After about an hour and a half bus ride from Ajlun, I based myself in the university town of Irbid to the north. Irbid is a very busy and bustling city, the second largest in Jordan, and it never seems to stop. There’s very little here to interest the tourists, but it makes for a great base to explore some more Roman ruins here in the northern part of the country. I’ve noticed that most of the tourists seem to take day trips from Amman or rent cars. From Amman these places are pretty far, though, and for some reason I’m not quite comfortable with renting my own car here. I prefer getting to know the local transportation in all it’s dusty, gritty glory. I also get to explore towns that most people probably never go to. After a quick check in at my hotel it was off to the bus station to head to the ancient Roman city of Gadara, today known as Umm Qais, in the northwestern corner of Jordan.

Just in case you’re having trouble finding Umm Qais on the map, here’s a panorama of my view from the ruins. That lake far left is Lake Tiberias in Israel. The hills immediately to the right of the lake are the Golan Heights, part of the disputed Palestinian territories, also in Israel. And through that canyon and just over the hills on the far right is Syria. Three countries in one viewpoint. Fantastic!

If you’ll all remember back in my Amman post, I said that it wasn’t as hot here as I was expecting. Well, forget it! The temperature either spiked or maybe it just seems hotter at these exposed ruins, but I am roasting now! Anyway, Gadara was actually founded in Hellenistic times and then passed through a couple of different factions until the Romans finally built it up. Eventually it was taken over by the Ottomans and the name was changed to Umm Qais for which it’s known today. Most of it is good and truly ruined. They’re trying to restore it a bit at a time, but it’s slow going. The western theatre is by far the most intact part, though it’s very rough around the edges.

Outside the theatre are the remains of what would have been shops. I love the designs on the doorways. There is so much detail in all the stones at these places. Even the stones just lying around could easily be picked up and placed in museums. What a treasure trove! You can almost hear the long gone crowd and shopkeepers to this day. Next to the theatre and the shops is the Cardo, the main drag. It’s lined with the remains of what were probably churches, baths and small courtyards. They say the roads at these ancient cities once linked all of them together and the one here at Gadara once extended all the way to the Mediterranean coast. Awesome!

I finished up my day with a stroll past the north theatre which is sadly, mostly buried. Only a few parts stick up out of the ground, otherwise it just looks like a big embankment. It was a ridiculous hot day, but well worth the effort to explore these ruins, and without all the tour groups that crowd Jerash.

Back in Irbid, there’s not a lot of English being spoken and for some reason the restaurants don’t have menus which makes trying to get food very interesting. I never get what I think I’m asking for, but I’m eating well nevertheless. People everywhere are still nothing but friendly and helpful. Day two I made my way to the bus station at the other end of town for my next day trip. My “bus” was actually a very beat to hell minivan that sounded like it was driving on metal, as in no wheels. I made it to my destination, I was surprised I made it, but I made it, to the ruins of Pella in the hills above the village of Tabqet Fahl.

The area around Pella has been occupied since the stone age and is one of the longest continually inhabited places in the world. Wow! Like the other sites I’ve seen its been occupied by many empires throughout history including the Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, and in the 7th century the Umayyads won it in a great war. Some imagination is needed now to picture it all because there’s really not much left. The best bits were the Byzantine church and the Roman Odeon which would have seated about 400 people and was used for musical performances.

After being dropped off by my “bus” in Tabqet Fahl, it was about a 2km slog up the hill to get to the site. And just for fun it was even hotter than yesterday at Umm Qais. It was just brutal! I’m going through water and sun block like it’s 1999. The benefit of being so high up though, is the view. In the pic below you can see part of the ruins, beyond that the village of Tabqet Fahl, beyond that the Jordan valley with the Jordan River running through the middle, and beyond that, the West Bank in Israel.

That’s the end of the Roman ruins for a while. Hopefully I didn’t bore you all with it, but I just love this kind of stuff! This is also as far north as I go in Jordan. Tomorrow I start making my way south… Until the next post.

All the pics of Umm Qais, Pella, and Irbid are here