~Not All Who Wander Are Lost~: Way Up North!

On Kristen's second full day in Jordan, we headed "up north" to Umm Qais, Ajloun, and Jerash. I was particularly excited because I had never been to Umm Qais (Gadara) or Ajloun and kept hearing good things about this area of Jordan which includes the most fertile land in the country. It's not only the country's agricultural region (most notably olive trees) but also where my host family originates from (Ajloun).

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Even though it broke our independent travel hearts a little, we hired a taxi for the day in order to get in all three sites (warning: this is an epic post) and to avoid any Ramadan-related travel delays. I was most worried about unreliable bus times but we soon learned that opening times of historical sites are a little unreliable during Ramadan (we showed up to Jerash at 8 am like the website said but it didn't open until later) and the closing times are generally around 3 pm (instead of around 6 or 7 pm) so that everyone can get home for iftar.

We went to Umm Qais first--the farthest site at about an hour and a half north--and it did not disappoint. Umm Qais, or Gadara, is one of the 10 decapolis cities is not so much known for its size but for the juxtaposition of an Ottoman village next to the site. Roman ruins are found throughout the region but Ottoman houses are harder to come by even though the Ottomans came many years after the Romans.

Umm Qais is also known as the site where Jesus cast demons out from two men and into a herd of pigs (Matthew 8: 28-32) which then ran down into the Sea of Galilee. On a clear day you can see over to Syria and Israel/Palestine. The morning we went, however, it was surprisingly hazy and we even had trouble locating the Sea of Galilee until Kristen figured it out, then it was pretty obvious...

Kristen with the different black basalt columns

the Decumanus Maximus aka. the Main Drag

Columns!!! On a very hot day.

These large, blue lizards where everywhere--and they're fast!

Looking the opposite way down the main drag towards the Ottoman village

Sea of Galilee--hard to tell, right?

SEA it now?! (I outlined it in black)

I loved these black basalt columns

On a chair in the black basalt amphitheater which seats 3000

Sea of Galilee (to the left), Columns (middle), Ottoman village (right)

Isn't it quaint? You can tell Ottomans borrowed black basalt
stones from some of the Roman ruins

Trees!!!!!

The next stop on our itinerary was Jerash even though Ajloun appeared closer on the map. In order to get to Ajloun you have to drive all the way to Jerash and take a different road back up north for a bit. This was my third time visiting Jerash and I'm still amazed at how many new aspects I notice each time (most notably the churches and cathedral this time around). On top of that, we were lucky enough to hit a major attraction that I had never seen (wait for it)...

Courtyard of the Fountain

Kristen + Columns of the Cathedral

Entry to the Temple of Artemis

BAGPIPERS! It's the Jordanian Scottish bagpipe band!!!!!

Yes, this is very much for real

During "Saving Grace," a Scottish lady jumped town and said,
"I'm Scottish" and started skipping around and singing with the man
while he was trying to play his bagpipes mind you

I had read about these bagpipers in the guidebook en route to Jerash, but did not expect to see them. It was definitely a bit bizarre and I came away from the ancient ruins of Jerash asking myself: why is there a Jordanian Scottish bagpipe band? According to Wiki, the practice of the army's British bagpipe bands "made a favorable impression" and spread to parts of both the Middle East and Africa. So, in a word, colonialism.

Our final stop of the day was Ajloun Castle (Qala'at ar-Rabad). I was excited for Kristen to see another slice of the region's history--castles! This one wasn't a Crusader castle; it was actually built by one of Saladdin's generals as a counterpoint to the Crusader Belvoir Fort near the Sea of Galilee. The castle had tons of really cool (literally and figuratively) rooms, but the view definitely took the cake.