After an amazingly tortuous final approach through Jordanian air space, the British Airways Tristar finally landed safely at Amman airport, and there I was, in the Middle East for the first time. As I was actually on my way to Baghdad, I then queued at…Read More

After an amazingly tortuous final approach through Jordanian air space, the British Airways Tristar finally landed safely at Amman airport, and there I was, in the Middle East for the first time. As I was actually on my way to Baghdad, I then queued at the "Transit" desk.

When I finally reached the front of the queue and had my ticket and passport examined, I received a perfunctory "No!"

It transpired that my excess baggage charge had not been paid for the Amman to Baghdad leg of the journey. He waved me away with "You will have to go to the office!" I then had to almost beg him to tell me where this was.

It involved passing through several "checkpoints" manned by armed troops. Being in a pinstripe suit, however, I just wandered through. I was a little concerned that the return journey might not be so easy!

I also had to pass through several - shall we say - lounges, full of thick choking smoke, emanating from Arab cigarettes. The smoke was being exhaled by hordes of people that would have looked at home "falling" on a Turkish train with Lawrence. They were even wearing the right "uniform". The noise and smell was agricultural and astonishing.

A huge Jordanian policeman took pity on me and appointed himself my escort, but the worrying part of this was that he then proceeded to beat anyone who inadvertently got in his way, on the back, with his stick! For a moment I had an insight into the last thoughts of Gordon at Khartoum.

When finally I reached "the office", the man there made a note on my ticket and waved me away to "Mr. Haleed, downstairs".

Mr. Haleed stared into space, formulating his instruction, before waving me away with, "Excess fares desk".

The excess fares official required six Jordanian Dinars. Which was exactly what I did not have. And of course the money changer was ... on the other side of the cigarette smokers!

The exchange desk could not have been more like bedlam. One bellowing official was being shouted down by 50 Arabs -- and the man in the pinstripe suit.

By the time I finally paid the excess fare charge, the "smokers" were greeting me like an old friend and a great shout went up every time I traversed the lounges.

I was now, after an hour of to-ing and fro-ing, given my boarding pass at the original desk.

Timidly I enquired what to do next. "Departure Lounge" waved the official.

"Hello!" roared the smokers!

Now, while staring at and trying to decipher the departures board, it suddenly dawned on me that, an hour and a half previously, I had left the carrier bag containing my Heathrow duty-free purchases and camera at the first desk. Horror!

I dashed back, fearing the worst, through loud cheers and applause from the smokers, only to find that I had sparked a security alert, and the whole area was cordoned off by troops, guarding my belongings.

Very embarrassing!

More loud cheers and applause from the smokers.

With some relief I sat down with a "coke", but then noticed that my flight was not on the departures board.

I joined a couple of UN officials and an engineer from Wigan and discovered that "they never show that flight ---- for security reasons".

But a rumour spread through the lounge some thirty minutes later that the flight was leaving.

The aircraft was surrounded by armed guards and wire fences. The passengers were told to identify their baggage and board the plane. Wonder of wonders - there was mine. All of it.

I boarded, took a window seat, strapped myself in, and avoided eye-to-eye contact until we were airborne. Two East Africans who fell afoul of the Iraqi Airways policy of 'keep selling tickets until they stop buying them', were shown off the plane by armed guards, as there were not enough seats left.

After the 'meal', the air filled with cigarette smoke, and I came very close to re-enjoying the humus.

At the Iraqi border, all the plane’s lights were extinguished and the window blinds lowered, and the plane descended to treetop height. "So we didn't get shot down". I incurred the wrath of an Arab harridan in stewardess uniform when I tried to peep under a blind. A very eerie landing followed. I'm sure the pilot was fighting the combined will power of 150 passengers straining to keep the plane airborne.

Thankfully, once in the terminal building, I was through customs and immigration in a flash and on my way to the city.

I had never flown Royal Jordanian. I boarded in Frankfurt with a group of educators going to some sort of convention. They were out of their seats during the entire flight passing around food from 15 or 20 different countries. As we…Read More

I had never flown Royal Jordanian. I boarded in Frankfurt with a group of educators going to some sort of convention. They were out of their seats during the entire flight passing around food from 15 or 20 different countries. As we approached Amman, it seemed that we were going to land right in the middle of the dessert. I couldn't see a city anywhere. The sand began to show signs of green as we came closer to the runway, and then we were down. Luckily I was sitting to a man who had traveled to Amman many times before. He gave me the tip to change some money for dinars near the gate. I changed my money and then as I approached immigration I saw the stream of my fellow travelers heading back to the Money Exchange near the gate. Since the cab drivers also wanted to be paid in dinars, I was set. The cab ride into town was about forty five minutes. I was impressed with a city that seemed to cover an area of rolling hills. At night I was reminded of Calgary. The buildings were almost all low rise and made of white cement. My hotel (the Marriott) was in a part of the city that seemed to be filled with other hotels and offices.Close

Visiting the Dead Sea is a bizarre experience: it's impossible to sink, nothing lives in the water, and you're so far below sea level that it can take hours to get sunburned. It's much better to experience the Dead Sea from Jordan than Israel--the water…Read More

Visiting the Dead Sea is a bizarre experience: it's impossible to sink, nothing lives in the water, and you're so far below sea level that it can take hours to get sunburned. It's much better to experience the Dead Sea from Jordan than Israel--the water is much deeper here. You can paddle around in the water and even read a book or newspaper without needing a raft. If you're a woman that gets excited about mud packs at a spa or beauty salon, you can scoop up your own and get a major treatment here. It takes about an hour to get here from Amman, depending on whether you get lost leaving the city. There are a few hotels lining the shore if you have time to spend the night: the Movenpick Resort Hotel and Spa is the best in the area.Close

Jordan's main flight hub is Amman's Queen Alia International Airport - it is based 32km south of Amman and should cost no more than 15JD to reach, however, taxi drivers are known to try and charge 25JD upwards. Make sure you agree your price first…Read More

Jordan's main flight hub is Amman's Queen Alia International Airport - it is based 32km south of Amman and should cost no more than 15JD to reach, however, taxi drivers are known to try and charge 25JD upwards. Make sure you agree your price first and also try to have the correct money.

If you are looking to travel towards India then Air Arabia flying via Sharjah in the UAE is an ideal option. Despite rumours, exit tax IS ALWAYS included in the price of the air fare from this airport. The airport has 2 terminals made up of 2 separate sections, arrivals and departures, the departure areas have very little in the way of entertainment or food and it's mainly just a gate into the departure lounge - however if you arrive early, you will not be allowed through until 3 hours before the flight. Once you get through that gate, all your luggage is scanned in a machine and those with electronic goods or other dubious looking things are labelled with a blue sticker "security desk", they don't seem particularly thorough at this security desk, so it won't take you too long. After that it is off to customs and into the shopping and seating area until 30 minutes before your flight when you can go through to the gate and boarding begins. There is quite a good choice of duty free goods and there are a lot of staff on hand to help out - who most definitely speak English and Arabic, perhaps some other languages too.

There is also a bus leaving from the 7th circle of Amman near the Safeway's which goes out to the airport, however its departure times seem slightly unreliable in the night and early morning, after about 8am - they leave at regular 30 minute intervals.Close

Well, I have had massages and other treatments before. Along with my cousins and friends, we all made reservations for a few hours at the spa next door. We were staying in the Marriott, and the resort next to us, the Movenpick, had…Read More

Well, I have had massages and other treatments before. Along with my cousins and friends, we all made reservations for a few hours at the spa next door. We were staying in the Marriott, and the resort next to us, the Movenpick, had a nice spa with a salt-water pool.

It was great! We had total-body mud wraps after we got out of the steam room. The mud was warm, but they say it is good for your skin. I was relaxed, and it felt pretty good.

After that we cleaned up and swam in a special salt-water pool. It wasn’t just any salt water; it was the water from the Dead Sea! It took some getting used to!! It was neat. After that we went to another pool that overlooked the Dead Sea.

The treatment basically cost us about $60 per person. They have all kinds of packages.

It takes the better part of a day, but it's an interesting excursion to head out of Amman and make a loop through the 'desert castles.' Calling them castles is a bit of a stretch, but these 7th-century buildings are still worth a visit. They're…Read More

It takes the better part of a day, but it's an interesting excursion to head out of Amman and make a loop through the 'desert castles.' Calling them castles is a bit of a stretch, but these 7th-century buildings are still worth a visit. They're as interesting for their cultural revelations as they are for their architecture. One was a former Roman fort that was converted to a pleasure palace for travelers. The second was a hunting lodge and bath house. The castle in Azraq was used a base by Lawrence of Arabia and this oasis town is full of both legitimate and shady merchants going to and from Iraq. The Amra castle (pictured here) is the best preserved, and gives an interesting history lesson. Here in the early days of Islam, the doctrine was not nearly so uptight: frescoes on the walls not only depict real people, but they feature some frolicking nudes as well.

The best way to do this trip through the desert is to get a group together and spring for a sturdy rental car--preferably one with powerful A-C. Close

The city of Amman was rather large and rather modern. We stayed in the penthouse suite at the Four Seasons Hotel. On our first night there, we went to dinner at a fabulous restaurant; however, I was too inebriated at the time to…Read More

The city of Amman was rather large and rather modern. We stayed in the penthouse suite at the Four Seasons Hotel. On our first night there, we went to dinner at a fabulous restaurant; however, I was too inebriated at the time to remember the name of it.Close