Many surprises

A DAY OF SURPRISES
Up early as usual and on the bus to Jordan. On arrival we go through 2 sets of security on the Israel side of the border and then we are shuttled to two sets of security on the Jordan side of the border. Kevin gets pulled aside once more by the Israeli's and asked the same questions as before. It does not seem to be unusual - our guide, Diko, and our bus driver, Sharif, says this is normal. It happens all the time.
We are on a bus shuttle to cross over and then on another bus with a Tourist Police officer. The security is beyond what we have ever seen.
The countryside is really different - high mountains, dry soil, few trees. There is little rain in this area.
We stop for lunch in an area that looks like it has nothing. A small shop entrance opens up to a huge restaurant area, shaded. The lunch is wonderful and lots of people are enjoying hooka pipes after the meal.
Off to Jerash, a Graeco-Roman ciy, close second to Petra on the list of favourite destinations in Jordan. It is huge and the "short" tour takes almost 2 hours. Our new tour guide, Ahmad, is soft spoken, very different from Diko, but also very knowledgeable.
On the tour an outgoing entrepreneur selling postcards asks Laura how old she is and if she is married. He is 18 and offers 2,000 camels for her hand in marriage! Surpise, surprise!
On the bus again and have a tour of Amman before getting to our hotel. It is amazing! It has a huge chandelier and glass elevators to glorious rooms. Once again our accommodations are first rate. Our luggage and carry ons are scanned through xray which is a first for many of us at a hotel. Another surprise!
The meal is wonderful, and we are off to bed early for a dawn start tomorrow to visit Petra, the red rock city. Amman is a big city, dense population, but we are in a diplomat area which is a great surprise.