Reminiscence from the Levant: Part Fourteen – Overlooking the Holy Land
By the time I reached Amman, it was one past midnight… my Iraqi driver helped me in searching my hotel… I had written an email to one Hotel Farah in Amman for booking a room for me… it was a backpacker's den… a few steps away from the Farah Hotel was a cinema theatre, whose walls were plastered with Indian movie posters… I found out that this cinema hall specialized in Mithun Chakraborty's and Amitabh Bachchan's film… and showed it once a week… the cinema theatre manager told me that Amman has a significant Pakistani diaspora that comes to see these films, once in a while. He told me that these movies used to be popular among Jordanians too; however the interest has since waned.
From the sixth floor of the hotel one gets wonderful views of the city of Amman… Amman is located on a uneven terrain… therefore the views of Amman city, especially in the night, when it is littered with lights… are beautiful. Though, as I realized in the morning… Amman is hardly a touristy city… there is absolutely nothing in Amman worth stopping for… there is an amphitheatre of Roman era… but it is too small and too insignificant, when compared with that of Palmyra, Jerash or Bosra.
Initially, I had planned going to Bosra and Jerash… but when I was in Palmyra… people told me to avoid Jerash altogether… as it was nothing but a pedestrianized version of Palmyra… that falls in Jordan and therefore promoted vigourously… People, however, told me different versions for Bosra- for some it is a place worth going… for its amphitheatre is not only grand but also made up of totally different type of stone; but for others Bosra was avoidable… they said that there is absolutely nothing but an amphitheatre in Bosra and as such Bosra falls so off the route that it takes an entire one day to see just Bosra…. I chose to stick to the second version.
When I started the journey- all I wanted to visit was Syria and Jordan…. But having deleted Bosra and Jerash from my itinerary, I was wondering if I can make it to Jerusalem… Well, going to Jerusalem was not easy… particularly because I had done absolutely no research about it… and my itinerary was such that I just couldn’t have avoided landing in Jerusalem on either Friday or Saturday, if I wanted to visit Jerusalem. The two worst days to visit the city.
The morning next, therefore, I pushed ahead to Madaba… Amman's twin town… in fact Madaba is closer to Amman airport than the Amman city… it has few very good hotels, and if one lands in Amman airport, it makes sense to proceed to Madaba instead of Amman. Madaba is a more convenient base to see Mount Nebo, Bethany or Dead Sea.
It is a small little town with a significant Christian population. Back in Amman, I saw that the Islamic veils are more common than they were in Syria… despite the image that Jordan is a liberal country and Syria a conservative (actually it is other way round). Somebody in Madaba told me that it is due to its proximity with Saudi… he told me that Saudi influence is getting stronger day by day in Jordan. The Jordanian society is becoming increasingly conservative with each passing day.
I checked into a beautiful hotel called Mariam- run by a local Christian family. It was the most comfortable place I stayed during my entire journey in the Levant. It had a wonderful swimming pool; well kept rooms… abundant sunlight… the atmosphere was very friendly and cheerful. And the person who managed it (one Charles) was one of the friendliest people, one may come across.
The moment I stepped in the Hotel, I switched on the Television… for the last few days- I had lost count of what was happening around the world- it was providential enough that the very first news that I saw on television was of Abdullah Gul coming to power in Turkey. The news was symbolic… I was in a region that was getting increasingly Islamized in a radical way…. The countries that once held a hope of a more liberal version of Islam are increasingly threatened- be it Egypt, be it Turkey, be it Syria, be it Lebanon, be it Jordan. Are we losing the battle?
I planned to visit Mount Nebo and Dead Sea, later in the day. Before that however I wanted to see the beautiful Greek Church of Madaba that is famous for its mosaics…. I booked a taxi for Mount Nebo and Dead Sea… I also booked a taxi for Petra through the King's Highway for the day next.
Mount Nebo is the final resting place of Prophet Moses… he was buried over here by God (according to the Jewish traditions). It was here he was shown the panorama of the "Promised Land" by God; he however could not reach the "Promised Land", himself… At the place a beautiful Byzantine church was constructed… much of it got destroyed… and is currently being excavated… the Church holds the oldest Madaba mosaics within its folds. It takes not more than half an hour to visit this place. The place is calm and serene and the church has a very calming influence… from the cliffs of Mount Nebo, one gets breath-taking views of the Promised Land, the Jordan River Valley…. The guide told me that on a clear night one can see the lights of Jerusalem city from the place. Just ahead of cliff is the Brazen Serpent monument; According to the Jewish tradition the Brazen Serpent was used by Prophet Moses for doing miracles to protect his followers.
Dead Sea is magical… for all these years, I had heard that Dead Sea is like this and Dead Sea is like that…. But one look at Dead Sea and you know it is a special place. The backdrop of Dead Sea… is one of the most beautiful scenes one may come across. Dead Sea has a calming effect… the entire ambience of the place is soothing… a water body located amidst one of the driest terrains in the world.
Dead Sea is hyper saline… this means that its water has an oily feel…. It is so salty that if you taste it, you do not feel any taste at all… just dryness in your throat… it is so salty that if you splash it in your eyes, you are blinded for almost ten minutes. The famous mud pack of Dead Sea is over-rated, but leaves you with a nice feeling on your skin.
I stayed back to see the sunset in the Dead Sea. It was ethereal.
Somebody told me that Dead Sea is shrinking rapidly… in last four years… the banks of the Dead Sea have shrunk by almost 10 meters.
Initially, I had planned going to Bosra and Jerash… but when I was in Palmyra… people told me to avoid Jerash altogether… as it was nothing but a pedestrianized version of Palmyra… that falls in Jordan and therefore promoted vigourously… People, however, told me different versions for Bosra- for some it is a place worth going… for its amphitheatre is not only grand but also made up of totally different type of stone; but for others Bosra was avoidable… they said that there is absolutely nothing but an amphitheatre in Bosra and as such Bosra falls so off the route that it takes an entire one day to see just Bosra…. I chose to stick to the second version.
When I started the journey- all I wanted to visit was Syria and Jordan…. But having deleted Bosra and Jerash from my itinerary, I was wondering if I can make it to Jerusalem… Well, going to Jerusalem was not easy… particularly because I had done absolutely no research about it… and my itinerary was such that I just couldn’t have avoided landing in Jerusalem on either Friday or Saturday, if I wanted to visit Jerusalem. The two worst days to visit the city.
The morning next, therefore, I pushed ahead to Madaba… Amman's twin town… in fact Madaba is closer to Amman airport than the Amman city… it has few very good hotels, and if one lands in Amman airport, it makes sense to proceed to Madaba instead of Amman. Madaba is a more convenient base to see Mount Nebo, Bethany or Dead Sea.
It is a small little town with a significant Christian population. Back in Amman, I saw that the Islamic veils are more common than they were in Syria… despite the image that Jordan is a liberal country and Syria a conservative (actually it is other way round). Somebody in Madaba told me that it is due to its proximity with Saudi… he told me that Saudi influence is getting stronger day by day in Jordan. The Jordanian society is becoming increasingly conservative with each passing day.
I checked into a beautiful hotel called Mariam- run by a local Christian family. It was the most comfortable place I stayed during my entire journey in the Levant. It had a wonderful swimming pool; well kept rooms… abundant sunlight… the atmosphere was very friendly and cheerful. And the person who managed it (one Charles) was one of the friendliest people, one may come across.
The moment I stepped in the Hotel, I switched on the Television… for the last few days- I had lost count of what was happening around the world- it was providential enough that the very first news that I saw on television was of Abdullah Gul coming to power in Turkey. The news was symbolic… I was in a region that was getting increasingly Islamized in a radical way…. The countries that once held a hope of a more liberal version of Islam are increasingly threatened- be it Egypt, be it Turkey, be it Syria, be it Lebanon, be it Jordan. Are we losing the battle?
I planned to visit Mount Nebo and Dead Sea, later in the day. Before that however I wanted to see the beautiful Greek Church of Madaba that is famous for its mosaics…. I booked a taxi for Mount Nebo and Dead Sea… I also booked a taxi for Petra through the King's Highway for the day next.
Mount Nebo is the final resting place of Prophet Moses… he was buried over here by God (according to the Jewish traditions). It was here he was shown the panorama of the "Promised Land" by God; he however could not reach the "Promised Land", himself… At the place a beautiful Byzantine church was constructed… much of it got destroyed… and is currently being excavated… the Church holds the oldest Madaba mosaics within its folds. It takes not more than half an hour to visit this place. The place is calm and serene and the church has a very calming influence… from the cliffs of Mount Nebo, one gets breath-taking views of the Promised Land, the Jordan River Valley…. The guide told me that on a clear night one can see the lights of Jerusalem city from the place. Just ahead of cliff is the Brazen Serpent monument; According to the Jewish tradition the Brazen Serpent was used by Prophet Moses for doing miracles to protect his followers.
Dead Sea is magical… for all these years, I had heard that Dead Sea is like this and Dead Sea is like that…. But one look at Dead Sea and you know it is a special place. The backdrop of Dead Sea… is one of the most beautiful scenes one may come across. Dead Sea has a calming effect… the entire ambience of the place is soothing… a water body located amidst one of the driest terrains in the world.
Dead Sea is hyper saline… this means that its water has an oily feel…. It is so salty that if you taste it, you do not feel any taste at all… just dryness in your throat… it is so salty that if you splash it in your eyes, you are blinded for almost ten minutes. The famous mud pack of Dead Sea is over-rated, but leaves you with a nice feeling on your skin.
I stayed back to see the sunset in the Dead Sea. It was ethereal.
Somebody told me that Dead Sea is shrinking rapidly… in last four years… the banks of the Dead Sea have shrunk by almost 10 meters.
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