This was my destination for the day: Umm al Jamaal. It is this immense and very ruined city made of black basalt: it looks exactly as though the entire town had been bombed and burned out. It was eerily still and uncannily situated among barren that looked like Martian terrain. I didn't really get any good pictures, unfortunately, so I will just leave you to imagine the ruined black city among the desolate red hills.
EDIT: Here are the pictures I do have of the city and the surroundings, but none, like I said, where you see both the black city and the red hills.
Getting there and back was quite the adventure though: I left the house at 9 and took a taxi to Raghadan bus station. From Raghadan bus station, I took the bus to Zarga, then from Zarga onto Mafraq and from Mafraq onto Umm al Jimaal, arriving around 1pm. It's not that the actual driving time was so long (perhaps 2 hours in all): the rest of the time was waiting for the busses to fill up! At the same time, I marveled that the busses (particularly this immense, old tour bus that went from Zarga to Mafraq) ever did fill up. I could not help but wonder where all theses people were going and why. Had they been in between the various towns visiting family? Working? Shopping? The scenery on the trip was not too spectacular; but I definitely saw lots of signs for the Syria (only 10km!) and Iraqi borders. I also saw lots of Bedouins, many goats, and a few camels! (Though no camels at "Um al Jimaal," sad to say. They were on the road from Mafraq to Zarga.) And next weekend I'll be seeing even more camels - off to Wadi Rum!
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