Middle-aged flash packers

To make up for our indolence of yesterday, we decided to get up early and visit Jerash Ruins followed by Ajloun Castle.

The ruins are of the ancient city Gerasa, possibly founded by Alexander the Great in 331BC, but then again maybe not. Whatever, It was a very important trade centre and became part of the Decapolis league – a group of ten cities which were semi autonomous from Rome . The city was extremely sophisticated with regular entertainment, Roman baths, shops and workshops- just the sort of place I would like to live in, those Romans had the right idea. It was destroyed by an earthquake in 749AD and remained buried under rubble until it was rediscovered in 1806.

The main areas of the city have been reassembled and it’s really quite superb. There is an amphitheatre, numerous temples, a colonnaded street amongst others, but my favourite section was the oval forum. It’s both elegant and majestic. If you come to Jordan, Jerash Ruins a must-see.

Next, a 30 minute drive to Ajloun Castle. Ajloun Castle’s claim to fame is its connection to the crusades and Saladin. Saladain was a revered Muslim leader and the castle was built by saladin’s nephew in order to repel crusaders.

The blurb at the visitor centre sees Saladin in a rosy glow. Kind, just and humane, he kept the crusaders at bay. Meanwhile Richard the Lion heart was such a beast that he not just beheaded everyone in one city but the cats and dogs too.

Although there isn’t much to get excited about the actual castle itself, the views from it are quite spectacular – you can see across to Israel and Palestine and have views of the Jordan Valley.

Next stop – lunch. The visitor centre had a restaurant so we ate there. S had sakshuka and the rest of us shared some starters – diy meze. All very delicious.

A spot of food shopping for evening bbq and it was back to the house. We tried a different route back to our accommodation as that ski slope of a hill is a bit of a nightmare, but even though it was a less steep route, it was longer so we decided that , all in all, the ski slope added a frisson of excitement we were prepared to put up with.

Day 2 of our Jordan Jaunt ended with a bbq and several games of pool, all of which team Jan and Nik won. Hopefully there will not be a pool table at our next abode.