Jarash - The Final Day

 September 27

First and foremost......Happy Birthday to my adorable wife Kim (and her twin sister Karrie) today!  Ironically most of my wife's birthday was spent on a bus.  We were up and out the door, on the bus in Petra at 7:30 and embarked on a 4 1/2 hour ride to reach the ancient Roman city of Jarash.

We did stop about an hour and a half into our journey northward back towards our final destination of Amman for a short break, and the final two plus hours Rain told stories themed around the political-economic situation in Jordan.  Kept us entertained and made the drive go better.  Stopped for a wonderful, authentic Jordanian lunch at a nice restaurant then traveled another 40 minutes to reach the ancient ruins of Jarash.  First we got a panoramic tour as we circled the ruins in the bus as it is a huge city.  Then we disembarked and were led on a guided tour of the ruins.  Truly it was interesting and as a World History teacher I'm always intrigued by sites like this.  But even for me, especially after the LONG day yesterday followed by a LONG bus ride today, I was "ruined-out" largely.  Still fascinating to see.

The South Gate (smaller, less important of the two)

A race track!  The Hippodrome

The impressive (and important) North Gate

The Forum - unique in its circular / oblong shape

The blocks in the Forum - the Greeks laid the inner portion, note how they are SO random in size, shape and how they are laid out.  The outer, by the Romans who insisted on precision and exactness!

The Theatre - 2nd best preserved ancient theatre in Jordan

Larry in the "Reserved Section" - which ACTUALLY was....it was in the most shaded part of the theatre; the seats were individually cut with back rests and designed for your feet to swing comfortably below; AND were lettered for reserved seating!

We had not had a "Theatre Photo Op" the entire trip :)

The Theatre on the right - the Temple on the left

Panoramic view of Jarash

We arrived at the hotel about 5 pm, and it's an exclusive hotel - it's unfortunate that of the twenty of us only one couple will be here past an early breakfast hour, with some leaving as early as 9pm tonight.  Highlights.....certainly the Pyramids of Giza, going INTO the ancient tombs in the Valley of the Kings and seeing the paintings and inscriptions from 3000 to 5000 years ago STILL largely intact.  The boat ride down the Nile to the Nubian village - so cool....and for that matter every moment on the Osiris.  And Jordan was a pleasant surprise on all the days except the highlight day of visiting Petra which was just stunning.  But best of all were the people we met and shared our trip with.  The Viking staff, as always were so great, every one of them, but most especially our guide in Egypt, Hany was so fabulous and we had such a connection.  Our favorite staff member, Petra who took care of us and especially me with the desserts :)  And of course the life-long bonds we formed with John & Valerie and Larry & Lisa were priceless.  I had exceptionally high expectations for this trip, and it exceeded them by miles!  Next up, our Disney Christmas cruise with our youngest son, his wife and our grandson!

Larry - Lisa - Kim - Hany - Mark - Valerie - John

Our girl Petra