Jordan April 15

My last full day in Jordan.

This morning I walked up to the Citadel. This is the first place that was inhabited, going back to 7000BC. It is the highest point. The Romans built their city on top of the ancient Ammon, and the Muslims built over the Roman settlement.

It's a good climb, 184 stairs, and then a 20 minute walk, all uphill.

There are still some remains of the Roman times, particularly the Temple of Hercules, which can be seen from all over the city.  Most of the hill top is taken up by the Umayyad Palace. This dynasty was huge. In about 700 AD the Umayyad empire had a population of 65 million people. That's the fifth largest empire ever, and it never made it into any history book I ever read in school.

The funny thing is, aside from the mosque, all that's left are the Roman ruins that they incorporated into their palace.

It is big though, because it included all the government offices for this part of the empire.

The view is great.

In the afternoon I decided to treat myself to a Turkish Steam Bath and Massage.

You get undressed and wrap yourself in a towel. The first part is a dry sauna, about 15 minutes of that. A cold shower, and it's off to a steam room. Fairly hot steam, with a mint aroma, is pumped into the room. Hot, humid, and foggy. Weird feeling, like being in another world, especially because I was the only one there. Another cold shower, and into a hot-tub. Quite warm. A neat feature is that there is a kind of a waterfall flowing into the tub. I was the only one in the tub, so I got to seat under the falling water the whole time.

From there you are placed on a hot stone table for 5 minutes. The stone was quite hot.

Then comes another stone table where you are scrubbed, very thoroughly, with a rough sponge. Both sides.

Next you are soaped, and again scrubbed, and rinsed. Finally there is a full body massage.

After a warm shower you are taken into the lounge where you can rest, and drink some juices. I certainly needed the rest. I was feeling a bit woozy, and lethargic.

You can stay there as long as you want. Twenty minutes were enough for me. 

The whole thing took over an hour, and April 15

My last full day in Jordan.

This morning I walked up to the Citadel. This is the first place that was inhabited, going back to 7000BC. It is the highest point. The Romans built their city on top of the ancient Ammon, and the Muslims built over the Roman settlement.

It's a good climb, 184 stairs, and then a 20 minute walk, all uphill.

There are still some remains of the Roman times, particularly the Temple of Hercules, which can be seen from all over the city.  Most of the hill top is taken up by the Umayyad Palace. This dynasty was huge. In about 700 AD the Umayyad empire had a population of 65 million people. That's the fifth largest empire ever.

The funny thing is, aside from the mosque, all that's left are the Roman ruins that they incorporated into their palace.

It is big though, because it included all the government offices for this part of the empire.

The view is great.

In the afternoon I decided to treat myself to a Turkish Steam Bath and Massage.

You get undressed and wrap yourself in a towel. The first part is a dry sauna, about 15 minutes of that. A cold shower, and it's off to a steam room. Fairly hot steam, with a mint aroma, is pumped into the room. Hot, humid, and foggy. Weird feeling. Another cold shower, and into a hot-tub. Quite warm. A neat feature is that there is a kind of a waterfall flowing into the tub. I was the only one in the tub, so I got to seat under the falling water the whole time.

From there you are placed on a hot stone table for 5 minutes. The stone was quite hot.

Then comes another stone table where you are scrubbed, very thoroughly, with a rough sponge. Both sides.

Next you are soaped, and again scrubbed, and rinsed. Finally there is a full body massage.

After a warm shower you are taken into the lounge where you can rest, and drink some juices. I certainly needed the rest. I was feeling a bit woozy, and lethargic.

You can stay there as long as you want, and they treat you to juices and water. Twenty minutes were enough for me. 

The whole thing took over an hour, and I feel very very clean.

I spent my last evening just walking. I am amazed at the number of dress stores. Some beautiful, very colourful dresses. Nothing I have seen on the streets. They must have a lot of fun dressing up at home. I will have to ask Rheem and Nour.

There is a large plaza in front of the Roman Theatre right across from my hotel it was full of families and teens. The little kids were rollerblading, playing tag, kicking a ball around. Very European, except for the dress. A scene you wouldn't see in North America.