Jordan - Madaba Part One

After spending a few days in Amman we went to Madaba. We had a booked a car from our hotel in Madaba to drive us there from Amman. We waited about 45 minutes before Richard, the driver who picked us up from the airport, convinced us that the other driver wasn't coming and he took us instead.

Madaba isn't the prettiest city.

The Mariam Hotel was 40 JOD ($57) a night. The room was clean and comfortable.

Our room had a balcony that overlooked the pool.

Our bathroom had the smallest shower in the history of the world.

Breakfast was included with our stay, and was served on the floor above us. Starting at about 1 AM every night we could hear them moving chairs and tables around for a few hours. The breakfast was ok, but after the delicious Jordanian-style breakfasts at the Pasha Hotel in Amman, this felt a little lacking. (Especially when one of the pancakes I tried to eat bested me at cutting it.)

The morning staff (a woman) was very pleasant and helpful. The man that worked the afternoon/evening shift was totally rude and not helpful. I'm sure he deals with plenty of obnoxious tourists, but we gave him no cause to act that way to us.

The Mariam Hotel also has a restaurant so we decided to try it the first night. It was incredibly disappointing. The food was all American items like hamburgers and french fries, and it took quite awhile to get our food. They brought it in from outside (we think the only kitchen was in the breakfast area in a completely different part of the hotel), and my friend joked that it tasted exactly how he expected McDonald's in Jordan to taste.  

We decided to eat only breakfast at the hotel, and were not disappointed with this decision. We found a little falafel shop with ever-changing prices that was ridiculously cheap and delicious nonetheless. In fact, all the shops had super cheap food, and it was all amazing. 

Hint: don't get the weird pickle-ish things that they always want to add to your sandwiches. 

They don't taste anything like any pickle you've ever had, and that's not a good thing. 

This whole lot only cost 3 JOD ($4.25)

Those cookies were addictive, and we're pretty sure the cake was Chiffon.

I think it's impossible to find anything but mind-blowing sweets in Jordan.
This batch alone was worth flying there.

My friend enjoying his tasty falafel sandwich. 

We mostly ate in our hotel rooms for the trip because people smoke heavily everywhere, there are few places to actually sit down, and we were terrified of getting food poisoning. The added bonus was that we could take pictures of our food without looking like crazy people. 

30 Days of Indie Travel Art Project (3-5)

Day 3: Travel Style 

I've traveled by airplane, bus, ferry, train, hitchhiking, walking, coach, taxi, truck, and camel. Trains are my favorite mode of transport, and camels my least.

I've stayed in massive hostels, medium-sized hostels, a bed and breakfast, smaller hostels, private homes in the suburbs, city, and countryside; in flats, hotels, Bedouin tents, under the stars in the desert, and one uncomfortable night in an airport. They were, with the exception of the hostel in Glasgow, fabulous.


Day 4: Favorite Method of Overland Travel

Trains are the best way to get around, if you can afford it. You can take a nap, walk around, eat a meal,  have a beer; whatever you like. You don't have to worry about traffic jams, and they mostly (depending on country) run on time. I usually spend the first part of my journey staring out the window at the scenery, but sooner or later I end up taking a nap. Something about trains puts me right to sleep.


Day 5: Passions Other Than Travel

Food!
I think I've devoted enough posts on the subject of strange and wonderful foods for this to not surprise anyone. With each new country I visit I discover a fantastic new food that I will miss when I leave. (If anyone can point me to a restaurant/pub/food stall that sells American style biscuits in the UK I will love you forever.)

Reading!
I am so glad I brought my Kindle along with me. It has made torturous coach rides tolerable, and kept me entertained while rabbit-sitting in the middle of nowhere on rainy days.

Knitting!
I brought a selection of knitting needles with me from the US. So far I've knit two hats, a shawl that took so long I can't even fathom it, and a Harry Potter scarf bookmark. I need to get to work on some baby toys I promised a certain someone... 

Jordan - Arriving in Amman

My friend and I decided to go on holiday (yeah I went on holiday while traveling) to a warmer climate. Turns out, Jordan can be down right chilly in March.

We landed at Queen Alia International Airport, near Amman, and were met by our driver, Richard. Passport control at the airport was simple enough, at least for UK and US travelers. Present your passport and 25 JOD (Jordanian Dinar) to the man at the desk, he stamps it, passes it to the guy next to him, he puts stickers on it, gives it back to you, and off you go. You must pay the fee in JOD. I saw an ATM before we got to passport control, but you should probably make sure you have 25 JOD on you before leaving your home country.

That's me, my friend, and Richard at Al Mujib Dam. 

(A bit on driving in Jordan-
We could have rented a car, but there's no way I would have been able to cope with driving there, and my friend doesn't drive. While there seem to be few rules of the road, there are plenty of speed bumps that sometimes appear out of nowhere. Sometimes two-way streets become one-way because there are a lot of cars going one direction and they just decide to drive in the oncoming lanes. Most lanes aren't really marked, and even when they are they sometimes disappear suddenly. Parking is a nightmare. People manage to squeeze their cars into spots that seemed to defy the laws of space and time. Everyone speeds, everywhere, even on winding mountain roads. There are few traffic lights. The traffic jams during rush hours (morning, lunch, evening) are crazy. You don't get a turn, you take it or you'll be sitting in one spot for a few hours. If you have nerves of steel and can be very aggressive while driving, give it a chance, you'll see way more of the country that way. If you don't, get a driver, we recommend Richard.)

Richard took us to the Amman Pasha Hotel for 25 JOD ($35) which is the standard fare. It takes roughly an hour during light traffic. The hotel was excellent. I highly recommend it, although some of their rooms are significantly better than others.

Our first room 33 JOD ($46.60) a night.
It was quite a large room, and the bed was comfy.

Lovely spacious bathroom in first room.

For some reason I didn't take a picture of our second room. 

It was also 33 JOD ($46.60) a night, but it was just big enough to fit a queen bed in and shuffle around. 

Bathroom in second room. No tub this time.

I took this standing in the shower. 

It was a bit of an awkward bathroom to be honest.

London:The Who Shop

I was back in London for more cat-sitting last week and decided it was time to venture out of the city center and see The Who Shop. It was an easy journey via the London Underground. My house-sitting host had given me an Oyster card with money already on it so I didn't have to pay anything to ride the tube from Victoria Station to Upton Park, a journey that would have cost me £9.40/$15.23 round-trip if I had paid in cash (it cost £5.40/$8.75 when using my card). If you're going to visit London and plan to do much non-walking traveling at all I highly recommend getting an Oyster card. You can get visitor cards at various tube, overground, and rail stations in London.

The Who Shop was a short walk from the tube station and in an area with a variety of interesting shops and restaurants. The shop itself was fairly small, but really packed with all sorts of Doctor Who items. I found a little backpack for £3/$4.84 that will be perfect for carrying bottles of water and snacks while in Jordan.

There's also a "museum" in the back of the shop filled with props and things from over the 50 years Doctor Who has been on the air. I paid the £3/$4.84 to go back for a look. You enter by unlocking the TARDIS in the shop, which is a nice touch. That alone is worth the £3 to many Whovians. The museum wasn't terribly impressive, but now I can say I've been.

I'd only recommend going to The Who Shop and seeing the museum bit if you are a totally crazed Whovian, otherwise it's not worth the trip nor the £3. 

Before and After

It was a glorious morning here in Oban so I decided to walk up Battleship Hill. I wasn't exactly sure which hill it was, but everyone said it was behind Dunollie Castle so I figured it wouldn't be too difficult. It only takes about 15 minutes to get to the castle, especially if you go via the walking path and not the road along the water.

The path takes you to a gate, and then it's sheep pasture the rest of the way. It wasn't problematic until I got to about halfway up where there was another gate. The mud was deceptively deep and I sank pretty far down. I'm so glad I decided to buy new boots. My Simple wool boots would have been ruined. 

Here's the view from the hill looking down at Dunollie Castle. 

See the rain in the distance? It took about 15 minutes for it to reach me. Luckily, I had my rain jacket. Unluckily, IT HAILED. I just waited the shower out partially sheltered from the hail by some rocks.

Here's the same view after 15 min rain/hail shower. 

I love Scotland, you get rewarded with rainbows so close you can almost touch them.  
Can you see the snow on the distant peaks?

I didn't fancy another pelting of hail so I decided to head back into town. 

Isle of Skye

Today I took a minibus (van) tour of Skye. The one I took picked me up at my hostel at 11:30, and dropped me off again at 16:25. (Cost £35.)

We saw the Old Man of Storr (almost visible here). 

The gorgeous Mealt Waterfall with Kilt Rock in the distance.

The East Face of the Quirang

 The Cuillin Hills

It was beautiful; windy, rainy, and cold. 

I'll be heading back to Oban tomorrow morning, but now it's time for soup and tea. 

Loch Ness and Urquhart Castle

On Saturday I left Oban by bus (£9.40 to Fort William plus £10.20 to Urquhart). When I got to Urquhart Castle I realized that paying wasn't optional. The toilets, gift shop, view of the water, and tour of the castle were all one entrance. Since the next bus to Kyleakin was in six hours I decided to pay the £7.90 admission.

View of Loch Ness from the footpath to Drumnadrochit.

The full story is that I missed my stop at Urquhart and got off 2 miles down the road at the next stop. Luckily, there was a paved footpath along the road back to the castle, unluckily, I was carrying my 20 pound pack. 

I read every plaque and walked every inch of the castle ruins. That took about an hour, with much staring out at the water. 

View from castle ruins; of part of castle and Loch Ness. 

I then bought a hot chocolate at the cafe (£2.50) and plunked myself down at one of their tables watching movies on my phone until they closed at 16:30. 

I walked around the gift shop for a bit then decided I'd rather sit outside and hope a bus came early. It didn't. I waited outside until 17:45. In the rain. The bus to Kyleakin was £20.40!! And it was dark out so I didn't even get to enjoy the view. I wasn't expecting to spend so much on bus fare, and I had just enough. 

Skye Backpackers was mercifully close to the bus stop in Kyleakin. I stayed in one of the caravans (Starship Enterprise, Sulu bed) behind the hostel (£12/night). 
It's a bit loud and chaotic here compared to Oban. The showers are spread out in the main building, and aren't as nice as Oban's. The people tend to clump together based on language spoken, which is unfortunate. It's not a bad hostel by any means, and the price is good, but it isn't as homey as Oban. 

Manly Scottish Battle Cry

A fellow American traveler and I decided to walk to Dunstaffnage Castle today. It was supposed to be an hour walk there. It took us five hours round trip.

On the way there we stopped at the beautiful beach just a ways outside Oban and climbed a hill. 

We also encountered some ferocious young Highlanders practicing their battle cries.

Then we walked to Dunstaffnage Castle while discussing David Tennant's beauty and Scottish men's general sexiness. 

Kilmartin Standing Stones

Saw my first proper standing stones today. Another traveler and I took the bus (£5 one way) to Kilmartin this morning. It was a lovely drive, and there were only three of us on the coach! The bus schedule was a little limited so although we set off early in the morning we ended up missing the only afternoon bus back to Oban. We decided to hitchhike back to Oban. We only waited about 15 minutes before someone picked us up. The gentleman was nice and friendly, and pointed out interesting bits of history along the way. He was kind enough to drop us off right in the center of Oban.

Cairn with Stone Circle

This was a standing stone formation just outside the town. They say it's an X-formation aligned to the phases of the moon. 

Train through Cyrodiil

Today I took the train from Glasgow to Oban. The scenery on the way here was gorgeous. I swear this is what Cyrodiil was based on. I didn't get any pictures though because the rain on the windows obscured the view too much.

Here's a look at Oban though. I like it much better than Glasgow.

And an obligatory view of my room at Oban Backpackers (£17/night in the 6-person female dorm). I'm in the Cinderella bed. :) So far, I'm the only one in there. 

I'm in Dublin!

This is me just before take-off. I looked a bit rough upon landing. Didn't sleep a wink, but did rewatch Star Trek: Into Darkness. My seat mate was a pretty blonde Irish woman with a good sense of humor.

I took an overpriced (€6), but comfy bus to my hostel, Jacob's Inn, from the airport. Check-in wasn't until 3:00 pm so I locked my bag in a locker (€2/day €10 deposit) and wandered around for a bit. I happened to return to my hostel just as a walking tour was leaving so I joined up with them. It was interesting, but I was so tired I had to go back after only half the tour. 

I took a nap on one of the couches in the hostel's lobby (along with several other weary travelers). 

After a nap in my 8 person dorm room I ventured back downstairs to use the wifi and locked myself out. Classy. The staff gave me a temp key though so there wasn't any problem. 

I'm going to try to get up early tomorrow to catch the ferry to Holyhead and then take a train to Glasgow. 

Night all.