The City of Amman, Jordan, Amman, Jordan

When we landed in Amman it was past midnight. The roads were still heavy with traffic, which I came to see never ceased in the capital of Jordan. The noise of honking was a constant, a never-ending cacophony. As I looked through the car window, I could see run-down, dirty, and disorganised streets. Whilst most commerce was closed, there were still some shops open. Amman never goes to sleep either. They say this about New York, but New York does get sleepy. It naps for a while, like the dolphins, one eye open, one eye shut. But cities like Amman… those do not sleep. I remember thinking the same in Hanoi, earlier this year. When it’s so hot during the day, people get up early and go to bed late, trying to concentrate most of their activity when the sun is lower and the thermometers signal a little drop in degrees.

I can’t remember the exact time we arrived at the hotel. I believe it was likely close to 1:30am. I was joking with my friend that we needed to check the room for bed bugs, in the light of recent news of this new epidemic in Europe, particularly in Paris. Truth be told, I usually don’t check hotel rooms thoroughly, and I prefer not to. Ignorance is bliss. But unfortunately, this room was so dirty, that only by being blind I would be able to ignore it. I was certain the bed sheets had not even been changed. The floor was not swept. Weirdly, the bathroom seemed clean. Too tired to go downstairs again, I simply put a towel on top of the pillow and slept over the duvet. It was hot in Amman, so I didn’t need too much bedding. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).