jordan day 2: pella and ajloun castle

first of all, happy new year!!! hehe... i'm STILL posting about my jordan trip from 2 months back, so sorry! will try my very very best to get it out of the way, as there's another short trip coming up soon *yippee* :D

----------------------

after gadara, our next destination was pella, also located in umm qais.

as gadara was situated on higher grounds, we had to travel down long and winding roads by the cliff...

on lower ground, the air was slightly warmer, but it's much greener compared to the barren hills...

sort of like the entrance to the pella site.

pella has been continuously occupied since the neolithic times and is a favourite for archaeologists as it is exceptionally rich in antiquities, some of which are exceedingly old. besides the excavated ruins from the greco-roman period, including odeon (theatre), pella offers visitors the opportunity to see the remains of a chalcolithic settlement from the 4th millennium bc, the remains of bronze and iron age walled cities, byzantine churches and houses, an early islamic residential quarter and a small medieval mosque. this was also where the battle of fahl, part of the arab-byzantine war, took place.

our driver brought us to this coffee place/restaurant on top of the hill.

at the back part of the restaurant, they have this open terrace...

...that overlooks the entire ancient pella site. there are a few ancient ruins dotted all over in the distance, but can't really see anything from our position, just some columns and tumbled-down buildings...

on our way again... as it was the eid al adha (a.k.a. hari raya korban back home), there were many goats, sheep and camels for sale everywhere, even at road intersections... 

next on our itinerary was the ajlun castle, located up on a hill. this coffee/tea seller claims himself to be a bedouin (the official kind). his coffee/tea pot is very unique, with burning charcoal sticking up on top to keep the contents warm (it was a rather cold day).

ajlun castle (qal'at ar-rabad) was built by one of saladin's generals in 1184 AD to control the iron mines of ajlun, and to deter the franks from invading ajlun. ajlun castle dominated the three main routs leading to the jordan valley and protected the trade and commercial routes between jordan and syria. it became an link in the defensive chain against the crusaders, who, unsuccessfully spent decades trying to capture the castle and nearby village.

going into the castle... 

 some parts in ruins...

it's quite huge, with many sections and chambers and wings... 

at the end of our 1/2 hour tour, there's a small museum in one of the chambers near the entrance displaying some wares and stuff found in this fortress. these are the coins used in the ancient times... so small! imagine the ancient people dropping one of these in the dark rooms and chambers (coz no electric lighting then!). no wonder there are so many on display here... must've been found in the dark corners throughout the castle! :D

on our way again, we passed by many olive oil factories as the soil in the northern region are really fertile. so on a whim, i asked our driver if we're able to pay a visit to one of these factories as i was really curious as to how they extract the oil from fruit. so our driver made a u-turn to this factory that we've just passed and spoke to the proprietor.

bags of olives were left out in the open, but placed on wooden platforms to prevent the damp from the ground.

unfortunately, the factory was not in operation that day due to the public holiday. so the owner just brought us on a short tour and explained the process step-by-step.

at the end of the tour, we were even given a taste of the pure olive oil. very flavourful and yummy! my driver said even though he lives in amman, he gets his olive oil by the barrels from this northern region (irbid) as they're much cheaper and pure here...

to be continued...