Welcome to Amman!

Or Philadelphia! No! We did not catch the wrong plane or think that Amman and Philly are the same city! Amman, was once called Philadelphia by Ptolemey II Philadelphius. Over the years the name changed to Amman – how you get from Philadelphia to Amman (as in the name), I have no idea.

We arrived at 4:30 PM today. Our flight from JFK was alright – mostly event-less since we slept for 9 out of the 12 hours. Both of us have a cough and cold that we picked up a day before we left SF. One of the first things I noticed as the plane taxied to the terminal was an Iraq Airways jet! Wow! Yes, I know Jordan is right next to Iraq, but seeing that plane made me really feel I was in the middle east!

Immigration was a breeze since we already got our visa in SF. The only question asked was where we were going to stay. Our bags were the first few to arrive . Outside in the arrivals area, I withdrew some money from one of the many ATMs and then proceeded to take a taxi to our hotel.

A word of caution to those who plan to do the same:

1) Hold on to your luggage and do not let them “help” you with it. For about 30 seconds of help they will ask you for a “baksheesh”. Whether to give or not, it’s up to you.

2) Talk directly to the fellow in charge of giving you an official taxi. At least that way you might not get completely ripped off. The cost should be no more than 18-20 JD (as of December 2008).

3) There is an Airport Taxi service (yellow color booth) that advertises 18.75 JD to Amman and that seems reasonable. Next time we come, I might just take that to avoid situation #1 (after a long flight I’m in no mood to get ripped off).

The drive was nothing to remember since the airport is on the outskirts of Amman. However, when we hit the city, there was a bit of traffic and some pretty aggressive driving on the road, but nothing we’ve not seen before. At one point, our taxi driver took his prayer beads and started praying. My first thought was: Is he praying so we don’t get stuck in traffic! :) We heard a muezzin call to prayer and I’m sure he was just compensating for the fact that he could not be at a mosque at that time.

After a 30-40 minute drive we arrived at our hotel: The Le Meridian Amman in the Shmeisani district of Amman. Check in was a breeze. Heena was not feeling well at all and instantly fell asleep. Initially, we had planned to go out, but given her condition it was not a good idea, so we decided to order in something simple and familiar. There was a Pizza Hut about 15 minutes away and I figured I could walk there and order a pizza delivery. It would allow me to stretch my legs and also get to see the neighborhood. I really enjoyed walking along the quiet and impeccibly clean streets. It seemed to be a mix of residential and business buildings. Some buildings were entirely office spaces but most residential buildings had a bank or office on the ground floor (first floor in America). There were a few lovely bungalows. It reminded me of the lovely homes in Jalgaons’ upscale neighborhoods. The weather was tad chilly but pleasant.

The guys at the restaurant told me that they can only deliver if I call their central number. Bummer! I walked back to the hotel, gave the order and went back to check on Heena. She woke up and was feeling better after a 2 hour nap. We devoured the food and then Heena also wanted to walk around a bit, which we did. It was fairly quiet and I’m assuming thats because this is a business/consular district. We’ll see how it is in the morning.

On our way back we bought some water from a convenience store and also got some Nescafe. It was much more stronger than what we’re used to – almost Arabic style coffee but with creamer and sugar. It was not at all bad. I enjoyed it, just not totally wowed by it.

Back at the hotel we hung out in the lobby and planned our next day. At 11 PM we were running out of energy and decided to head back to the room. Lights out by midnight.

I woke up with pain in my throat at 3 AM and have been up since. Took a large dose of medicine and decided if I can’t sleep, might as well write this journal.

Overall, our first impression was – we like what we saw!

View from our hotel, Le Meridian Amman, at night