I left Damascus this morning and crossed the border to Jordan. Right away I have to say that Jordan did not meet my expectations. Reading about it I noticed it had a more moderate government and it seemed to be more modernized. It was more expensive and I figured that would mean better service. Really Jordans buses are terrible compared to Syria and I believe Syria has more to offer.In Syria I've found the people friendlier too. Here I have yet to meet someone who hasn't tried to rip me off. It happened in Syria too, but there they'd take you for a dollar or two max, here they try to take you for a lot more. Perhaps it's because there's more tourists here.
Crossing the border I went to Amman, Jordan. I've been hearing that it's not a place worth spending time in so right away I transfered to a bus to Petra. On the way to Petra the bus driver tried to ask for $10 more for the ticket. The person beside me pretended to pay the same price to make it seem like I wasn't being tricked. This seemed to get some objections from the people behind me and I got some of my money back. I wasn't in a mood to argue. However the objections didn't stop from the people in the back and pretty soon the bus driver was in a heated argument, waving hands, turning the bus around threatening to go back to Amman and swearing on the Quran that he wasn't ripping anyone off. Pretty crazy for my first day.
Things worked out though and I arrived in Petra. Unfortunately I arrived too late in the day to see much. I'm in a village next to the Petra ruins called Wadi Musa (Valley of Moses). Indiana Jones - The Last Crusade was filmed here, and you can buy an Indiana Jones whip and hat at almost every store. I think the ruins are vast and there seem to be some hiking possibilities. I may stay three days here then figure out what to do next.Wadi Musa:
