Trip Reports - Jordan and Sinai, flights on Royal Jordanian

Mrs 1P and I were part of a pilgrimage to Jordan and Sinai, with 47 people altogether - a first for me. I was not looking forward to traveling in Coach on an unknown airline.

November 27 2006, RJ 112 LHR-AMM

The firm we had hired to get us to the airport managed to take a wrong decision at every point - so frustrating. You'd think these firms would know the quickest way to Heathrow from the south coast, especially on a Friday afternoon with plenty of traffic leaving for the weekend. We finally arrived at Terminal 3 at 4.00pm for a 5.05pm flight! Check-in at Royal Jordanian was very quick and smooth. Because we were so late, everyone else on the flight had already checked in and there were no lines. Boarding passes were printed out on Air Canada stock (alas, no Star Alliance miles would accrue for this itinerary, as Royal Jordanian are joining OneWorld in 2007...), and all the staff at check-in and at the gate were sporting Air Canada ID badges. Into the zoo of Terminal 3 - I had forgotten to ask whether there was any food on this flight, so Mrs 1P and I bought a sandwich and a drink just in case. Several others in our party, whom we met in the main departure lounge, had done the same. Boarding was scheduled to begin at 4.30pm, but the screen still showed "Wait in lounge" until about 4.25pm. We then made our way to Gate 28, and boarding finally commenced at 4.50pm (take-off was scheduled for 5.05).

I entered the Airbus A-310-300 and discovered rows 1 to 3 (Royal Crown seating) in bright red upholstery but looking a little faded. Seating was 2-2-2. Back we went into Economy, where rows 5-28 are laid out 2-4-2. Seats and blankets are a kind of attractive rust-red. Since Mrs 1P and I travel under different last names, the block booking for our group had assigned us seats on opposite sides of the plane, several rows apart. Fortunately, I was able to persuade the gentleman sitting next to me to swap his aisle seat for my wife's aisle seat, so she came and joined me.

Cabin staff were very welcoming (but it has to be said that the female cabin staff, though dressed in a very alluring manner, do not, I suspect, shave under their armpits, or at least do not use deodorant, as there was a noticeable smell of B.O. when they passed). Tight red skirts for the ladies, white blouses with thin red and blue vertical stripes. The men wore similar shirts.

Scheduled departure time was 5.05pm. We actually pushed back from the gate at 5.15 and wheels up was not until 5.40pm.

RJ, in common with other Muslim airlines I suspect, puts a prayer on the screen and PA just before take-off.

The IFE consisted of a Garfield film (I have never watched one before, and had this on with the French soundtrack - very amusing, since I am bilingual - until my wife pointed out the channel where the English soundtrack was available), CNN news, and a film entitled "Hoot". Between these offerings, there was an airmap display.

One hour after take-off, drinks carts emerged, with a selection of wines, spirits and soft drinks (including apple and guava juices) served with a bag of pretzels. Following this, the meal carts appeared with the drinks carts in tow. The meal choice was Chicken with a mustard sauce, julienned veg and mashed potato or Beef stroganoff with rice, pearl onions and peas (which I selected - it was fine). Also on the tray was a salad of diced cucumber (with a few lettuce leaves, an olive and a cherry tomato, and a vinaigrette dressing on the side), a roll and butter (extra rolls were brought round, but were very dry), crackers + La Vache qui rit cheese, a jam and cream roll, and water. Tea and coffee were served later. All in all, pretty good for Economy Class food, and comparing well with European and American offerings. Service was very pleasant. One of the staff appeared to be called "Junior", judging from her name badge. On the return flight, I encountered another Junior, and concluded that the junior member of the cabin crew wears this badge, and does not get to display their own name.

In Economy, two lavatories on each side, right at the rear of the plane, behind the galley. There seemed to be no problem with both men and women using the same facilities, even if some of the women were wearing the full headscarf. I was to discover more of the Jordanian tolerance of different lifestyles as our pilgrimage proceeded.

I was given a survey form to fill in. I did so, commenting that it was a shame that RJ were not joining Star Alliance instead of OneWorld.

Touchdown in Amman was at 11:55pm rather than the scheduled 11:59.

We were shepherded through immigration by our tour operators and on to the two buses. Fortunately I had taken the precaution of changing some money before immigration, since opportunities to change Euros (which I was carrying - I did not use my US dollars at all) into Jordanian dinars were few and far between in the days to come. The rate was roughly 84 dinars for 100 Euros, or 2 dinars to the British Pound. And so to the hotel, of which more in the next instalment.

Forgot to mention that two our our party got "upgraded" to seats in row 5. These turned out to be the bulkhead row: better service but with considerably less legroom than the normal seats, and proved a trial for the 6' 5" man in our group..... I estimate that normal seat pitch in Y was about 34", with plenty of room for legs under the seats.

Dead Sea Spa Hotel

This is a large and comfortable hotel, at the north end of the Dead Sea on the Jordan side, in an area with a number of recent and brand new hotels, and others under construction. All hotels seemed to be in gated plots off the main road. Ours seemed to be better than the Marriott next door and other hotels close at hand, principally because of the large amount of space in the public areas. Excellent facilities, including free internet access on computers just off the main lobby, three swimming pools, and a beach leading directly onto the Dead Sea. The restaurant provided good food, and the bar area was great. The only real complaint is that you encounter smoking everywhere.

Our bedroom was comfortable, but the air conditioning was not working and there was quite a lot of noise from the construction site next door where they are building another hotel - this is an up and coming area, gated off from the main road. So we changed to a different room with air conditioning that worked and a view of the sea and Israel on the other side of it.

The hotel is inconsistent about the provision of towels, bathmats, etc, but as soon as you asked for anything at reception, they were only too ready to respond to your requests.

I can recommend the St George Jordanian red wine, which claims to be a Cabernet Sauvignon - Pinot Noir blend, but had the quite peppery characteristics of a Syrah. Lots of our party liked it, with the result that the hotel ran out of it on day 2, but luckily had obtained fresh stock on day 4, before we left to head south.

Another excellent wine was under the "dessert wine" heading. Describing itself as Jordanian Port, I and a friend ordered a glass each. We received the equivalent of a very large wine glass each, for an extraordinarily low price, and had a most enjoyable time as a result. For a port, it was very good indeed. Unfortunately, this turned out to be the last bottle in the hotel, and we did not succeed in obtaining any more during our stay.

From the hotel, our pilgrimage sallied forth to a number of places of interest. We went first to Bethany-beyond-the-Jordan, where tradition has it that Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist. You stand on a kind of boardwalk, just above the river, and can walk a few feet to one side to a kind of pit where a stream comes down from the hills and from there into the river. It looked like a pretty good baptism site to me. The Jordan River here is narrow and filthy, and only a few feet away, on the opposite bank, are the barbed wire, large concrete buildings and flags of an Israeli military defence establishment. So sad to see this in what is considered a holy place. It is only 9 months since the Jordanians persuaded the Israelis to allow Jordan tourists to visit this site, which also has the remains of a number of ancient churches, plus a new Greek Orthodox church (which was closed).

The following day we visited Anjara, Jerash (where the Roman remains are absolutely stunning - everyone should see these: they make even what you find in Rome fall into second place, apart from the Roman Colliseum) and Jabbok, the stream beside which Jacob is supposed to have wrestled with an angel.

The next day we drove up to Mount Nebo, where the church has most interesting mosaics and baptisteries, Macharaeus, where there is the huge and impressive mountain fortress of Herod Antipas (where John the Baptist was beheaded) that sits in opposition to Masada on the other side of the Dead Sea, and Madaba (the name means Sweet Water) where in the Church of St George there is a celebrated mosaic map of the Middle East. Madaba is one of the towns where you can see a myriad of lifestyles all rubbing shoulders with each other. Women in jeans and T-shirts talking to women in full headscarfs and women in the full burqa and veil, men in jeans and T-shirts with men in trousers, dish-dash and keffeir headdress. Here is a town where Christians and Muslims live at peace with each other, and all respect each other's way of life and mode of dress. I detected no tension between the different cultural manifestations - a quite remarkable experience.

The following morning I, a non-swimmer, took my courage in both hands and put on my swimming trunks for a floating session in the Dead Sea. Well, the water was not as buoyant as I had expected (and I think it may be more buoyant further south, where the saline content of the water is more concentrated), but I managed to float and read a newspaper, and even assist other people who were more frightened than I was. I did not partake of the mud that a number of women in my party were liberally smearing all over themselves, though they said afterwards that it had done wonders for their skin (which was indeed very soft when stroked :) ).

Then off to Pella, one of the Decapolis cities, with its amazing ruins, and then on to Um Quais (or Gadara, as in Gadarene Swine) where the ruins are part limestone, part black basalt - there is an amazing, though small, black Roman amphitheatre. Returning via Amman city, we were treated to the sight of the U.S. and British embassies, heavily protected and alongside which it is forbidden to take photographs, such is the paranoia of our lords and masters....

Talking of which, we were accompanied throughout our excursions by a Jordanian tourist police officer, complete with revolver and machine gun. The Jordanians are going out of their way to try to make tourists feel welcome and safe, especially after the shooting of some British tourists by a madman in Amman a few months ago. I must say that I never felt nervous during our time in Jordan. The Jordanians are unfailingly polite, and appear to like the British, who occupied the country for a while. Most people speak English reasonably well, and often better than that. One of the late King Hussein's wives was British, and King Abdullah went through Sandhurst Military Academy. While we were waiting for our luggage at Amman, it was reassuring to see packages of books from England on the carousel addressed to one of the Crown Princesses...... Every so often on the main roads you have to stop at an army checkpoint, so they are obviously keeping an eye on who moves where around the country.

To be continued...