Highlights of Jordan
Our first stop was in Jerash, a city founded by the Greeks. Jerash is full of Greek architecture that was rebuilt by the Romans. After finishing our tour of Jerash, we headed to the Dead Sea. When you see the dead sea, you don’t notice any difference until you get into the water. I can’t swim so I couldn’t do the test to see if I could really float on the water. I was so scared that I would sink and the girls were trying to help me. Now I laugh when I think about it. The water is very salty and you are only allowed to stay in for 20 minutes, wash your body and then come back for another 20 minutes.
The next day we visited the Madaba, you can see Mosaics everywhere in this city including a mosaic map of the Holy Land on the floor of a Greek Orthodox Church. Madaba is the main Christian city in Jordan and only 2% of the population there are Christians. Jordan is considered part of the Holy Land and many biblical events took place here involving Mount Nebo. The bible says that Moses died in Mount Nebo, and his grave was never found. For me it was very emotional being at Mount Nebo as I used to hear a lot of stories in church when I was a child about Moses leading the people to the promised land. From Mount Nebo you can see the Dead Sea, Jordan River, Jericho, Jerusalem, and the surrounding areas. It is the best spot to see the whole of Israel. After Mount Nebo, we visited the largest late-Islamic castle in Jordan, and then we headed to Petra.
Petra: Our tour guide recommended us to be in Petra at 6am when the gates opened. At 5am everybody was at the reception ready to leave because after 10am Petra gets very busy with tourists and it's practically impossible to take a picture in front of the Treasury. From the gate to the Treasury is about a 40 min walk. There are three ways to get there by walking, on a horse or using a golf cart. We decided to walk as the sun wasn’t too strong and the rocks were cool to walk through. When we were getting closer, we could see this huge monument known as the Treasury or Al Khazna. It is stunning!!! You think to yourself how did people make this? It is huge and all the rocks are carved. We were one of the first groups to arrive and it was amazing to have the Treasury pretty much to ourselves. Petra is huge and you don’t have only the Treasury to visit, you also have the monastery which is higher and wider than the Treasury but to get there you need to hike for about an hour. I decided to hike to the monastery but I found it hard especially during the summer so you need to be prepared. To visit the archaeological city of Petra you need to buy the tickets at main gate. Once you have your ticket you can visit everything in the site. You can also visit the tombs, theatre, great temple, high place of sacrifice, the church and other locations. When you are inside the gate you can find cafés, toilets, craft bazaars and at the entrance they also have toilets, shops, and restaurants.
Next Stop: Wadi Rum. Wow Wow Wow!!! Have you watched the film “The Martian with Matt Damon”? This film was recorded in the Wadi Rum and most of the movie was set in the Zeina Luxury Desert Lodge. After the movie, the set became a hotel and I stayed there with my friend during our visit to Wadi Rum. Before going to our hotel we spent the day exploring the Wadi Rum Desert in a 4x4. The desert is a reddish colour with huge rocks, often compared to Mars with its unique landscape. We stopped and enjoyed tea with one of the Bedouin in his tent. After that we saw some inscriptions with drawings carved into the rocks informing travelers of dangerous animals, directions and where you could find a place to sleep. We saw other attractions such as the French castle and the Burdah Rock Bridge. After exploring the Wadi Rum Desert, we stopped to watch sunset in a special place recommended by our driver. Our next experience was having a meal that was cooked underground. They racked the meat on top of the rice and veggies which gave a delicious flavour. The food in Jordan is unreal! I loved it. It was time to say goodbye to Wadi Rum and head to the end of our tour.
Next destination was Aqaba. From Aqaba you can see Saudi Arabia, Israel, and Egypt. Aqaba is a vibrant beach city and there are some nice hotel chains such as Al Manara, Intercontinental, Hyatt, Movenpick etc. I would recommend to my clients to spend at least 3 nights here after returning to Aman. Unfortunately, we only had one night in Aqaba, but we had a great time. During the day, we went on a boat trip in the Red Sea and got the chance to go snorkeling and diving. We also had lunch on board. Afterwards we had a dinner with our group and the next day we headed back to Aman. Some people in the group spent an extra night in Aman and others decided to visit Egypt.
Highlights of this trip in my opinion are: • Mount Nebo / Petra / Wadi Rum / Aqaba
Notes about G Adventures Tour Demographic segmentation: From 12 years old must be accompanied by an adult. This tour is also for solo, couples or travelling with friends and family. Average age in our group: Most of the people were mid-thirties. Visa: Most nationalities and you must purchase a visa upon arrival at the airport for a fee of 40 JOD. Vaccines: You need to show a Covid Vaccine Certificate. No other vaccine is required to Jordan if you are travelling from Ireland. Eating / Shopping: 1 euro = 0.74 JOD. A dinner is from 10JOD to 25 JOD. Drinks like coca cola 1 JOD. Uber around 2 JOD to 5 JOD. Alcoholics drinks: Most of the bars do not sell alcoholic drinks, you need to go to a specific alcoholic drink shop and bring it to the restaurant.