We began our final full day with a quiet swim in the outdoor pool next to the Sea of Galilee. The rising sun took a while to break through the cloud, but it was 530am.. Great time and place for bird watching – swallows, sparrows, some kind of tiny bird the length of a wren but thinner, serenaded by pigeons, and over the Sea the egret and the large bird resembling a cormorant or even heron but pure white.

Finally we said farewell to the most beautiful region of Galilee where so much of Jesus’ ministry had taken place and whose peace will always stay with us.

We spent a fair while at the border crossing , first saying goodbye to Shaffiq and then queuing for longer to await the checking of the coach, and longer still to be allowed back into Jordan, though the officials ranged from impassive to agreeable.

On the other side of King Hussein border crossing, south of Galilee, we said goodbye to Adnan our Israeli driver and welcomed the return of Zaid and Abraham in Jordan. Formalities again took quite a while but soon we were back on the coach noting the significant difference of the Jordanian countryside with olive groves but no palm plantations and regular irrigation as seen in Israel. Since Israel seems to take most of the Jordan water and all if Galilee, it is unsurprising that irrigation is less sensible here.

We drove to Irbid, Jordan’s second city, and then on to lunch at the Lebanese House near Jerash. Wonderful food – we have been served royally throughout the pilgrimage.

After lunch when I felt more like sleeping than sightseeing, we braved the serious heat of early afternoon to visit the ancient Decapolis city of Jerash. Although much of it is as yet covered with sand since the eighth century earthquake, it is one of the best preserved Roman cities in the world. We entered through Hadrian’s arch – a triumphal memorial of his visit. Some restoration and continuing archeological excavation all over the site, but so much to see.

We walked past Roman shops, a huge hippodrome, where races were held, a south arch at the real entrance, mirroring the north arch we had seen from the coach. There was an acoustically excellent Roman theatre ( where we were oddly entertained by three musicians playing drum and bagpipes, who hail from the Jordanian national orchestra!), ten Christian churches dating from the Byzantine period and a cardo with many standing pillars. Most impressive was the oval plaza which was paved and surrounded with Greek pillars with Ionic capitals – the oval is very large and, like other parts of the ancient city, was being wired for light and sound in preparation for the Festival of Jerash which attracts crowds from many countries. The other lovely memory is of an old wild pepper tree with fronds and tiny berries string with the pungent scent of pepper.

The heat meant we trailed slowly back to the visitor centre cum souk in dire need of cold drinks, but we were soon on the coach driving to Amman. Zaid pronounces this with stress on the first syllable. A quick tour on the coach past the Royal palace, huge Jordanian flag and even bigger Roman amphitheatre and we came finally to the Regency Palace hotel for our last evening. This included a swim on the 20th floor and a relaxing meal.