Jerash and Madaba

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During my stay in Amman I went to visit the ancient ruins of Jerash. On a friday morning (the muslim’s sunday) Andrew, Claire and the kids gave me a ride to the bus stop where I could catch a bus to Jerash. When I arrived it turned out I couldn’t catch a bus there so I took a 1JD taxi to a bigger bus terminal. Once again people said that because it was friday it would be difficult to catch a bus to Jerash but 3 other people were going that direction and I asked if I could share the taxi. We were about to get on the taxi when a bus arrived going to the direction of Jerash so we jumped in. In Jordan busses don’t go until they are full so we had to wait about 20-30 minutes before departing.

I finally arrived in Jerash and I was starving so I looked for some food but it was so hard to find, everything was closed but finally I found a falafel place and got a falafel for 0.30 JD!!! That’s like fifty US cents! (compared to $5 per falafel in Israel, that's 1000% cheaper!)

I went to Jerash without knowing much about it and left still not knowing much about it. I do know that the place was impressive!

Right now there are a whole lot of columns in Jerash and one can get kind of tired of them but when you imagine what the place was like many years ago you can't help but be surprised and in awe at the beauty of the ruins and what it once was.

The entrance gate- The Arch of Hadrian

Typical Jordanian headscarf

One of the main pieces of the ruins is the Oval Forum, which was kind of the main square of Jerash.

From there I just kept walking through an avenue of columns where I met a guide who showed me how the columns were made and how they could shake and move but they haven't come down because of their anti seismic construction.

After walking through the alley of columns I ended up in the Nymphaeum, a monument for the Nymphs.

And went up the stairs of the beautiful Temple of Artemis that overlooks the "modern" city of Jerash.

And of course I found yet another Roman Amphitheater.

From there I started to walk towards the exit but on a higher path and the view of the roman ruins was just incredible.

Wild flowers along the path

Stop to appreciate the view... next to the boy with that annoying kite!

I ended my visit to Jerash by sitting on top of a rock overlooking the Oval Forum and the city behind it!

Another day I visited the beautiful city of Madaba, famous for its 6th century mosaics!

The streets of Madaba

The people of Madaba

When I entered the church I was so impressed by the size and beauty of the mosaics!

My favorite site in Madaba was the Orthodox church of St. George where they had a mosaic map of the middle east (well, some countries) that was just beautiful and so amazing to think that is that old!

Map of Jerusalem

The Jordan River (I think! haha)

Now off to Petra! <3

About Post Author

Andrea

Hi! It's me... Andrea! In 2016 I decided to drop everything and take a year to enrich my life and travel around the world. It turns out the world is just too big for 12 months! Still on the road and sharing my experience as a solo female traveler around the globe!