Night 2 and Day 3

...after our day trip to Jerash...we went back to the hotel for a nap...then Briana, Christina and I headed off with our Jordanian guide to see more of the sites which included a tour of the (late) King Hussein's Automobile Museum...unbelievable the amount of money in that museum on things that rust...of course they all were in mint condition...cars, motorcycles, amphibians, etc., etc.,...you name it and there was one of those there...cars that he bought, were given to him, etc.,...he had a need for speed so there were lots of sports cars there too...very interesting...Haitham spoke very highly of the late HRH...indicating that the Jordanian people really loved and respected him...apparently, one day before HRH's death he changed the law that once said that the new King had to be a full blooded Jordanian...however, he wanted his son, whose mother is British, to become King so he changed the law and it was so...probably to the chagrin of the son who had thought for 20 years that he would become king...ah, the life of the royals!!...

...after the car museum,we went to an amusement park...along with, it seemed, all of Amman, mostly young men...Haitham and his friend Ibraihim were very careful to keep themselves between us and the locals...it was really quite sweet...seemed like we were celebrities with body guards...in fact, at one point, to avoid having to wait in a horrendously long line to get on a ride (that I was sure was going to make me sick), Haitham told the gate keeper that he had 3 foreigners from the Canadian embassy with him...that's called 'wasta' so we got to move ahead in the line...it only worked the one time though...all good things must come to an end!! :)...we finally tired of the tremendous crowd and left in haste...traffic everywhere but Haitham is quite the driver and we managed to avert any traffic jams and accidents too thankfully...then it was on to the next destination...

...that was a little hole in the wall 'bakery' of sorts where the man was making fresh bread (croissant shaped) covered with sesame seeds...Ibraihim bought several, accompanied with hard boiled eggs and cheese which we were told to cut up and put in the middle of the bread along with salt, and some kind of spice and hot sauce if preferred (me, not so much)...DELICIOUS...we drank some very sweet tea as well, which was also YUMMY!!...

...next stop....gocarting....that was a BLAST FROM THE PAST...haven't been in a go-cart for years....managed to do 13 laps without wiping out but without winning any medals either...it was a lot of fun...to quote Dustin Hoffman in "Rain Man", "I am an excellent driver!!"...

...by this time, christina was ready to call it a night so we dropped her off...next stop was to see Haitham's cafe that he and his partner are renovating...it will be lovely when finished...it will be an artistic gallery, music haven and cafe...very progressive...after that we went to a traditional cafe that had been fashioned after the old style ones (although Haitham said that the old fashioned stairs and builing were repros of what used to be)...the night was passing by and our last stop was for ice cream before being dropped off at our hotel...to catch a few winks before getting up to leave for Petra...

...we boarded a van at 7 a.m. which drove us to Karak which was old ruins of (darned if i can remember)...very interesting with lots of nooks and crannies to peer through and take great pictures...we met up with a few girls who we finally found out that they were from china (took a while for me to make them understand i was asking them where they were from)...they wanted to have their pictures taken with Briana, christina and me...very cute...reminded me of being in korea...

...after 1.5 hours there, we boarded the van again for another 2 hour ride to finally arrive at the Movenpick hotel in Petra...our rooms weren't ready so we had lunch in the restaurant...very swiss hotel...nicer than the toledo in amman...finally got into our room and i made my way to the pool while briana and christina settled down for a nap...not much sun and a little cool by the pool so i headed back in to try to nap...not very successful so that's how i ended up here writing on my blog...travelling is great but this trip is very different...i think because i am feeling out of it being the oldest member of the group...oh, well, something i have to deal with...

...not sure what is in store for this evening but we have no jordanian guide to show up around so we will have to make our own kind of music...strike up the band....