Crossing the Middle East - the green way

Tom Hart (left) decided to follow his dream to travel in the footsteps of Lawrence of Arabia. Not the classic trip you see advertised in tour brochures, but the authentic way - overland through Egypt, Jordan and Syria then across Europe back to the UK. As he travels across the Middle East, he's reporting back to GreenTraveller on how he does it. Here's his third report, from Amman and Jerash in Jordan...

Amman and Jerash

After Petra, Amman was the next port of call. I stayed in an excellent hotel in Amman, the Palace Hotel. My room was clean and the people very helpful. I attempted to walk around the city which was a challenge as it is built across several hills (9 originally) so anything that looks close on the map is quite a hike! Despite this I managed to walk to the Roman Theatre which was impressive and to the citadel which had fantastic views over the city. There were some interesting ruins and the museum holds the dead sea scrolls.

The next day I went on a tour organised by the hotel to Um Quais, Ajlun, and Jerash. Um Quais is well worth a visit for the views over Golan Heights and the sea of Galilee. Ajlun was good but not the best castle in the area - wait for Crac de Chevaliers! Jerash was fantastic, some of the best ruins I have seen so far. At this time of year (July) the Jerash festival is in full swing, with all kinds of evening entertainment. As I was there during the day I missed the performance but I saw them practicing - Jordanian Guys in full Arab dress playing Scottish music on bag pipes, crazy! On returning to Amman I took a service taxi to Damascus in the evening. It cost 10 JD in a car which I shared with 3 other people. Border formalities were, for once, straightforward as I had a visa already – recommended.

Read about Tom's first leg of his journey: From Cairo to Dahab and the second: Jordan: Aqaba, Wadi Rumm, Wadi Musa and Petra.

You can follow Tom's overland trip across the Middle East on his Google Map.

Tom's trip was planned with help from Your Safe Planet.