As he had done all trip, Musa had chosen a very comfortable time to get going. So we were sat overlooking the houses of Madaba eating breakfast from the hotel's rooftop at a very sensbile time of 7:30am 

There wasn't much choice for Julie. She had to "make do" with toast and cream cheese which fortunately had been her breakfast of choice anyway. Meanwhile I was busy tucking into my regular daily startup, of all the usual dips, flatbread, falafels and a bowlful of foul. So we were good to go.

An hour later we were gathered in the lobby ready for the last day of our tour to begin. Our destination was Jerash, often called the "Pompeii of the Middle East", although I'm not too sure why? It's not like it was preserved beneath volcanic ash.

 Jerash was a two hour drive away, North of Amman.  A few miles outside of Madaba we drove through an area full of polytunnels as far as the eyes could see. It was a massive site. Musa told us that they grow so much tomatoes here that towards the end of the season the price drops to 1 dinar for 10kg!

It was interesting to learn that he studied agriculture in Madaba when he was young.

After about a hour and a half, after the outskirts of Amman, we seemed to have entered the garden of Jordan with garden centre after garden centre for miles on end.

Musa also pointed out another re-occurring sight, that of the refugee camp. The more established ones looked no different to any other shanty town, with tin-roofed shacks but there were still some smaller tented camps where those continuing to flee the civil war in Syria ended up.

"It's very sad" he said " ... what's going on in Syria"

He reminisced about how he often took his family on day trips to Damascus.

"Now it's impossible"

We soon reached Jerash, the modern city and quickly found our way to it's ancient heart, the Greco-Roman city of Gerasa.

It all began with the Greeks. Most attribute its foundation to the reign of Alexander the Great, others point it a bit later to Ptolemy II of Egypt, son of Ptolemy the first and a general in Alexander the Great's army. There's even a third contender's name in the hat, another Hellenistic empire sandwiched inbetween, called the Seleucid empire.

Musa paused his lesson and we followed him through Hadrian's Arch. The sun was warm today.

Finding shade on the other side he continued. What is known is that in 63 BCE Roman General Pompey conquered the whole region, then granted Jerash self-governing status with membership of the Decopolis, (which literally translates as "the ten cities") which also included Phildelphia (Amman) to the South, and Damascus to the North.  

Whilst we were listening intently a young boy appeared with a selection of postcards. He asked Musa for his permission to sell to us. We didn't want any but because of his politeness we reached into our pockets to buy a pack of 12.

"Shouldn't he be in school?" asked Julie but Musa explained that it was Friday, a day of rest, like a Sunday to us.

From Hadrian's Arch we walked along a street lined with what were once shops before turning left into the large open space of the hippodrome, a field for sporting events.

A small section remained of the stands where spectators would sit to enjoy the games. It was open ended, with only a wall of arches to the South.

 "Does anyone know what this is?" asked Musa, holding up a piece of a leafy plant with interesting leopard-like pattern. Of course he knew that no one else could answer and you could see how excited he was to tell us.

"It's acanthus" he said "the leaf you often see on top of a Corinthian style column."

We continued walking along the path towards the main entrance. Despite having already spent almost half an hour walking through what Musa described as the 2nd century Roman expansion, we hadn't actually bought any tickets yet.

When we reached the original walled city of Gerasa a barrier of turnstiles at the South Gate stopped our progress.

Whilst Musa fetched our tickets we were teased with a glimpse of what waited for us inside. 

Once inside we soon reached a large oval plaza, its paving stones still laid out in a concentric pattern from its centre. It could have done with weeding but other than that it was spectacular.

We followed Musa to the shade where he continued the history lesson. Known as the city of a thousand columns, the colonade creating the forum was remarkable. It appeared complete. They had been an incredible acheivement restoring them considering the city had being destroyed by an earthquake in 749 CE.

Musa explained that Jerash is in fact not an UNESCO World Heritage site which seemed odd for "one of the best preserved" Greco-Roman city in the world.

In 1985 the application was rejected because of poor restoration techniques. Obssessed by completing the oval plaza, its suggested they used blocks from other areas of the city to acheive their aim.

After another failed application in 1995 their final application in 2004 made it to the "tentative list"  where it has stayed ever since with no sign being reviewed. Musa thinks it's up to the Jordanian authorities to request it.

As we stood (or some of us sat) in the shade listening to Musa we looked West across the plaza admiring the amazing view. Up on a hill were the remains of a theatre and a temple or two. I wanted to head off and explore but that had to wait as we left the plaza up the Cardo Maximus, the main street through the heart of the city.

The arrow straight street ran all the way to the North Gate lined all the way with more columns. They weren't nearly as complete as the plaza but there was enough to create the impression of what it would have been like.

It was paved with large stone slabs laid diagonally, but it was rather uneven under foot.   The ground beneath was undulating quite a bit after several earthquakes, also well worn tracks had been carved deeply into the road by centuries of cart wheels.

Running down both sides was a raised pavement or sidewalk. It was easy to imagine the hussle and bustle on a busy day, like Oxford Street in London.

Always focused on the next point of interest Musa pointed out stone drain covers. Jerash had a very advanced sewerage and drainage system. It was even referred to by name as the cloaca maxima.

He also pointed out how the colonade was built with varying heights. Apparently they were to compliment the buildings behind them. He was a mind of information for sure.

We stopped at one of those buildings behind. It was called the Macellum, an enclosed artisan food market, mostly meat and fish. In the centre of the octagonal courtyard there was the remains of a fountain, built in the shape of a cross.

Several columns remained and in between them were various stalls. Carved into the stone table supports of one of them was a deer, and a wild boar, which seemed to indicate the butcher's speciality.

Although there was also a lion! "I don't know if they actually ate lions or not" said Musa.

A little further up we came to a crossroads of the Cardo with another straight street known as the South Decumanus. At this meeting point was a small open space with the remains of four pedestals at its centre.

They were collectively known as the Tetrakionion and would once have had statues of the four Roman Emperors Diocletian, Maximiam, Galerius and Constantius who shared power at the turn of the 4th century CE.

Each pedestal had an inscription, written in Greek, about the emperor above.

We continued along the Cardo passing an unexcavated area that had grassed over and was now carpeted in a pretty yellow flower, (yellow restharrow (ononis natrix) I think?)

Next came the Nymphaeum which was essentially a monumental water feature, an elaborate recreation of a grotto where legend has it the nymphs live. Fountains of water would pour from the mouths of stone lions into the large basin below then cascade over into ornate marble troughs along the street.  It must have been an impressive sight, like the Trevi Fountains!

In front of the Nymphaeum was a market stall. The owner welcomed us all and spoke to Musa. "He needs someone strong ... Colin?" he said turning to me.

I was just about to limber up in preparation for whatever physical task they needed me to do when the guy placed a knife into a crack between the pedestal and pillar. Leaning on the column, pushing hard against it, he suggested his super strength made it move. He pointed to the knife which was definitely oscillating.

Obviously he didn't have superpowers but the truth was just as fascinating. You couldn't see it but the columns had a natural movement.

"Put your finger in there" he asked me. Of course I did as I was told. I couldn't believe how the gentle rocking back and forth was pinching my finger.   

Despite all his efforts to entertain us no one from our group bought anything from him.

Next up was a grand staircase and gateway, known as a propylaeum, that lead up to the Sanctuary of Artemis. Even in its ruined state, the incomplete facade of the gateway was enormous, standing at nine metres tall. It must have been an really impressive entrance in its heyday.

We couldn't see the Temple of Artemis from the Cardo, you had to walk up the steps to reach the courtyard in front of it.  "It is worth it" said Musa "you should go and see it"

He obviously meant to say "but not now" as he continued marching us up the Cardo.

It wasn't long before we reached the North Decumanus, another East-West street that crossed the Cardo. Where they met was a four cornered gateway known as a Tetrapylon. in remarkably good condition.  

The Cardo continued on towards the North Gate and the city walls with an increasing intensity of columns. Apparently this section was the oldest part of the main street.

We stood here for a while, admiring the view, overlooking a ruined agora and a field of yellow flower before Musa decided to turn left, uphill along the North Decumanus to the North Theatre.

The theatre was well restored to almost completion. It was originally used as a meeting place, somewhere to discuss business or politics but it then became an odeon, a theatre for entertainment.

We entered through the side door, an archway which brought us directly into the centre of the crucible.

To our right was the stage, recreated with wooden floorboards, then turning left we saw the rows of limestone seats of the auditorium. We stood on the white, red and green marble tiles of the orchestra floor laid in a basic symmetrical pattern. They looked in great condition as if they were put down only last week!

"It could hold an audience of 1600 people" explained Musa. "When it was transformed into an odeon they extended the theatre and added a further eight rows at the top."

Our guided tour was now at an end and we were left to our own devices with 45 minutes to explore the remainder of the city. We all dispersed and went our seperate ways.

With only 3/4 of an hour we only had time to see one place so Julie and I headed back the way we came, down the Cardo. I really wanted to get to the South Theatre more than anywhere else.

However when we passed the propylaeum and with Musa's "must see" recommendation still fresh in my mind, I just had to see the Sanctuary of Artemis.

Julie took one look at the steps and suggested "I'll wait for you here".

So off I went, sprinting up with Julie's "take your time" ringing in my ears!

I reached the top, a little out of breath and began walking across a courtyard towards the dozen Corinthian columns of the temple's portico. It looked a little crowded so I decided not to go any further.

Turning South I saw a breathtaking view over the oval plaza, towards the Temple of Zeus and on to the rolling hills beyond.

I skipped back down the steps to Julie who was waiting patiently for me. We continued down the Cardo stopping at the market stall to have a closer look and the jewellery he was selling.

Julie had recently had her ears pierced after over thirty years of them being closed up, so she was on the lookout for a pair of earrings. A blue coloured stone known as Blue Goldstone caught her eye. Despite its name there it wasn't a precious stone and there was no gold. Instead it was made from glass with flecks of cobalt suspended inside. Nevertheless it was still eye-catching.

With half of our allocated free time already gone we quickened up the pace, almost breaking into a dash across the plaza to a path that headed up the hill.

We entered the South Theatre as we did in the North arriving at the orchestra in front of the stage. The floor here wasn't as decorative but the rest of it was undoubtedly bigger and better. In total they estimated a capacity of 4,700 people.

I have to admit as wonderful as the theatre was, my motive for coming here was for the incredible view of the oval plaza. Julie took a seat in the front row whilst I went scampering up to the very top. 

Right in the top corner, from the last seat on the last row, leaning over the safety barriers I could almost see the entire site of Jerash but it was the oval plaza that grabbed the attention. My heart was actually pounding more with excitement than exertion.

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With the birds-eye view I could truly appreciate the scale of it all. What a glorious view.

Whilst I was busy taking my photographs I thought I heard the strangely familiar but unexpected sound of the bagpipes!

I turned around and saw down by the stage three men dressed in khaki robes and wearing the red keffiyeh scarf performing a strange mash-up of Middle Eastern and Scottish influences. One played the pipes, accompanied by one on a snare drum, another banging a bass drum.

Whilst the bagpipes are closely tied with Scotland, its origin is believed to pre-date the Greek and Roman empires. Ancient references can be found all across Europe . 

The performers today were ex-servicemen and were collecting for a charity so we dropped a few dinars into their tin box as we left.

I checked the time and decided we had a few minutes to quickly see the Temple of Zeus. It was only next door.

So we literally walked up to the terrace, checked out the columns then turned around and left. It was the briefest of visits.

However hurried, it was still worth the effort if only for Julie to see the view over the oval plaza as we returned back down the hill. She even let out a little "Wow!"  

Sadly there was no time for us to admire it, we were now running late. 

As it happened we weren't the last arriving at our checkpoint at the South Gate. In fact Musa arrived literally just a few steps behind us and the family arrived a minute later.

With the head count done Musa then gave us the choice of stopping for lunch at the restaurant or just grabbing some snacks from the shop. Julie and I went inside to have a look at the menu. We were joined by Tiffany. 

The waiter informed us that it was a buffet lunch. Ordinarily I would have turned my nose up but I was so hungry I was ready to take my chances. Julie popped back out to let everyone else know it was a self-service buffet then came back with a "we're leaving"

The rest of the group had decided against lunch so Musa suggested we should return to the bus and get going. I had to survive on a packet of ready salted crisps.

Back in the minibus we travelled back down the highway towards Madaba, arriving at Mount Nebo after an hour and a half.

The 700m summit is a popular pilgrimage site. In the Book of Deuteronomy, from the Old Testiment of the Bible, the story goes that it was here God showed Moses the land he had been promised for his people. After fourty years in the wilderness I'm sure he was pleased. 

However after delivering the good news then came the bad news. "I have let you see it with your eyes but you will not cross over into it"  spoke God.

Moses died here and was buried nearby "in a valley opposite Beth Peor" although the exact location is not known. Many now assume Mount Nebo as his last resting place.

As we walked towards the entrance it was not the promised land we saw first but the skycrapers of Amman. They were only 35km away to the North.

Once through the turnstile we came across what can only described as an art installation. It looked like a tree but was carved from limestone. The "Road of Peace" as it's known was comissioned to commemorate the visit of Pope John Paul II in 2000.

On it was a quote from the bible in Latin "Unus Deus Pater Omnium Super Omnes" which meant something like One God, Father of All, Above All.

I'm not sure what Italian sculptor Vincenzo Bianchi was thinking when he came up with his idea but you could see faces hidden in the folds of the trunk, as you often do in the nature, where patterns when viewed from a certain angle can look like something else.

To me, my interpretation of it was the haunting faces were from the past, a past that seemed to repeat itself throughout the years but I couldn't see the future in there. The was no road map to peace, which was a depressing thought.

Even as we speak there were squirmishes in the West Bank.

Following the path up towards the church we came across some fabulous mosaics on the ground, protected only by a gazebo casting shade over them. Despite being exposed to the elements the colours were still bright and vivid.

It was once the floor of the 6th century Byzantine Chapel of the Priest John situated in the town of Nebo, also known as Khirbet al-Mukhayyat. It was discovered in 1986,  then relocated to here to be painstakingly restored.

Next, beyond the main Church was a large cross. Created by another Italian artist Gian Paolo Fantoni and symbolised the miracle of the bronze serpent, a story where the Israelites protested to Moses about their predicament in the wilderness. They soon feel the wrath of God and are punished with a plague of poisonous snakes.

They quickly realise the error of their ways and apologise profusely to Moses. Instructed by God he fashions a snake from bronze and wraps it around a pole. With this serpent staff he then performs miracles by saving those who get bitten .

Interestingly enough this symbol, the staff and the serpent is very similar to the Rod of Asclepius from Greek Mythology, which is commonly used to symbolise medicine and healing.

We stood at the edge of the ridge, where Moses stood, looking over the Dead Sea towards his Promised Land, the land of milk and honey, his Canaan.

Today it is often referred to as  the "occupied territories" and describes the land acquired during the Six Day War when Israel over the course of six days in June 1967 took control of the West Bank, including the East of Jersualem, from Jordan, the Gaza strip from Eqypt and the Golan Heights from Syria. 

The tensions are still raw over fifty years later. Trouble is always simmering and regularly flaring up. In fact there's been a noticable escalation in attacks this year.

Even today, as we stood looking towards Jericho, a 21 year old Palestinian man was shot dead as he attempted to attack a settler farm near Qaiqilya. Near the same town a 16 year boy was killed after he threw a molotov cocktail at an army post.   

This is the sad state of the promised land today.

Having seen the view, we then walked inside the newly built (2016) Memorial Church of Moses, a large modern church built over the original 4th century monastery. To the left was this incredible mosaic floor.

 An inscription along the top dated the mosaics to August 530AD, and was attributed to Soleos, Kaiomos and Elias. It was once the floor to a room known as a daikonikon where religious books and tools were kept.

A viewing platform gave us a great view over the entire scene. 

There were four rows of images, the first showed men armed with spears protecting their livestock (an Ox) from being attcked by lions. The detail was exceptional.

The next row showed them hunting on horseback with dogs what looked like a black bear and a wild boar.

Then came a change of theme with a shepherd watching over his goat and sheep grazing beneath fruit trees. Finally, on the last row, two men, one of whom was dark skined, were domesticating animals such as ostrich, zebra and a curious camel with leopard spots.

For me, this amazing 1500 year old mosaic floor was the highlight of our visit to Mount Nebo.

We regrouped, meeting up with Musa who was waiting for us by the exit. 

Back in the minibus, when it eventually turned up, we travelled a short distance to the "Tree of Life Handicraft Center" a mosaic store and warehouse. It was literally a two minute drive away.

Following a warm welcome by our host we were given a brief demonstration by a founder member of the centre and a lady to his right. They showed us the painstaking process taken to create a mosaic. They were both wheelchair bound.

This store was also a charity raisng money for those with disabilities. Even the Queen of Jordan herself is a sponsor as she covers the cost of interntaional shipping to encourage visitors to buy.

They were both creating an image called the Tree of Life. One smaller in size, using larger stones, which made for a less detailed and therefore a quicker cheaper product, whilst the other was using much smaller stones, to create essentially what was a work of art. 

I could see Tiffany's face melt into the image of sympathy, respect and love for the artist.

We walked around the shop, chaperoned by a member of staff. We weren't under any obligation to buy yet we still felt obliged to do so. The prices were very expensive so we searched out the smallest piece. There were some random designs available but we preferred one with the tree of life.

Whilst we took a small circular mosaic to the counter to pay Tiffany was already there buying this enormous plaque with exquisite fine detailed tree of life. She was going to hang it on her wall at home, we were going to put a mug of tea on ours!

It was the perfect size for a coaster yet still cost us 20 dinars.We shuddered to think how much Tiffany's 14-inch-pizza sized mosaic may have cost.

At least she took advantage of the free international Royal delivery.

I don't think anyone else from our group bought anything. So we returned to the bus and headed back to Madaba. 

With the best concentration of mosaics anywhere in the world Madaba is known as the city of mosaics. The most well known was a map of the region on the floor of the Church of St. George.

As we got off the bus Musa reminded us that this was the last we would see of our driver, Rali. To be honest he kept such a low profile we had hardly noticed him. Still he had kept us safe on the roads of Jordan.

We had organised a quick whip round to collect a tip which I handed over to him without any fuss or ceremony as we all got off the bus.

Before entering the church Musa took us to a small room to the side with rows of chairs and the image of the map on the wall. If it felt like we were in a classroom having a history lesson, that's because we were!

Tour guides were not allowed inside. Of course Musa was free enter the church but he couldn't talk out loud about the map. I suppose that rule was introduce to keep a certain decorum inside the church. 

It was difficult to make sense of the map, at least until Musa pointed out certain locations on the map. Once we knew where Jerusalem and the Dead Sea was located then it all fell into place. It was interesting to note the orientation of the map was completely different to how we see maps today. It looked East rather than North. 

The church looked quite modern. It was traditional in style but very simple in its design, like much of today's construction. It was in fact built 140 years ago. Work began on a new church in 1884 replacing the original 6th century Byzanitine Church. They soon discovered the mosaic although it wasn't properly unearthed until 1896.

Inside was also very modest and simple in its design. The walls and ceilings were plain, embellished only by colouful images of icons hung on the wall.

We continued towards the apse of the church and there it was, the oldest surviving map of the Holy Land. The carpet had been rolled up and a barrier put around it.

It covered an area from what today is Lebanon, to the Nile delta, and from the Mediteranean to the desert beyond Karak to the East. There was a large missing piece in the middle but thankfully the detailed map of Jerusalem was still intact.

Our eyes were drawn to the detailed map of Jerusalem. Apparently it can be dated to a very specific time because it showed the Church of Theotokos built in 542CE but buildings constructed after 570CE were not threre. Experts say the Damascus Gate, Tower of David and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre can all be seen in the map. As well as the Cardo, the straight road that would have run throught the centre of the city.

Next the eyes were drawn to the river Jordan, shown with an abundance of fish, one swimming downstream and another upstream away from the salty Dead Sea. There's also mention of Aenon, the spring where John the Baptist operated and Bethany believed to have been the location of the baptism of Christ.

All the names were in Greek, both the language and of course the alphabet so they weren't easily decypherable but I did find Jericho, depicted as a large cityscape surrounded by the oasis of palm trees. . 

I'm assuming the original mosaic would have been rectangle in shape which meant most of it was missing but thankfully the most important sections were still intact.

We walked around it, quickly losing interest and returning to the river Jordan and Jerusalem. I tried to find Bethlehem but failed.

Once we had finished in the Church of St.George our time was our own so we wandered to Al-Yarmouk Street, where we ate last night. Walking down its entire length didn't take us long. There wasn't much to see. 

The only thing of note was described as the Burnt Palace and the  Martyrs Church. There were some mosaics inside but apparently most of the best bits have been removed.

Anyway, having not eaten a proper meal for over nine hours we were too hungry to do anything else other than find a restaurant.  

Despite having arranged to meet up with the group in two hours for supper we couldn't wait that long and had to have a "snack" right away.

We stopped at a place called Jaw Zaman and sat outside a recreated Bedouin tent. The  waiter was quite a character. He was short, stout, curly haired and bearded. With a full on American accent he had a certain Joaqim Phoenix vibe about him.

He kept on saying "yeah, yeah, I've got you guys, I've got you"

We ordered a Qalayeh (tomato stew) a bowl of hummus and some fries to share. "Just enough not to spoil our appettite for later" we justified to ourselves. The food was delicious especially when washed down with a cold beer/glass of wine.

It felt wonderful to sit down and have a relaxing meal.

We left the restaurant and returned to our hotel. We didn't have long to wait so we sat overlooking the pool.

There must have been a large tour group of Italians just arrived because that's all we could hear. Their infectious laughter and full on emotion was a joy to overhear. It was like a piece of theatre. They certainly kept us entertained for the half hour before it was time to leave.

At 6:30pm we were all gathered in the foyer for Musa to lead us to our supper. We were going to Carob House the restaurant I had been looking forward to all trip.

It wasn't far at all, just off the roundabout with the Jordanian flag and the decorated military officer on a street named after the King's sister, Princess Zain Bint Al-Hussein. If I were her I wouldn't be happy they had named this non-descript side street after me. 

Anyway, we arrived at quite a modern looking building. We walked straight through it and back outside where our table was laid for us outside. Luckily we all had our coats on, and they needed to stay on, as it was getting cooler by the minute. 

I didn't need to look at the menu as I had already made my choices after weeks of drooling over their menu on-line. I was super excited to have so many meat free choices that were different from the usual. Here they made the effort to go the extra mile to cater for the vegetarian.

I began with Pumpkin Kibbeh, small fritters made with bulgur wheat. Traditionally filled with meat this vegetarian version was delicious especially served with a pommegranite molasses dipping sauce.  

Next came a dish called Rashtayeh, brown lentils cooked with garlic, tamarind and pommegranite molasses, topped with crispy onions, fried pitta, chives and pommegranite seeds. The flavour was sensational. Without a shadow of a doubt it beat all other contenders to the best dish of the trip.

I just didn't want it to stop. 

Just as I finished, my next dish, Aubergine Fatteh arrived. Once again it was a meat-free alternative to a traditional layered yogurt dish.  It looked amazing and tasted great. Another one to "try at home" for sure.

The service tonight for me personally had been perfect. No sooner had I finished one dish, then the other appeared. Their timing was impeccable. Julie however hadn't eaten at all and had to watch me stuff my face whilst she waited. 

Eventually her Orange and Rosemary Braised Lamb arrived. Thankfully it was worth the wait. I have to admit I felt conscious that this was all my idea. 

Musa kept on asking me if I was enjoying it, emphasising the point that we were all here because of me. Service wasn't great, in fact Tiffany and Alex were still waiting for their food whilst most of us had finished. I think they had been forgotten and Musa had to intervene.

I felt so guilty.

It was also pricely, definitely the most expensive meal of the trip.

Although, when we came to pay I almost got away with a bargain. The card machine came around and the young waitress had only entered 6.90 dinars. I didn't notice at first until I looked at the receipt.

I told her straight away that she had made a mistake and that it should have been 69 dinars. At first she thought I was complaining. It was lost in translation. Anyway we sorted it out and she wasn't going to get the sack in the morning.

As we were leaving I heard Julie say "Oh, hello" as if she met someone she knew. I turned around and she had!

It was the young couple we met in the Cave Bar in Petra and recommended this restaurant. What a coincidence.  They were thoroughly enjoying their meal. "You have a good .... uh .... nose for food" she said struggling for the right compliment.

In the street outside we all said our goodbyes. We were all going our seperate ways tomorrow. Stuart and Ceri were on the same flight out and were leaving at 5am. The family were leaving at 9am for their flight home, whereas Tiffany and Alex were heading to Israel & Palestine, although on seperate tours. Even Musa was going home this evening.  

It was only early but we headed straight back to the hotel for a nightcap before bed. Our plans for tomorrow was to get a taxi to the Movenpick hotel on the Dead Sea.