Who needs an alam clock when you can wake up to "Do you know why it's an exciting day today? Today I get to ride Mouse. Mousey is the bestest horsey in the whole wide world."
And so began the Jordan adventure with a brisk trot around some misty Somerset lanes, with Edd kindly expanding on the virtues of Mouse, and Ruby the Huntsman's horse taking on the riding for the disabled mantle, and putting up with my broken finger.
7 hours later (after a slight disagreement about whether its best to spend your time in the airport worrying about catching your flight at the gate, or browsing a watch shop) we drove out of Amman airport in a tinny Citroen car and hit the first unmarked speed bump at full speed. Apparently "nothing likes a speed bump like a hire car." I'm not an expert, but car did not sound that happy.
We got to meet the locals rather more quickly than anticipated. Blue flashing lights pulled us over into a police check point.
A smartly dressed policeman appeared at the drivers window
"Speak English?"
"Your papers"
We handed over our papers, and his colleague shouted something at him in Arabic, and another face appeared at the window.
"Speak English?"
Getting a bit nervous we replied yes, and we're from London. This was met by
"Wales"
"Michael Owen"
And "Manchester United"
We replied
"London"
"Arsenal"
"Chelsea"
The police officer beamed, and handed back the papers.
"Enjoy your stay in Jordan" and we were free to drive on to Madaba.
Even though it was a effectively 11.30pm on a Monday night (due to how the Arab week is structured) we managed to find some supper. We devoured chicken shwarma, dripping with garlic mayonnaise, and eaten (much to the confusion of the hotel receptionist) whilst perched on the hotel steps watching the world go by.
And so began the Jordan adventure with a brisk trot around some misty Somerset lanes, with Edd kindly expanding on the virtues of Mouse, and Ruby the Huntsman's horse taking on the riding for the disabled mantle, and putting up with my broken finger.
7 hours later (after a slight disagreement about whether its best to spend your time in the airport worrying about catching your flight at the gate, or browsing a watch shop) we drove out of Amman airport in a tinny Citroen car and hit the first unmarked speed bump at full speed. Apparently "nothing likes a speed bump like a hire car." I'm not an expert, but car did not sound that happy.
We got to meet the locals rather more quickly than anticipated. Blue flashing lights pulled us over into a police check point.
A smartly dressed policeman appeared at the drivers window
"Speak English?"
"Your papers"
We handed over our papers, and his colleague shouted something at him in Arabic, and another face appeared at the window.
"Speak English?"
Getting a bit nervous we replied yes, and we're from London. This was met by
"Wales"
"Michael Owen"
And "Manchester United"
We replied
"London"
"Arsenal"
"Chelsea"
The police officer beamed, and handed back the papers.
"Enjoy your stay in Jordan" and we were free to drive on to Madaba.
Even though it was a effectively 11.30pm on a Monday night (due to how the Arab week is structured) we managed to find some supper. We devoured chicken shwarma, dripping with garlic mayonnaise, and eaten (much to the confusion of the hotel receptionist) whilst perched on the hotel steps watching the world go by.
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