---
type: Video
title: "BRITISH TOURIST travels to AMMAN, JORDAN 🇯🇴"
description: The first video of the Jordan series — an unplanned trip, an accidental illegal taxi, a Roman theatre among the high-rises, and the Jordan Pass recommended within ten minutes.
tags: [jordan, amman, middle-east, taxis, street-food, jordan-pass, first-impressions]
timestamp: 2026-08-07T14:40:00Z
resource: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9oolIwfonk
video_id: D9oolIwfonk
upload_date: 2021-11-18
duration: 586
---

# BRITISH TOURIST travels to AMMAN, JORDAN 🇯🇴

The opening video of the [Jordan](/countries/jordan.md) series, and one of the
earliest in the bundle. Harry flies to [Amman](/places/amman.md) to meet
[Mac](/people/mac.md) for a trip neither of them has planned any part of.

**It contains the most qualified statement of his no-planning habit anywhere.**
He explains that they have nothing booked beyond the obvious sights, that this is
partly because both of them were too busy, and then says he probably wouldn't
recommend travelling this way — see
[book nothing in advance](/tips/book-nothing-in-advance.md), where the rest of
the page is him defending it.

The other thing worth having is the taxi. He works out mid-journey that he is in
an unlicensed one, and is then swapped into a different car to get past a police
checkpoint. He treats it as part of the experience.

Ten minutes long, and mostly first impressions: the friendliness he keeps
insisting he isn't exaggerating, a Roman theatre in the middle of the modern
city, and manakish.

## Key moments

- [00:00] Flying out to meet Mac, about nine hours, with nothing planned.
- [01:11] The plan is that there is no plan — partly deliberate, partly because
  both were busy — and he says he wouldn't really recommend it.
- [01:42] The driver explains he is operating illegally but holds a booking
  document.
- [02:13] His verdict on his own country: Jordan is safe and the people are kind.
- [02:13] Swapped into another taxi part-way, to get past a police stop.
- [02:46] Meeting Mac.
- [03:24] Turkish coffee with sugar — not for him, but it did the job.
- [04:35] Browsing a shop, and an introduction from the owner and his friend.
- [05:45] A Roman theatre sunk among the high-rises in the middle of the city.
- [06:15] The Jordan Pass recommended: it includes the visa and a long list of
  sites, and he thinks it was about £100 but says he'll correct it on screen.
- [06:15] A licensed guide offers a tour at the entrance; one polite refusal is
  enough.
- [07:57] Manakish with za'atar — Mac's favourite food in the world, and the
  Lebanese way of making it.
- [08:29] Harry compares it to garlic bread and is immediately converted.
- [08:59] First impressions: friendlier than he expected, good food, good
  weather, and very little on the other side of the ledger.

## Extracted pages

- [Jordan](/countries/jordan.md)
- [Amman](/places/amman.md)
- [Mac](/people/mac.md)
- [Get the Jordan Pass](/tips/get-the-jordan-pass.md)
- [Book nothing in advance](/tips/book-nothing-in-advance.md)