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Want to experience Jordan to the full? Then take a road trip. A journey through Jordan is a journey through it's history, from prehistoric and biblical beginnings all the way through to the present day. There is no better way to enjoy and experience the pleasure and beauty of this fascinating country.

Amman is the best starting point. It gives a taste of Jordanian culture and acts as the perfect base for sight seeing in the northern part of the Country. A settlement since prehistoric times, there are only a few fragments of its past remaining, mainly from its time as Philadelphia, the city's name after its conquest by Alexander the Great and later the Romans.

On the hill of Jebel al Qala, the city's earliest point of settlement, site of the remains of an impressive Temple of Hercules, the city's national museum and a reconstructed Ottoman palace. The hill also gives impressive views of downtown Amman and the Roman theatre can be viewed here. Largely complete, despite damage from earthquakes down the centuries, it is still very much in use as a meeting place for the locals, as much as a draw for tourists. However, the overall feel of Amman is of a modern city. Ancient ruins aside, the city's oldest buildings date to the 1950s and everywhere impressive modern limestone buildings are rising up, an impressive blend of modern and traditional style. Yet you can still see the locals herding goats on patches of wasteland in the residential districts.

From Amman, it is possible to explore the very northern tip of Jordan and its Roman past. Um Qais or Gadera to call it by its Roman name perches on the edge of Jordan, on the border of Israel and Palestine. From here, there are good views of the Golan Heights and the Sea of Galilee. The city itself was deserted by the Romans to be resettled and renamed by the Ottomans. The deserted Ottoman village houses contrast strangely with the remains of wide Roman roads lined with ruined temples, bathhouses and shops.

Then there is Jerash, perhaps Jordan's most impressive remaining Roman city. Travelling to the city from Amman, you will find yourself in an arid, red landscape. It's an almost Martian landscape, but lush in parts and like nothing I've seen before. Yet despite its seeming aridness, it is well settled. Small square limestone houses and tasteful blocks of flats cluster occasionally about the landscape. Also in evidence are the Bedouin, camped on the outskirts of settlements, herding their goats, a direct contrast of past

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