Within half an hour of checking in late at night I had booked to go on a day trip outside of the city. As there was about half a dozen others it was a good way to meet other solo travelers. The landscape reminded me a lot of Egypt and Israel.
First stop were the Roman ruins at Umm Qais which also had a great view from the top.
Ajlun castle while being interesting was a bit too dark inside to get a photo.
After stopping for food the last stop just before it got dark were the Roman ruins at Jerash. This was easily the highlight of the first 2 days. We had over an hour to look around and needed it as well because it covered a big area.
That day was a good first impression of the country, there were plenty of tourists at the sights but not too many to ruin it. With that I booked a second day trip soon after getting back to Amman.
The Desert castles daytrip was one of them I would never have done had I gone to Jordan earlier on in the year. With no public transport out to the eastern desert there was no option but to go with a tour group. The city of Amman didn't seem to have a limit but the number of buildings, houses and people just got less and less the further away you got. In the end it was flat and featureless. It felt a bit strange seeing the road signs pointing towards the Iraq border.
Qasr Kharana was the first stop, we usually had about half an hour at each of the stops.
It was at Qasr Amra I learned that this featureless desert was once full of wildlife and only became how it was now in the last couple of generations due to the groundwater being pumped out of it.
Qasr Azraq
Qasr Hamman As Sarah was hardly worth stopping the car and getting out for.
Qasr Al Hallabat was the final stop of the day. Not a bad day out but it was very hot and dry. There was also the danger of getting "Castle burnout" (seeing so many that it becomes just another castle). I had a bit of a rest and an explore round Amman before heading south in the direction of Petra.
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