After our Amman city tour, the 2nd day of our Jordan tour, will be focused on northern Jordan. We will leave Amman to go to Jerash and Ajlum and return to Amman at the end of the day. Everything was perfect except the rain which showed unfailing fidelity because it followed us everywhere and if it let us go at times it was only to come back better afterwards!
Road trip in the North of Jordan - Map of our itinerary
It took us the whole day to visit the two biggest tourist sites in northern Jordan: Jerash and Ajloum. Here is the itinerary of our route:
Northern Jordan - Visit Jerash
If generally a simple Routard or Lonely planet guide is enough to visit certain tourist sites, to Jerash (the city of 1000 pillars), I strongly advise you to take a local guide.
Indeed, Jerash is one of the most beautiful preserved Roman cities in the Middle East, very extensive geographically with a lot of vestiges. The ruins are numerous and impressive. Impossible to visit everything in half a day. The sites that I found the most interesting (to my taste) were:
- Hadrian's Arch,
- the Hippodrome,
- the long colonnaded street,
- theater.
Without a guide, it's difficult to know where to go first, which monuments to focus on and to understand the history of the place ... You can book a local guide at the entrance to the site in front of the ticket office, it will really give meaning and meaning. interest in your visit!
The ancient city of Jerash, inhabited without discontinuity for 6 years, experienced its golden age during the time of the Roman Empire. Hidden under the sand before being discovered and restored for 500 years, Jerash is adorned with cobbled streets, colonnades, immense temples on the crests of hills, theaters, public squares, thermal baths, walls ...
Its architecture, religion and history are the result of the mixing and coexistence of two powerful cultures, that of the Grecoromans of the Mediterranean and that of the Arabs of the East. What gives a tasty mixture of West and East!
Eat inexpensively in Jérash - Bon plan local restaurant
With the fatigue, the rain, the very very cool temperatures… at 13 pm we were obsessed with the idea of eating hot and plentiful. It was in a small restaurant across the street opposite the entrance to the Visitor Center that we could eat local and inexpensive (3 JOD a meal).
We tasted a mensaf (or Mansaf) which is the national dish of Jordan. It is a Bedouin specialty normally made from lamb cooked in curdled milk and served on a large platter with plenty of rice and mixed with almonds. Ours was made with chicken and was more than enough to satiate our hunger!
Northern Jordan - Ajloun and its fortified castle Qala'at ar-Rabad
After lunch, we take the road to Ajlum. The landscapes are superb with fields of olive trees and large wild spaces.
We arrive at the restored fortified castle of Qala'at ar-Rabad, located on a hill from which the view over Tiberias and Judea is impressive. A superb example of Islamic architecture, the fortress overlooks much of the Jordan Valley to the north.
Historically, it dominated the three main access routes to the Jordan Valley and protected the trade routes connecting Jordan and Syria. It became an important link in the chain of defense against the Crusaders who, for decades, tried in vain to seize the castle and the nearby village.
See the rest of our tour in Jordan with the 3rd day on the road of kings...