Turkey: Kars, Ani

Spring Break Day Ten (continued from part nine)

The hotel served a good breakfast, though unusual by American standards: eggs, olives, bread, tea, honey, molasses, and some sort of sweet fudge-like squares.

Celil met us at 9am and drove us the 45km to Ani, the medieval capital of the Armenian Kingdom. When we arrived at Ani, we were given specific instructions: we were not to go on the citadel, near the bridge or the stream, or down into any valleys. I didn't ask what would happen, but I imagine arrest and deportation would be options. It doesn't make sense to me that Turkey controls the former Armenian capital, especially since it's situated right on the Armenian border, but raising political questions like that didn't seem like a good idea either.

Just outside the Ani site.





As you can tell from the pictures, the Ani site is spread out across a wide expanse. Most of the buildings that remained were churches from around the year 900 to 1100. There was also a palace, a fortress (prohibited), some houses, some shops, and a wine press located on the site.

The site takes a couple hours to walk around and fully appreciate. There were only a handful of tourists there, and the village around Ani only has a few people living in it. As a result, the whole site is quiet and peaceful.

Various pictures from the ruined city of Ani.










You can get very close to the Turkish-Armenian border at the site, close enough to throw a rock across the stream that separates the two countries. Some of the staff walked around to let people know which areas were off-limits. We noticed three soldiers who were making patrols, one carrying a teapot, no less.

The stream separating the two countries.



Soldiers passing by, one carrying a teapot.



After returning to Kars, I wandered around the city a bit, venturing up to the citadel and near some of the ancient hammams which reside in the city. I had dinner at a restaurant on Ataturk Cad, though I don't remember the name. The staff didn't know any English, but it was obvious they were excited to have a foreigner eat there. I couldn't understand anything on the menu, so I picked something at random, and it turned out to be a plate with meats prepared in various ways. The food was great, and they treated me like a VIP.

That night I wandered around the city a bit more, visiting a couple Internet cafes. Although only half the size of Van, there was something about Kars that made it more interesting. The only tourists I saw in the city were the ones I had already met, including a British guy who was on a motorcycle trip from Greece to India.

Ataturk Cad in Kars at night. I don't know the reason for the lights.


Outside my hotel in Kars.

Jordan: Amman

Spring Break Day Three (continued from part two)

The third day I decided I had enough of the Faris Wings Hotel, and I would find another. I went to the place where I was originally going to check out when I arrived in Amman, called Cliff Hostel. It was right in the middle of Downtown, above a bakery and and a coffee shop. The change in atmosphere was marked. The previous "hotel" was dreary, depressing, and dirty, and I was the only one staying there. Cliff Hostel had some character, and was run by a very knowledgeable Palestinian man who spoke fluent English. The price was only 4JD per night (around $6) to split with two other roommates. I couldn't believe that I paid 60 dinars to stay in that other hotel for three nights. There was a lounge with all sorts of information about Jordan, and there were a bunch of other young backpacking travelers who were staying there. My roommates that night were Argentinian and German, respectively, so it was interesting to hear of their travels.

I spent Sunday visiting the sites in Amman, first heading up to the Ummayad Palace atop the Citadel. The Ummayads build their palace here before the medieval times, and much of it still remained. The view from Jabal al-Qalaa (Citadel Hill) was probably the best view in all of Amman. You could clearly see from the Citadel the hills upon which Amman is built.

Views of Amman from the Citadel.






The ruined Ummayad Palace.




For some reason, a US Air Force plane over Amman.


There was also an impressive archaeological museum atop the citadel, with artifacts dating as early as the Bronze Age up until the Islamic Age. A few of the Dead Sea Scrolls from Qumran were housed there.

Artifacts from the archaeological museum.




After the Citadel, I headed to what is known as Roman Amman, where several structures from the Roman occupation remain. The most impressive of these is the Roman Theatre, which is almost entirely intact after two millennia.

Views from the Roman Theatre.




Next to the Roman Theatre is the Odeon, which is essentially a smaller theater which could fit a couple hundred people perhaps.

The Odeon.


On the site of the Roman Theater are the Folklore Museum and the Museum of Popular Traditions, which had some interesting displays of Jordanian culture.

Exhibits in the Folklore Museum


A few blocks away is the ruined Nymphaeum, a Roman shrine to the Nymph goddesses. There isn't much left of it to see.

Nymphaeum.



Afterward I wandered around Downtown for awhile, though that doesn't take very long. Amman has been inhabited for many millennia, and it is known in the Bible as the land of the Ammonites. However, the city of Amman only emerged as a significant city in the 20th century. Therefore, the Downtown area is quite small and doesn't compare to Cairo or from what I've read, any of the other major Middle Eastern cities. There are a number of shops, mostly selling modern goods like DVDs and fashionable clothing. The one thing that is distinctive is the Gold Sooq, an area of shops which sell quality gold jewelry at some of the lowest prices in the world.

That night I went to church in the Shmeesani district of northwestern Amman. The church, Sacred Heart, was located on the site of the French Catholic school Freres College. Although it was Easter elsewhere in the world, it was Palm Sunday here because they wanted to show togetherness with the Greek Orthodox Churches in the country. Interestingly, almost the entire parish was Filipino, with some Indian parishioners, which suggests there is a large Asian population in Amman. I talked to the priest after Mass and it turned out he was a Jesuit from Boston.

Sacred Heart Church at Freres College in Shmeesani.


By the end of the third day, I felt I had gotten enough of an impression of Jordan to make a comparison to my experiences in Egypt. On the whole, Jordan seemed much calmer, more liberal, and more civilized than Egypt. The most noticeable difference was the traffic situation. There are actually traffic lights, stop signs, and traffic officers in Jordan, and cars obey them. Taxi drivers actually use a meter rather than the "however much you want to pay me" system in Egypt. In many respects, Egypt has a sort of lawlessness about it, whereas adherence to the laws in Jordan makes for an entirely different atmosphere.

In terms of clothing, it seemed most people dressed according to Western standards, at least in Amman. I did not see anyone wearing the jalabeyya (traditional robe) in Amman, though I did see a few when I went to the less populated areas of Jordan. Only about half of the women in Amman were veiled, compared to nearly all women in Cairo. It seemed like there was more freedom for Jordanian teenagers to have a variety of haircuts and clothing styles, whereas in Egypt there seems to be boundaries for what is acceptable. I even saw many teenagers wearing shorts.

It also seemed that Jordanians are far more patriotic than Egyptians, though whether it was genuine or not, I can't really determine. Many cars and buses were decorated with Jordanian flags and other sorts of memorabilia. What was particularly entertaining was the fact that you can't go anywhere in Jordan without seeing a giant picture of King Hussein. He can be seen in the pictures wearing his military uniform, traditional Jordanian clothing, a suit, or some other attire, but in each picture he always has a big smile. It seems like every street and institution in Jordan is named after the king or the queen.

The major irritating thing that was no different from Egypt was getting change for bills. Some people would refuse your payment unless you had exact change, or at the very least would get irritated if you presented large bills. Even giving a 1 dinar bill for a 45 piaster charge irritated people. The key, I found, is to get your change at restaurants and large stores, where they are more likely to have lots of bills, and save them for buses and other places where they are unlikely to have change.