Umm Qais - Jordan is twice as nice the second time!

If you would have asked me 5 years ago if I would ever go to Jordan I would have said no.  It just wasn't on my radar.  Now, I've been blessed to have been able to go 2 times in the past 2 years and I love Jordan.  I can't believe it wasn't on my list of places to see and I'm so glad I've gotten the chance to explore the country and meet some new friends. 

This trip was a work related trip so there wasn't a ton of time to explore but our hosts were so gracious to spend time, share their culture, heritage and open their hearts to us as visitors.  Yes, I had a ton of hummus and falafel.  I love the food from that region.  My co-workers even nicknamed me the Falafel Queen.  I'm not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing!  And of course, I rode a camel in Petra again.  It's such a novel thing to do!

One of my unique experiences this time was to travel to the northwestern corner of Jordan to a little, but very significant ancient ruins site called Umm Qais.  Umm Qais was anciently called Gadara and one of the Greco-Roman Decapolis cities.  In fact this is the supposed city where Jesus cast the demons out of the swine (Matthew 8:28-34).  While it only takes an hour or so to tour this area there are some really cool things to see detailed below:

1.  The View - Golan Heights & Sea of Galilee

From one area you can stand and look out across the Sea of Galilee and realize how massive of a lake it is. You can also see the rolling hills of the Golan Heights.  Looking across to Israel (Palestine) and Syria is kind of a neat thing - especially as you image the history that has taken place in that area. And no, I saw no war activity - that's really far away.

What a view into Lake Tiberius (Sea of Galilee)

2.  The Restaurant

It's no secret that I love Jordanian food so it is not surprising one made the list.  The restaurant at the ancient dwelling is really cool in that it has an amazing vista (see #1 above) and also some pretty decent Jordanian food.  Its fun to be able to sit and soak in the view and history while eating tabbouleh, hummus, salads and the like.  My only mistake was that the first table full of food was only the appetizers and not the full meal.  After I had seconds of all the appetizers they then brought out the main course and I knew I was in trouble.  Eeeck!  I was glad my hotel had a nice workout room after that (and all the other) meals.

The restaurant is up there!

3.  The Decumanus Maximus - main road

The ancient ruins are quite impressive as they are mostly basalt.  The main road travels for 1.7 kilometers with sweeping views of the area, ancient store fronts and a nymphaeum.

The store fronts along the road

 

That's a long road!  And you can still see wheel ruts in the rock as well.

4.  The Theatre

As an engineer I love that acoustics were built into the system!

The Theatre

I'm glad I don't have to sit in those seats!

 

You can find these pictures and more from my trip posted in the NEW gallery until my next post.  After that, you can find them under their respective "location" or "type" gallery.  If you are interested in ordering prints then please go to the tab "Ordering Information."