Approached the Ministry of Interior this morning fearing the worst. But the man behind the desk looked up my name, ticked and stamped the piece of paper, and the West Bank permit was in my hands. One more legendary bureaucratic hassle out of the way.

With Christine, the 6ft Berlin advertising student, I took a minibus through rolling, green dotted hills to reach Jerash. The Roman city is overlooked by the modern town, which diminishes it, but among the rubble are some gems. The rubble itself is pretty impressive, being made up of the carved lintels of the colonnade, pieces of column. The main road is the best, with chariot ruts in the now bumpy paving stones, and enough of the façade on one side is extant to give the atmosphere of walking down a busy high street. The entrance and steps to the Temple of Artemis are grand, as are the remaining Corinthian columns, but the temple building itself doesn’t inspire much. A young man pointed out that if you put your fingers in the gaps at the base of one column, you could feel it moving in the wind.

Shame not much of the baths remain because that part of Roman society is so unique (and such a good idea!). A few arches and a dome. The South Theatre is smaller than the one in Amman, but the stage has been reconstructed and you can see the audience tunnels. Only the dominant position of the Temple of Zeus makes it impressive, and the pieces of column strewn down the hillside where the steps should have been.

Stopped for lunch in town. I’ve been so conscious of men’s eyes on Christine as we pass or approach them, I think I would go totally paranoid in the long run if I was a woman. And this isn’t just the slimy types who hang round the sites, but people on the bus and in the café.

A full size bus takes us to Ajlum. The red-brown land becomes almost thick in places with pine trees, and we labour up the climbs. The castle, Qalat-el Rabadth, is visible from a couple of miles away, and turns out to be in just as good a condition as it looks. Much of the first (entrance) level is complete, and it is wonderfully cool inside while hot outside with a nice breeze. Restoration is apparently being done on it still but there is a lot of litter, and as usual, quiet corners have been used as toilets. With the moat and natural underlying rock, the castle walls are impressively high, and the views extend over the broad valley, over hills, to hazy mountains in the distance. Christine has gone back to Amman, I’m going to enjoy the woodland smell and shade, and then camp.