were about a third of the price. The only complication with leaving  Israel dealt with understanding how the border crossing worked - I wanted to avoid any evidence of Israel in my passport to avoid further travel complications down the road. Many Arab nations bar entry for anyone who has traveled to Israel. Even though a Jordan exit stamp is not an Israeli stamp, it's sufficient for Arab nations to deny entry.  Just as you can ask Israel passport control not to stamp your passport, there's a comparable loophole with dealing with Jordan passport control at certain borders. Crossing by land was looking like a real option. Plus, crossing the Jordan/Israeli boarder by land would be an adventure.

When I discussed the plan with Ibrahim he came up with another idea - check local tour providers for options. One of their bundles might be a better deal and save me a headache. Istanbul is a popular tour destination from Amman, so getting a tour package might be an option. Early afternoon the next day we'd stop by the tour office, if the options they offered weren't favorable he would drop me off at the bus station to go to Israel.