Camels, impressive Byzantine, Roman and Nabataean ruins, delicious food, resorts with awesome swimming pools, endless deserts, castles, significant religious sites, and gracious, welcoming people. Jordan has a lot to offer, and we made the most of our ten day visit.

Jordan sits to the east of Israel, south of Syria, and west of Saudi Arabia and Iraq. It has few resources for export, so it relies heavily on tourism. Unfortunately, the violence and instability of other countries in the Middle East has decreased the number of tourists visiting Jordan in recent years. It’s a shame, because it really is a great place to visit, and we felt safe the entire time we were there. That said, we did use a Jordanian travel agency: Jordan Direct Tours, to arrange our trip, and we never regretted it. They arranged all our lodging, and we had an excellent driver who transported us everywhere, facilitating our tours at each location. There would have been a lot more stress and confusion if we had tried to do this on our own, and we were able to cover a lot more ground than we would have otherwise.

We stayed a few nights in Jordan’s capital, Amman, which was a large sprawling city with little to interest us. We did spend a nice morning at the Citadel, a hilltop spot with great views, and remains from the Roman and Byzantine times.

While in Amman we travelled north to Jerash, one of the best preserved Roman towns in the world. It was hidden under the sand for centuries. It was rediscovered some 70 years ago, and work to restore it continues (and will continue or some time!)

Who knew?

We didn’t opt for the ride…just the photo op

Oval Forum

Hadrian’s Arch

About an hour west of Amman is the Dead Sea. We spent a lovely three days relaxing at the Holiday Inn Dead Sea Resort. There were very few guests, so we often had entire pools to ourselves. We did the mandatory dip in the Dead Sea, where due to the 33% salinity you float quite well, without any effort. Caroline and I slathered on the Dead Sea mud, which is supposed to have amazing health benefits (or it’s just a gimmick to make tourists look like goofs). We also spent an informative morning at Bethany Beyond the Jordan, which was the spot where Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist. The actual baptism spot is a dried up tributary of the River Jordan. The river itself, which marks the border with Israel, was once 120 meters wide, but it’s now quite narrow. There was a large group on the Israeli side doing full-body baptisms while we were there. Our side was crowded with local school children who were gathering up samples of the water in plastic baggies.

Wonderful sunset over the Dead Sea

Baptism on the Israeli side of the Jordan River

Baptism site mosaic, on which Daniel spotted his name! (Daniel was a pilgrim who’s writings were used to help identify the location)

Baptism Site

Not sure the mud helped me much

Restored and refreshed, we journeyed on to Petra, stopping at Madaba (the city of mosaics), Mount Nebo (where Moses was buried), and Shawbak (a crusader castle) on the way.

The Tree of Life, in mosaic

Shawbak

Shawbak interior

We spent a full day at Petra, Jordan’s most famous tourist attraction. Petra is a large ancient city that was carved into the rocky cliffs by the Nabataeans over 2000 years ago. It was an important stop for the trade routes that linked the East with the West. First you travel through the Siq, a long narrow gorge, where you can still see the troughs and pipes used by the Nabataeans to channel water to the city. At the end of the Siq you arrive at the Treasury, which is well known for its appearance in “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.” You can then explore the other features of the valley, which include tombs and temples and an amphitheater. There is apparently an impressive monastery, but the kids weren’t willing to climb the 900 steps it takes to get there. We had a very knowledgeable guide who led us about for the first two hours, filling us with the history of this incredible place.

As you would expect, the place was crawling with tourists. That wasn’t too bad. What did get old was the need to dodge out of the way of the horse-drawn carts and donkeys that the local Bedouins rode up and down the narrow paths, looking for tired tourists who wanted a ride. Kids as young as five charged about on the donkeys, beating their sides with electrical cords or cut off pieces of water hose. We declined all offers of assistance, preferring to walk, but we had a few close calls with the animals.

The next day we visited an area known as Little Petra, which was where the caravans visiting Petra would eat and sleep. In contrast to Petra, this area was practically deserted. Just a few locals offering to show us around, and one or two other tourists wandering about.

We came across this lone musician, sitting at the end of the canyon, and the kids joined him for a song (one a bit more enthusiastically than the other!)

Our next stop was Wadi Rum, a beautiful desert where Lawrence of Arabia helped the Arabs revolt against the Ottomans in World War I. We took a tour of the desert in the back of a 4 wheel drive truck. The kids were thrilled with the idea of riding in a truck bed, unimpeded by seat belts. After the sun set, we returned to our lodgings for the night, a Bedouin tent camp. It wasn’t a terribly authentic experience…our tent had a tiled floor and private bathroom; but hey, it was still a tent in the desert. The guys running the place had fun teasing Daniel, and teaching him to dance.

After our night of roughing it, we rode camels back to the parking area where our van awaited. It took about one hour, which was plenty of time for all of us!

Next stop, Aqaba, which is on the Red Sea, at the south end of Jordan. We stayed in the resort area called Talia Bay, which is about 10 kilometers out of town, with several hotels, and a nice complex with shops and restaurants. It had a bit of a southern California vibe to it. The hotel was full of French and English tourists and their kids. Must have been a school holiday period. We spent our two days vegging out by the pool.

The last stop of our Jordanian adventure was the Dana Biosphere Preserve, Jordan’s largest nature preserve. It’s a great area for hiking. Or so I hear. We didn’t get too far on our guided hike, due to Daniel’s lack of interest. We did have a nice cup of tea with our chatty local guide, who had a great sense of humor.

So as you can see from the pictures and the write-up, Jordan is a fascinating place to visit! If you ever go, make sure you give yourself plenty of time to see the whole country, and break up the touring with some relaxing days at the resorts!