Place: Madaba, Jordan. Salome hotel – outside on the patio
Time: 15:43
It is Easter weekend in Jordan (like a kids dream we get Easter Sunday with another reason to eat loads of Chocolate AGAIN) and as you know, Craig and I are stuck in Madaba as the Israeli Officials are off and wont be able to process our VISA’s in time. However, I couldn’t think of a better place to be ‘stuck’ in.
We had a very slow start to the day (after Breakfast of courseJ). I have found myself waking up just thinking of food-especially pita and a delicious plum jam and racing to indulge every morning but by the end of the day; Craig is so tired of Pita bread. However, that’s exactly what we want for breakfast again and again.
Anyways…as you know, ‘Maagies vol-Oogies toe’ so we went back to our room with a DVD from the hotel lounge and watched ‘Hitch’. By the time the movie was done, I had showered and tried to make myself look more presentable, it was just before 12h00, which means…you guessed it, LUNCHTIME J
We began to walk down our street and were both pleasantly surprised at how the weather seems to have turned. Since we arrived, it has been incredibly chilly here in Jordan (so much so, that Craig wore his Beanie as walked the streets last night). But today was sunny (as usual, but much warmer and more to my liking too).
On the way we passed a small barber shop and went in as Craig needed to neaten up the scruff on the back of his neck.
FYI: Craig is going to let his facial hair grow for me-I am keen to see what gingery shades will show up on his face and I thought it would be fun to see Craig with a more ‘rugged’ look since we are professional travellers and all J.
With our usual communication, reliance on charades and very broken English, Craig explained to the barber what he wanted, but more importantly…what he DIDN’T want.
Craig would point to the blade and say ‘NO’, then point to his hair and so ‘NO’. then he would point to the clippers and say ‘YES’ and then point to his neck and say ‘YES’. I chuckled when I saw the barber not completely satisfied with the small job and slowly find himself trimming Craig’s sideburns and behind his ears…it didn’t take Craig long to thank him in an attempt to stop him from continuing.
Now we were all groomed and ready to hit the streets of Madaba.
Fridays are generally a lot quieter as it is the Muslim day of rest, so most of the stores were closed and most of the people were headed to the mosque for prayer. But we knew that our 2 favourite places would be open and first things first….LUNCH.
We headed to Ayola for what they call a kebab meal. We were intrigued to find out what a kebab was here as we both had different ideas of what exactly a kebab is. From my understanding, (what I learned in the UK) a kebab would have been similar to a shwarma – sliced meat, lettuce, tomato wrapped together) or even meat on a skewer like in RSA. However, the kebab was like a rolled kofta. It was rather tasty and we were happy to have tasted it, but it is definitely not something I would order again.
All energized and fed, we were ready to explore and find a small place with what is said to have the most delicious hummus (we have been planning meals in advance according to budget and necessity so will go and get that for lunch tomorrow). Craig hasn’t been so hot with directions during the travels so far, and we took a couple of wrong turns but eventually found it. So with relief and a feeling of great success, we left and will head back tomorrow and sample this wonderful hummus across from our favourite bakery.
I think that the next few days will not be as eventful and full of new and exiting sights, however Craig and I are really stoked to spend the time absorbing as much of Jordan as we can as well as use this weekend to spend as little as possible which will help us further on this absolutely life-changing trip.
And with that in mind, there are a couple of ‘useless, yet interesting points of information.’
Did you know:
- · The exchange rate of the Jordanian Dinar to the Rand is about R11 to Dinar. This means that the Dinar is stronger than the US Dollar.
- · Fresh/raw dates are not as delicious as dried. I found them almost bitter and tasteless.
- · 5 Pita Breads cost R1.10
- · A good dose of hummus costs R5.50 as opposed to the Woolworth where you will spend R17 for a fraction of the size
- · Amstel is one of the most popular beers in Jordan
- · Olives are rather spicy in Jordan
- · The reigning king is King Abdullah and he is married to Queen Rania Al Abdullah. (She is an incredibly charitable and possibly the most beautiful woman in my opinion)
- · It is believed that Moses is buried on Mount Nebo of Jordan
- · The Dead Sea, in the northwest of Jordan, forms the lowest point on earth with a salinity of about 33% while a normal ocean has a salinity of 3%
No comments:
Post a Comment