"Don't miss this!" a Jarash Travel Page by antistar

Jerash (or Gerasa) is an absolute, gob-stopping, jaw-dropping highlight of any trip to Jordan, as it would be if it were anywhere else on the planet. It's vast, it's amazingly intact, and they've only dug up about a third of the Roman city so far. One Italian I spoke to who'd also visited, told me how he'd been sitting on a pile of dirt, eating his sandwiches, and casually digging around in the dirt, when he'd pulled out a genuine Roman artifact: a small cup.

The other amazing aspect of this Roman city is the almost complete lack of tourists. If this were anywhere else in the world, the place would be heaving with tourists; you wouldn't be able to move. Because this is Jordan and the Middle East, and everyone is scared of terrorism, it's almost completely empty. I was even had my own personal viewing of the famous Bedouin Bagpipe duo in the amphitheater. I spent an entire afternoon there, and only one tour group showed up, and the place is so big it just swallowed them whole.

You can go anywhere, climb on anything, and do anything. There are no ropes to stop you, and the guards are more interested in eating sandwiches and looking out for non-existent terrorists. There's a down-side to that, as there's no stopping you from going somewhere dangerous and falling down and breaking your leg. I stumbled stupidly at one point, and must have torn a ligament or something, as I had pain walking for the next few days.

If you come to Jordan, you absolutely, positively must come to Jerash.

Now the history. Jerash started life as a Greek city in the third century BC, but flourished under the Romans, who built almost everything that you see today. It became a Byzantine city after the fall of the Roman empire, before falling into the hands of the Ummayads around the 7th century AD. It's demise came at the hands of the Crusaders, who put an end to the ancient part of this city, although the modern city of Jerash continues today next door.