Jordan- A land of history and culture

It was an eerie feeling as I had got a short notice to travel to Jordan. A country about which I have not heard much except geographically I knew it was a part of Arab World. I was visiting there alone. Nevertheless, I had boarded the “Royal Jordanian” flight – a 5 hours flight direct flight to Amman (capital of Jordan). In the flight I tried to look around to see if I knew someone or if anyone would give me some friendly gestures. To my utter dismay, nothing as such happened and I just knew I am being taken to a land where I knew none. As I would look down from the Royal Jordanian I would see miles and miles of barren, arid land. It was as if the water had been filled with still yellow sand and hills were colored black. It was a unique, suspenseful sight.

Amidst the Wadi (the deserts of Jordan) deserts, the flight skimmed to the Queen Alia Airport, Amman . I was very disoriented after my travel and could see everyone speaking in Arabic. However , as I went out of the airport , I sighed a breath of relief to see a man carrying the play card which had my name. He led me to a Toyota SUV that zipped along 120kmph. I only had a fortnight’s time in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan; I could see their King Abdullah II and Queen Rania beam a welcome from large posters everywhere.

Next day I was supposed to go to my office, a lady in charge of the of Oracle  training (I had gone there to deliver training for Oracle) picked me up from the hotel and dropped me to the office. I tried to memorize the roads we passed by so that next day on wards I could go by myself.

The office had a nice and warm ambience. There were 2 interpreters (for Arabic to English) - Mu, Ah; very nice and helpful people. Most of the trainees were very aged people with various backgrounds and language was a barrier as most of them were not so well-versed with English. However, the interpreters had done great job in this respect. Gradually,I developed interest in one of the world’s oldest and rich language, the Arabic language.

After the training, Ah,Mu, would play a role of perfect host and drop me to the hotel . But, everyday they made sure my drive was an eventful one. They would take me around the various parts of the city of Amman. In a day’s time my eerie feeling dried up. I could not believe that the people in this unknown country would be so warm and benevolent.

Amman city had a downtown market where you could shop in a very low price. Ah, Mu took me there, but it was advisable for females not to go alone to shop. I preferred to do as advised.However, there was an historical architect to visit and that was the Roman theatre. It was a nice place with a “Colleseum” look . The city had steep slopes and also flat roads. This made the city look unique in itself.On one day of my return I also visited the famous mosque there called "Late king Hussein mosque"

As the weekend approached I had to plan to make maximum use of it as it was 3 day long weekend for some festival. In the morning I left early for what the BBC called one of the 40 places to see before you die: 2,200-year-old Petra. This rock-cut city, filled with the cave dwellings, tombs and temples of the ancient Nabataean people, is the pride of Jordan and was recently voted one of the new Seven Wonders of the World.

The stretch to Petra looked awfully like Bible country, and then I remembered that it is actually the Bible World. There were flocks of sheep trickling down the mountainsides and we passed by Wadi Musa. This is named after Moses and the place Bethany is where Jesus was baptized. Jordan isn't all rich, but it’s one of the more liberal economies in West Asia. At the end of a three-and-a-half hour drive, we see the lumpy set of dark mountains from which ancient Petra is carved.

As you walk down miles, we walked through the ” Siq” – which is a fissure in the rock that leads to the city.

The remains of a collapsed arch mark the start of a dramatic walk through a sheer gorge with walls up to 120m high, roofed with a strip of blue sky. Wild fig trees grow from the rock; fossil bones lie in it; iron, phosphate and sulphur light it up in reds, pinks, whites and yellows. The floor retains patches of 1st century BC paving (romantic, but hard on the ankles). The Nabataeans’ expert water managers lined the gorge with water channels and sedimentation basins, and built an 88m tunnel outside the Siq to divert floodwater. Still, as late as 1963, a group of French tourists were killed by a flash flood, so officials built a dam to secure the gorge.

There are baetyls, or sacred rocks, carved into the walls of the Siq.
The god “Dushara” and the goddess of beauty “Al-Uzza” are represented by vertical rectangles with square eyes. Erosion has made an elephant’s head out of rock.

I was disgorged smack opposite Petra’s most impressive monument, known for half a century as the Treasury. Nobody knows the real name or function, but the locals named it after the huge urn sculpture that was thought to contain treasure. It is pockmarked with bullet holes, where eager people tried to shoot the rock apart for gold 200 years ago. Corinthian columns and Greek pillars, carvings of Nike and Isis, soar almost 40m high. The sight of the magnificent structure was a breathtaking experience. I can imagine the thrill that Johann Burckhardt must have felt when he rediscovered Petra in 1812. Indiana Jones , the Last Crusade , Transformer 2 from Hollywood was filmed here. Recently, a Bollywood movie, of our famous Himesh Reshamiya , called Kajraare was also shot here. As I walked down, there were tombs where  bodies were wrapped in a sheet and laid under a slab of stone. In the main city, where 35,000 people lived, the rock is bee hived with dwellings, some with beautifully coloured natural striations. There was a vast amphitheatre—seating capacity about 5,000—cut out of a single face of live rock suggests that cooperation was not to be sniffed at.

On my return back from Petra , we went to Wadi Rum for the desert safari and an evening in the desert where there was Arabic music and local dance. It was another amazing experience. I had always wanted to take a ride to the deserts in Arabic country and it was a dream come true and the time of the day was just right, sunset! Nothing was more amazing then getting the last glimpse of the sun for the day in the desert!

Next day was a tripped planned for Dead Sea or Salt Sea.
It is eight times more salty than the ocean. This salinity makes for a harsh environment where aquatic life cannot flourish, hence its name. As we drove downhill, I was acutely aware that it is the lowest point on the surface of the earth. It’s a special thrill to wade in—422m below sea level—through sticky, sucking, world-famous black mud, and experience one of the weirdest things in the world: the Dead Sea float. The salt makes the water unusually buoyant, so you just bob about like a cork without trying, as if you were sitting in a deck chair just under the surface. You can read a book, sip a drink, possibly get your hair done, just sitting there in the water. This is insane amount of fun, and highly recommended.

The Amman city had a downtown market where you could go for street shopping. Very close by the market I caught the glimpse of the historical architect called the Roman theatre. It was a nice place with a “Colleseum” look. The city looked amazing with alternate steep slopes and flat roads, which made the city, look unique. The best part of the day in Amman city is the evening time .It is buzzing with young crowd as they flock in the Cafes. The Coffee shop has the traditional Hookah (Argeela in Arabic) served and the Jordanians would enjoy relaxing with Argeela.

In the city of Amman , I wandered in the ‘First Circle’ of Old Amman, though I can see by gazing out at the so-called city of seven hills (now more like 19 hills), that this is a place worth spending some time in. The down town market for cheap shopping. Amman city is buzzing with young crowd in the evening and they would flock in the Cafes.The Coffee shop has the traditional Hookah or “Sheesha” (Argeela in Arabic) served and the Jordanians would enjoy relaxing with Argeela. I remember the few Cafés – Old View Café (a lovely café overlooking the hills made in a traditional Arabic style one more was “Jafra” in the down town Jordan)

Oh well before I end my trip I should visit the food area. Well in my days there I had started loving their local vegetarian food – called Falafel (fried chick peas or green pea’s balls with Pita bread and hummus) this was simply amazing! I also remember the place - “Abul shukur”.

One more traditional food, thanks to Mu and Ah for introducing it to me , a traditional sweet called “kunafe” (a sweet was very rich made of layers of cheese and condensed milk and a mandatory sweet in every Jordanian celebration) from the place called “habeeba). It was a very unique sweet with awesome taste but it was too rich that I could not finish I /4^th of it. A must recommended food there. For all the meat lover friends and family – “Shawarma” is what you should have! Just amazing!
If you are looking for any traditional Arabic stuff and Jordanian stuff (“Sheesha”, jewellery, gems and stones, scarf’s etc) the place is “Al-Afghani” . They have chain of shops which has amazing souvenirs and lovely traditional items. Again a must visit!

Time flew away and the day for my return had come. I waved goodbye to King Abdullah and Queen Rania. I had pledged to myself that Jordan would be a definite revisit! I loved very bit of the country!

An Experience of time!

It was approximately 5 hrs flight to Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) from Mumbai. By the time I reached Kuala Lumpur , I felt I was dead tired till I was half way to my destination … I was half asleep … Just did not walk out of the flight …Just wished if the flight could have taken me to my hotel room…. Somehow dragged myself out of the flight…. As I walked past the airport… I was amazed …the airport looked magnificent…. more of a posh Mall…. Looked here and there in awe and looked for the gate for the next flight.

We had to take a train to another terminal for our next flight … I must say it was an unique experience to travel by the train - known as Aerotrain. My eyes were left wide open at wonderful experience of one of the World’s top 10 best Airports and the scenic beauty… I was no longer in slumber… A good experience before I sat in another Flight (around 5:00 AM IST) which would take 2 hours to Jakarta (Indonesia)…
The transition from one country to another was just smooth as it was just a matter of alighting from one flight and boarding the other. The flight was a comfortable one except the fact that nothing was edible there (some dried stinky shrimps, some buttered bread and chicken gravy). I was slowly getting the hang of cultural differences. My colleague would swallow anything on earth out of hunger. I somehow chose to eat nothing.
Jakarta


It was a small airport which had an exterior look of Buddhist monastery. The interior, made me feel that we were in those magnificent bungalows in the hill stations of India. It was neat and nice…
We were very excited and glad to see a Mercedez Benz giving us a warm welcome in Jakarta airport… this was the best part until now ( Always wanted to go for a drive in a Mercedez Benz.) It drove us to the hotel … It was a nice hotel….called Ciputra (pronounced as Chiputra)…. I chose to rest for some hours as I was very tired… Woke up to realize lunch time was over in hotel…. Nothing much to eat, so chose to have a sandwich.


Evening was a trip all round the city…. Good malls all over, tall buildings and endless traffic to tire you…all that were so much like Mumbai. A feeling of nostalgia crept in…. One of the malls was called the Senayan Plaza. It was very sumptuous in structure and adornment. We got almost lost in the huge mall, though there were very less crowd – just a few to be numbered. I soon realized the mall had all the exquisite brands, (Armani, Gucci, CK, Roberto Cavalli etc) which we don’t find much in India. My jaws dropped on seeing the price tags of most brands and soon realized it was only “window shopping” that I could afford to do.
It was not very advisable to move out at night so we returned back to our hotel. In the vicinity of that we located a Pizza Hut and treated ourselves with a Pizza for dinner and then straight went to the world of dreams after dinner … Next day we had an early morning flight which took us to a different world - the world of greenery and palm tree plantation. The flight was a very old one (called Merpati), in which the overhead baggage bin would open any time. The best part of the flight was the marvelous aerial view - the “Java Sea” and acres of lands of palm plantation…
We reached a place called “Sampit”…. An hour and half flight from Jakarta … The airport did not look too much of an airport... There was the shortest run way possible to somehow land the aircraft. The baggage would come in a trailer of a vehicle and you need to struggle to figure out your bag among the many. Oh! What a struggle……. This made me wonder where I had landed! At the same time I would appreciate how the country has tried to develop their interior village by making an airport with basic amenities.....

Kalimantan - the Palm Plantation



An hour drive and we were there in the plantation….. Very close to Indian village where you have “the Kuchcha “ (Muddy) Road …. Well I realized , it was not road , I am inside the plantation of Indonesia… the plantation of “Kalimantan”… that is the province we were in……My jaws dropped to realize that I have landed in a plantation where I could just see palm trees of various size and shapes ….. what we called in plantation terms as “Immature and Mature “ palm trees…… the drive through the palm trees were of half an hour and then we could see some so called houses…. The place where we would stay for the rest of one month…. My mind was in a state of shock and could not believe where I have come… We were given a “fishy” welcome …… Fish and Fish were on the menu (and fishy as I did not know what was in store for me) …


I could just see insects all over the bathroom and the water would fill the air with a stench of Hydrogen Sulphide. I somehow managed my first night in Plantation with some creepy sound of insects.
The next day was Office and you drive some meters to reach the office… It looked a bungalow converted in an office….. You just had nothing to do just work and make yourself workaholic or start loving the creepy sound of insects and admire the beauty of PALM TREES….
The mornings were very fresh and the grass would be covered with mist. This gave a refreshing feeling and that would motivate us to jog and walk around the plantation. We would take a walk to the Mill (Undercontructed Oil Mill of the plantation for Palm Oil Production ) and have a look at how the mill was constructed. A lazy walk back to the guest house, quick shower, breakfast and off to office. The day would begin as early as 7 am in the office. Days passed by in the office as we would be occupied with loads of work. Office hours we would be admiring the laptop screens and complete the loads of never ending work in Hyperion planning (the technology we were working in). We had some tea and coffee but no breaks… and we had option of coffee/tea with “susu” or without. (now “susu” is Milk in Bahasa dialect ….. don’t take it otherwise).
We would come home very tired and exhausted (A bungalow with rooms and unknown insects to share the room ) have an early dinner and go off to bed to wake up early again. There was nothing much to do after we get back home. Occasionally we would go out for saunters after dinner but that involved risk as you could step a snake or frog in the darkness. The Internet was definitely a savior against all odds.

Food was an issue… It was everything in coconut….. lentils in coconut milk, chicken with coconut blend, fish with coconut gravy….. so on… Yes, Indonesia is one of the world’s highest rice producer. I did not have to read geography for that…. The meals gave the statistics clearly….. Rice Noodles, Rice Stroganoff and Rice off course ….. We had carried some Indian snacks which would make us happy but we would eat little of that as we need to preserve it till the end of our stay. I (I am sure AK and TM also ) would like to thank the Iboos" (maids were called Iboos in Bahasa dialect)for the yummy cake they made for us almost everyday which would be lunch / dinner for us many a times.


Weekends would be mostly lazing around at home - watching movies and numerous gossip sessions (with TM and AK).At times I would refine my culinary skills and 3 of us would enjoy the food ( TM and AK). Oh I should add that TM and AK were the dear friends who made my stay possible and pleasant in the plantation among all “men”.

It was the month of October when I was there and unfortunately it was “Diwali” and we were almost stranded in this village in Indonesia. Truly speaking that was a disaster….
Neither did we have anything to illuminate things around nor did we have any crackers. We had decided to spend the day in an” Orangutan Sanctuary”. This was in a place called “Pangkalangbun” again a 5 hours driving from the plantation. To reach the “Taman National Park” we had to take motor-boat ride for one hour. The back water was inhabited by numerous crocodiles so it was all the more exciting and scary. But this was an amazing experience from the time I have come to Indonesia. Awesome!

The orangutans were very close to you. You could hug them or hold them. It was scary as the male orangutans were 8 times stronger than humans and females were 4 times stronger…So your life could be at stake. (Just to add, Julias Robert – the Noting Hill lady was grabbed by one of the male orangutan in this sanctuary , she had a narrow escape) One thing was definite that they are also the species of the Great Apes ….there was an uncanny resemblance! In fact we share 96.4% of our genetic makeup with orangutans! Apes and monkeys are both primates. The easiest way to distinguish between monkeys and apes is the tail. Apes do not have tails whereas most monkey species do have one.



As the daylight met the darkness, it was “the feeding time” of the orangutans. They would be summoned by some strange “hooligan” voices by the care takers of the sanctuary. This signals all the orangutans to assemble in a place where they were fed with milk. All of a sudden there was a down pour to drench us from head to toe. Our day ended in the sanctuary and we were back by the motor boat and again another 4 hours travel to the plantation.

Before I leave the plantation, I must definitely tell you how the people (generally the Men) survive without their families.
Most of the people in the plantation are men (except the maids, we called them “Iboo”). Well I was an exception. The men in the plantation were mostly married with family residing in Srilanka and Malaysia. Their loneliness and boredom knew no bonds. To the rescue of their frustration came the regular beer parties (Beer was really cheap there – “Bintang” beer) , the massage and spa centers and not to forget the very below standard night clubs and bars of “Sampit” (the nearest township) . Even the maids (we called them “Iboos” in Bahasa dialect) could not evade their lecherous looks.

We were almost coming to the end of our tenure in the plantation. We counted on the days there and then finally the day had come to bid adieu to the plantation and the people.
On our way back drove to the “Palangkaraya” airport (5 hours drive from plantation) and took a flight to Jakarta .The flight was this time a better one (Garuda Airlines – Indonesian National airline carrier) and took us an hour and half to reach Jakarta. Once I was in Jakarta , I realized that the concrete jungle was better and civilized than the palm jungle. I felt like a free bird and decided to pamper myself in Jakarta.


We went out for shopping . I still remember the mall - SOGO, this time we ventured a different mall where we could actually shop (unlike Senayan for window shopping) and SOGO fitted our budget.
Next morning we took a flight to Kuala Lumpur (this time I ensured that I amke a prior meal request for Indian Vegetarian) and from there Mumbai.

My trip to this plantation in Indonesia had come to an end. I would consider this an experience of lifetime – learnt and unlearnt many things.