“Welcome to Jordan” - A 10-day road trip through the Jordanian landscape
Read my brain:
✿ Really worth doing!
✎ Not worth it, unless you have time to spare!
Introduction
“Welcome to Jordan”: this is what you will hear from any local in Jordan: from the cities to the desert. They like to welcome you to their country, they are happy to have tourists around!
This article will guide you through road-tripping for 10 days in Jordan starting from Amman, going south until the Read-sea in Aqaba, and driving back up to Amman to take your flight back.
You will see the entire country, and visit multiple types of landscapes (every day, for me, it felt like being in another reality!), meet amazing locals, live the Jordanian culture, use, and customs, and take a lot of pictures (Can you beat me? I took more than 2K pictures…I know, it’s crazy! But everything was so colorful, iconic and emotional that I had to keep the memory also somewhere than my brain!)!
Your perfect 10-day road trip through Jordan:
♥ Day 1: Amman
♥ Day 2: Jerash & Madaba
♥ Day 3: Wadi Numeira Canyon, Wild Salt Shore, Kerak
♥ Day 4: Dana, Wadi Musa, Little Petra
♥ Day 5: Petra
♥ Day 6: Wadi Rum Desert
♥ Day 7: Jeep Tour in Wadi Rum Desert
♥ Day 8: Aqaba
♥ Day 9: Wadi Mujib, Dead Sea
♥ Day 10: Back home
Before going there:
Get your Jordan Pass! This is your visa to enter Jordan, and also a “free access” to Petra archeological site. You can purchase at this link; you will find multiple packages (it mainly depends on how many days you want to spend in Petra). Make sure to have it at hand when flying to Jordan cause they ask for it at your landing.
Who to go with:
Your friends or partner! As long as they are versatile, they adapt to different situations, are courageous, and like to drive for hours! This trip is also very fitness intensive, you will hike, walk for hours, climb… your mate will have to be a very energetic one!!
How long:
You need at least 10 days to see everything! You will never have one day wasted or empty…
In 10 days you manage to see the entire bucket list, but probably will have to give up on some rest; so if you have one or two days more, you could use them to spare the various visits points and rest a bit!
Where to stay:
You will move every one or two nights, so the place where you will sleep will vary constantly on this trip! You CANNOT visit Jordan staying the entire time in one place only: and if you wanted to do this, then this is not the article for you probably! In that case, I would suggest you stay in Amman and from there you could probably do some of the things driving from there with your car :).
Rent your car:
First of all, choose a big stable car! If possible, a Jeep would be perfect, otherwise a SUV! Make sure you have a spare tire with you cause there is a high chance to blow your tire on the destroyed roads of Jordan!
The best local car rental company is Arena Rent a Car. The owners and managers are very gentle and professional!
The rental “station” is not at the airport. You will be contacted on WhatsApp by the rental company to plan your meeting in the airport (usually it’s in front of Door 5 of the Airport, so you need to exit the airport and walk to the n.5). They meet you, pick you up, and drive you to the station where your car is!
Buy your sim card!
We are outside of our European mobile plan here, so you will need to buy a local sim card to have internet.
Internet works in most areas, also in the desert, so I really recommend making one. You will definitely need it, and it’s very cheap. We did our plan with Umniah, you will find it right at the arrivals of the Amman Airport in the main arrivals hall. They have a 10-day plan with 30GB of internet! You can download their mobile app which works very greatly and follow your data usage!
ps: Be aware that Whatsapp calls & videocalls don’t work here! You will need to use Instagram or Facebook to call your friends and family members!
JORDAN
Key information on the country:
Jordan is home to more than 100,000 archaeological, religious and tourist sights. Like Petra, Dead Sea, Wadi Rum and Jerash, only to name a few.
Capital city:
AMMAN
Official language:
ARABIC
Population
11 MILLION (2023) - When you road trip across the country, you mainly see desert lands and water. But if you see the numbers, the country is actually only covered only by 0.6% of water… the inhabitants are all cluttered in the main cities (Amman, Aqaba…). The population density is average.
Religion
95% SUNNI ISLAMIC (Did you know that 90% of world Islamics are Sunni Islamics? Do you know what Sunni Islam is? Sunni Islam claims to represent the Muslim consensus concerning the teachings and habits of the Prophet. It originated among those Muslims who, contrary to Shiites and Khawarij, denied that Ali, Muhammad's cousin, and son-in-law, had been chosen as Muhammad's only legitimate successor.)
Currency
JORDANIAN DINAR (JOD)
Symbol: د.ا
Weather
Jordan's climate ranges from a more Mediterranean climate to a desert climate, but the land is generally very arid.
Nationality
JORDANIAN
Government
MONARCHY: You will see in all stores, hotels, and more, the pictures and paintings of the country leaders!
Economy
GDP is growing because investors see a high potential in this nation. It’s today the only country where there isn’t any conflict within the Middle East area.
The number of refugees that are welcomed in this country is increasing!
Culture
You will find out yourself that, compared to most Arabic countries, Jordan is very open-minded and not too conservative, especially when it comes to welcoming international tourists that have a very different culture when it comes to dressing, behaving, and more… but don’t forget to be respectful always of their culture!
Some good contacts you might need!
1) Meet “Heshia”
We met him during our stay in one guesthouse, he was working there during the Ramadan period. He was a nice meeting as he was very welcoming to us, and we discovered that he works as a guide for trekking experiences.
Especially for the experience of trekking in Wadi Mujib Natural Reserve, you will need someone to ask for information! He can be the right person for you :). You will read more about him also later on in this article in the section dedicated to the Wadi Mujib Reserve.
This is his phone number: +962 7 7937 0246. He has whatsapp :).
2) Meet “Adnan”
He organizes 4-days tours from Dana Biosphere Reserve to Petra. They are made of hikings, walks, camping and more. I did not do this tour, but I would recommend it if you are looking for a more savage experience!
Interesting notes:
1)
You will see different types of flags around Jordan! You can learn more here or on other sites online!
2)
Did you know that the Dead Sea is the lowest point on Earth? The Dead Sea is 306 m deep, the deepest hypersaline lake in the world.
3)
On May 25th, 1946 Jordan became independent (from the United Kingdom)
4)
Wear Kajal in your eyes! You will meet locals wearing it, especially in the desert but also in the cities; women and men! Men with Kajal were super beautiful.
Kajal is known to shield your eyes from the harsh rays of the sun and from the sand!
5)
You can find Quartz gemstones in the Desert. Approach rocky parts of the desert (where red rocks are) and start looking for these gemstones!
Most properly, these gemstones are Silica sand is defined as a high-purity industrial mineral in which the sand grains are made entirely of quartz.
6)
Jordan locals have beautiful light and bright eyes. We did not imagine this, but Jordanian have light blue, light caramel eyes and they contrast with their darker tone skin, creating a beautiful effect!
7)
There are over 100,000 archaeological sites in Jordan.
8)
Many famous movies were filmed in Jordan. Watch the famous Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and you’ll recognize the stunning Treasury at Petra. Or watch Lawrence of Arabia, The Martian, or Red Planet, and you’ll see the magical mountains, cliffs, and desert lunar landscapes of Wadi Rum.
9)
Whenever you walk, they will always tell you “Welcome to Jordan”!
Overall, Jordan is very welcoming towards tourists, they speak English very well (against all our expectations!)
10)
You will be served tea at every hour of the day! At the end of your trip, you will be happy to drink anything else, even the drink you always hated! (My friend even loved Coke, which she always hated for life!).
Beside Jokes, Beduine tea is great!
11)
Time here is different… ahaha They take their time to do things, with calm and enjoy their time. They want to talk to you, they don’t understand the rush and stress. It’s amazing!
12)
You could find large “desertic” areas where there won’t be any hotel, Airbnb, or guesthouse and you might need to adapt!
13)
Refill your car fuel! You can find long routes with no petrol station!
14)
Bring your hair dryer! Some hotels don’t even give you proper towels, so you might need to ask!
15)
You will find tons and tons of speed humps on the streets, especially highways! totally uncoherent… you can drive up to 90 miles per hour, but you have speed humps every kilometer and you need to slow down a lot cause they are very tall. Above all, they are impossible to spot sometimes because they have the same color of the cement.
16)
You won’t find many women around the city in the evening and at night: if you want to go to a night bar you have to consider is mainly men!
17)
Be aware that Whatsapp calls & video calls don’t work here! You will need to use Instagram or Facebook to call your friends and family members!
18)
You will struggle to buy alcohol (even beer) around the country. And if you buy it, you can’t drink it in the street or in general outside. You can do this at home!
Very interestingly though, you will find super strong beers, even up to 18% degrees of alcohol volume!
19)
You should always bargain! They told us that when they tell you 30 dinars, you should start at 10 dinars, they Always bring the price down, no price is fixed here. We used to pay 10 dinars coffee mugs only 3 dinars.
20)
Some key words I wished I knew in Arabic before traveling here:
Wadi: it means “valley”! (You will go to Wadi Mujib, Wadi Numeira, etc…)
Siq: it means “gorge” (when you do the “Siq trail” in the valley of Wadi Mujib, you will do the trail of the river gorge.)
Shukran: it means thank you, never forget to say thank you!
Jalla: it means “come on” or “hurry up”, you will hear it a lot in the desert!
Inshallah: it means “if god wills”
21)
Typical meals we know from the Arabic culture are revisited in each Arabic country.
Baba Ganoush is Mouttabal here; the difference is that the Jordanian version has tahini inside.
Hummus is called Hommus
Other typical dishes to try are:
Tabouleh (Levantine salad made mostly of finely chopped parsley, with tomatoes, mint, onion, soaked uncooked bulgur, and seasoned with olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and sweet pepper.)
Halloumi cheese
Falafel
Mansaf
Makloubeh
Shawerma
Carakale beer
22)
Smoke Shisha (also called Hookah or Narghilè) at most cafès in the country! Melon was my favorite taste but they have many :).
♥ Day 1: Amman
If you wish to find my map pins and easily follow them, follow me on mapstr!
✿ Fly from your city to Amman
Buy your flight by landing in Amman: this way you will start your road trip from the northern part of Jordan and drive south.
Then, at the end of your trip you will drive back north and fly back from Amman.
Pick up your rented car from Arena Rent A Car (more information above in the previous paragraph “Rent a car”).
✿ Visit the Amman Citadel & the Roman theatre
✿ Walk in Al Malek (King) Faisal Street
It’s the street where all shops are. You will immerse yourself into the world of spices, herbs, shisha, liquors, souvenirs and more!
Some shops you don’t want to miss:
Palestine Juice: for the freshest juices ever! I gotamango & kiwi one, amazing!
The best Baklava & Knafeh (Kunafa or knafeh) of the country!
You should shop baklava to bring back home, you can make your own box!
You should eat the Knafeh there, it’s served hot with pistachio on top, it’s amazing!
We found the best souvenirs of the country here! The price is a bit higher, but the quality is amazing and definitely worth it! They sell handmade pieces from various designers, my favs were those with the arabic language engravings!
Petra Spices & Herbs: right next to the Bazar Ala Aldin, you will find this shop with spices & oils. I have to be honest, the quality of the spices here was lower compared to the following spices store I am suggesting you to go to (in Madaba, read further). ON the contrary, they sell pure oils of any kind (i shopped coconut, rosemary, jojoba, and more… their smell is so great!).
✿ Have lunches & dinners in Amman
It feels like a local market: you sit down, you get given a paper to fill in with your order (you can choose from aroun 10 different dishes), you get served in few minutes, the food is good but the overall experience is what matters and it’s really nice!
Here is a list of other places I saved but did not go to:
Fakhr El-Din: for a more luxurious dinner
We Farm: for healthy drinks and breakfasts
Sufra Restaurant: it has a super cute garden and the atmosphere is very romantic. Some pics below!
✿ Have a drink, shisha some live music at the local cafe
Hareem AsSultan Cafe in Rainbow Street
I ordered a Kiwi drink, it was amazing!
✿ Go dancing at a local club!
The Old District is more a pub-with-music kind of nightclub
The Wacko is more a club, you an find it at the W Amman Hotel!
✎ Walk in the streets of Souq Al-Sukar
We went there expecting to find local products and shopping. But it was actually just a store for the locals to buy the every-day necessities. It was anyway interesting to walk around here to feel the vibe of how Jordanians live.
✎ Visit the modern neighborhood of Al Abdali
We met some locals who suggested us to visit the Al Abdali modern neighborhood where you can live Amman under a different light, definitely less touristic!
✎ Order a drink at the Starbucks cafe & have your arabic name written on top!
Just for the fun of having your name in arabic!
♥ Day 2: Jerash & Madaba
✿ Drive to & Visit Jerash
It is an archeological site of ruins of the walled Greco-Roman settlement of Gerasa, it’s just outside the modern city of Amman (1h drive). It is considered one of the largest and most well-preserved sites of Greek and Roman architecture in the world outside Italy. And is sometimes misleadingly referred to as the "Pompeii of the Middle East". The “walk” around the site will take you 1-2 hours.
Park here, so you are right in front of the entrance, there is only 1 entrance, the South Gate (and you exit from the same gate too).
✿ Drive to & take a walk around Madaba
Visit St. John Church, St. George Church (here inside you can see the Mosaic Map, the world's oldest map of the holy land which gives us a fragmented glimpse of the layout of biblical nations.), the Madaba Archeological Park.
In general, stroll around the main streets of K. Talal St. (where Monuments and restaurants are) & Madaba Street (where shops are).
✿ See the Kawon Bookstore in Madaba
A somewhat unusual stop is the Kawon bookstore. It is a bookstore with an adjoining café, where rare books up to 100 years old, vinyls, and video cassettes are stored. The atmosphere is really nice and the staff friendly. What I suggest is that you go here for a lunchtime snack, but know that if you just want to visit the bookstore, admission is free. They have a beautiful cafe inside, you can order healthy food, and spend some time sorrounded by local students and workers co-working together in here! The atmosphere is so great!
✿ Have lunch or dinner in Madaba
We had to choose between
Haret Jdoudna: the one we opted for; great location but the food was “good”
Ayola: suggested to us by a local, I would therefore suggest you go here!
Jaw Zaman: a local told us it’s good but touristic
✿ Buy the best bread of Jordan in Madaba!
We looked for this bread at the next stops of our road trip, but could never find it again this good! You won’t regret it, plus it’s a very nice experience and they make wood-oven-bake it in front of you on the street! It costs like 10 cents… the best cents spent in my life!
You will find it at this spot here.
✎ Do grocery in Madaba (prepare for your road trip!)!
Doing grocery in Jordan is a very local experience that you won’t regret, it will definitely give you an additional feeling of how the Jordanian local life is, especially in supermarkets in small cities like Madaba.
Plus, you will need to pack up for your road trip! During your drive, you won’t find other supermarkets, only small stores selling snacks… Our groceries saved our trip!
We did our grocery in this big supermarket selling quite international types of products.
✿ Buy some local souvenirs in Made in Jordan store in Madaba
Besides the fact that the owner was a beautiful light green eye guy, the products he sells are very interesting and good!
The store is called Made in Jordan. It has 2 stores one in front of the other, one with spices and food, one with cosmetic products.
Don’t forget to bargain!
✎ Visit As-Salt & have lunch or dinner here
Salt is a hillside town near Amman, and its significance as an Ottoman Empire trading hub is reflected in its Ottoman architecture.
We had lunch at Beit Haziz. Their bread pizza (with Halloumi) is delicious as it’s made in front of you! They also have other local meals and a view of the city.
♥ Day 3: Wadi Numeira Canyon Trek, Wild Salt Shore & Kerak
Get my full Google Maps road trip route for this day here.
Option 1 where you sleep at the Mujib Chalets
Option 2 where you sleep at the AlKerak Countryside Hotel
(Read more below to understand why there are two options for the road trip. This are has very very few accomodations!)
If you wish to find my map pins and easily follow them, follow me on mapstr!
✿ Trek in the canyon of Wadi Numeira, or the “Water Petra”
Drive approx. 1.20 min to reach the canyon of Wadi Numeira.
Wadi Numeira is also named Water Petra as it has beautiful steep walls, which are shaped by the water and shimmer in different colors depending on the type of stone and the time of the day.
You don’t need to go here early… we arrived at 1-2 pm and it was perfect timing as it was not too hot to trek. You can go any time.
You access it from the Dead Sea Highway, park here, and walk East towards the springs up the country.
Contrary to Wadi Mujib, you do not need a guide and can enter for free (this is what we knew at least, but actually at the entrance a local person asked us for some dinar, bring cash just in case!).
Some very useful advice you should know before:
Bring shoes you can walk on rocks & inside the water with. The gorge of the river gets narrower and narrower and makes it impossible for you at a certain point of the route to not walk inside the water.
The trail doesn’t really have a timing. You can walk until you like. I though strongly suggest doing at least 1h walk (one way) because there is a nice wavy narrow canyon there (3rd picture below)! Bring water with you :)! To find out how long it takes to the nice spot, just ask the other people you meet that are coming back already!
✎ Coffee break?
There is a café on the way! It’s very rudimental but they make Turkish coffee and that’s all my friend needed after 2-3 hours trek!
✿ Take a bath in the salty waters of the Wild Salt Shore
This will be a perfect stop after your Wadi Numeira walk, as you will be needing some refreshment!
Located near the Lisan Peninsula, almost at the southern end of the Dead Sea, the Wild Salt Shore is a coastline composed of salt deposits. Here, the beach has been completely covered with salt, due to massive evaporation of water. You will feel like you are walking on a white Caribbean beach, but you will be walking on salt!
Bring sneakers (to walk down the rocks and reach the seashort, but then, bring your flipflops too, as well as a towel to dry up, some suncream as the reflection of the sun is strong! There are many accesses to the sea shore, but I recommend you to go to this one here (the Salt Beach): they also offer some salt-free shower to clean from the salt, and a parking lot!).
Do not put any water in your eyes or mouth!
✎ Drive to Kerak & visit the Castle
Kerak is one of those destinations you always find on Jordan's bucket list of must-dos. I did not really enjoy it here (it was trafficky, and the Kerak Castle was not as expected), so I honestly would not suggest it if it wasn’t for the fact that we passed by this to visit the in-land, which was worth it (next point!).
✿ The inland of Kerak
Something I did not mention so far is that every day it felt like being in a new country. We changed the area of exploration and the weather, landscape, and moob completely changed!
Kerak countryside is something along this line, you will suddenly enter in a land full of green grass, cypresses, and no houses, and it felt like being in Tuscany for a moment. Driving here was very nice.
✿ Sleep at the Mujib Chalets (Option 1)
This is a super nice experience to do: you will enjoy the dead sea view and have a little cute chalet only for you!
You can find the chalets on booking.com or on their website.
Book a lot in advance, they are sold out even two months before departure…
✿ Sleep in the countryside of Al Kerak (Option 2)
If the Mujib Chalets are not available (they are always full), you can opt for another type of staying. Be aware, this is not a luxury staying, as Kerak is a very poor farming area, but it’s a very local and nice experience.
The AlKerak Countryside Hotel is a super unexpected residence in the middle of the green land of Al Kerak. You will feel alone in the world, completely immersed in nature, and in a location you would not expect to find here.
The hotel is super nice, and the host was great, but the rooms were what we would have expected (a bit humid and not the best of the luxury!). But overall, it was a worthwhile experience.
You can also watch a beautiful sunset from here!
♥ Day 4: Panoramic Road, Dana & Little Petra (Wadi Musa)
Get my full Google Maps road trip route here.
if you stayed in the Dead Sea (like the Mujib Chalets I suggested to you), you can use this route link.
if you stayed in Kerak or around, then use this route (this also has a nice stop at the Bait Khairat Al-Karak "Mumia" café which has a great view!).
If you wish to find my map pins and easily follow them, follow me on mapstr!
✿ Drive on the panoramic road of At-Tafilah Highway & stop at the Al Borj Rest café
The At-Tafilah highway is the first part of this panoramic route. It has beautiful landscapes that give you a view of the entire land!
You should stop at the Al Borj Rest Café which has some drinks, snacks, and a toilet if you need them! You can even bring your own food and eat it here, and get a tea from the owner, he is a very sweet guy with his dog.
A bit before this café there is another one very similar, called something like Sunset Café. It’s nice but we liked more Al Borj.
✿ Drive on Kings Highway
Just following the At-Tafilah, the Kings Highway begins, the atmosphere changes, the rocks get reddish and it’s still very beautiful!
✿ Dana Biosphere Reserve
On the way, you will pass by the Dana Biosphere Reserve. It’s Jordan's largest nature reserve.
We did not have enough time to trek or do any excursion here, but from the Dana village, a lot of trekking trails start and are fascinating. You can visit this website and see all the tours they do here. (They have their own Dana Biosphere facility to sleep in, very peculiar experience. Otherwise, the Feynan Ecolodge is also a very sustainable facility to sleep in this area and it has a nice location in the desert, check both of them out!)
During our stay, we also met Adnan (above in this article I shared all the information about him and his 4-day trekking and camping experience in the Dana Biosphere, a beautiful experience for those who like these types of adventures!)
✿ Little Petra
First of all, Little Petra is small, you can take a nice walk here (bring your sneakers you will have to climb some rocks stairs), you can consider 2 hours here (we did not get to the end of it, but we figured there wasn’t any “end” to it, you can keep walking as the route continues even for hours and up to Petra…).
We were suggested to do Little Petra before Petra so that you can be amazed twice! Once you see Petra, Little Petra definitely gets less breathtaking.
What I loved about Little Petra is its bucolic nature, it’s green with donkeys eating grass and beautiful trees and plants. The rocks here are beige, compared to Petra’s where the red prevails. So the atmosphere is different!
My suggestion for you is to buy a "veil” (Kefia or other types, see the picture below) for your Petra experience the day after. It costs less and they have many patterns! :) Ask them to teach you how to wrap it on your head!
Little Petra also goes by the names: Siq al-Barid, Triclinium, and Cold Canyon.
Park here and then start your tour!
Closes at 6pm!
✿ Spend two nights in Wadi Musa
Wadi Musa is the city where the Petra, and Little Petra archeological sites are. This is where you will need to find your hotel. Make sure to book one that is in the “low part” of the city!
Petra is at the lowest point of the city of Wadi Musa, if you book something that is up the hill, you will need to walk a lot with a high steep road. This is my only advice, then you can look for your own favorite hotel on Booking or elsewhere, I was suggested the Nomads Hotel.
✿ Attend the “Petra by Night” concert
Petra organizes a night concert within the archeological site. It’s very beautiful. Make sure to 1) check which day you will be in Wadi Musa because they do the concert only on specific days of the week (and usually is during the weekdays, not on the weekend!). They pick you up at your hotel and bring you there, it usually starts around 20.00 and lasts around 2h. Check the Petra By Night website for more.
✿ Have dinner at Sana'a Yemen Restaurant
We were suggested to go to this local restaurant by our hotel owners. The food was very good, and it was an interesting concept offering both Yemen cuisine and Jordanian one. These countries all have the same plates just revisited and adapted to their local culture. Find it here.
Take Falafels! They were the best falafels in Jordan for us :).
♥ Day 5: Petra
SUPER IMPORTANT before you go, you don’t want to miss these tips! (You can thank me later :)).
Wake up at 5 am, and be there at 5.45 am. Get in the line (it’s very short at this hour). The archeological site opens at 6.30 am, but they let you in even before, around 6.15 am you can already walk in: that’s when you can start the tour. At this time you won’t meet tourists, it’s super free, it’s empty and you can see the site in all its beauty, especially the Treasure which is always packed with people (you will see on your way back, how many people will be there and you will be thankful to have gone that early there!).
DO NOT do the usual route walk! We did the route backward, this allowed us to enjoy the route so much more, and to begin with a beautiful walk with red rocks, nature & spectacular views of the land. Get my full Petra Google Maps route here. Below is a picture that shows (in red) the route I suggest & that highlights the “Street of Facades” as the point where you “separate” from the rest of the tourists that do the usual route (that would be going to the Royal TOmbs as next stop) and go up the rocks. :) Enjoy!
The Internet won’t work! Download the app MapsMe, you can download the map of the route beforehand, and then use it even without internet.
Bring your passports (even if they don’t ask for it) & your Jordan Pass (super fundamental!).
Bring comfortable sneakers, if you do the entire route, it will take you around 9 hours walk if you visit it all, and it’s worth it! (Consider 9h counts also time for photos, breaks, and all! Don’t get scared, it’s so beautiful that you won’t feel it so much, but you wil be very tired).
Bring a hat, the sun will hit you, and also sun cream! Bring water and snacks. There are some bars on the way too :).
Don’t get a guide, you can read the details of each monument online and you’ll be free to make the tour the way you like it the most!
Key sights to see & Interesting facts!
Petra is one of the 7 Wonders of the world!
Siq: (or gorge), with its narrow vertical walls is basically the stone corridor before the Treasury. With its 200 m high walls, is not a canyon (a gorge carved by water), but a geological fault produced by tectonic forces. At various points, you can see how the veins in the rock on one wall mirror those on the opposite wall. The ancient canals carved into the stone to bring water to Petra are still visible, and in some places there are still earthen pipes dating back 2,000 years.
Treasury: this is a tomb with a Hellenistic façade. Although carved into a wall of ferrous sandstone to house the tomb of the Nabataean king Aretas III, the Treasury owes its name to the legend that an Egyptian pharaoh hid his treasure here (in the urn on the façade) while chasing the Israelites.
Some locals clearly had to believe this story, as the urn, 3.5 m high, is riddled with gunshots.
Height of Sacrifice: built on top of the Jebel Madbah and equipped with drainage channels to let the blood of sacrificed animals drain away.
Next to it, the Obelisks, more than 6 m high, carved into the rock face and not built on top of it: by observing the empty space surrounding them, you can get an idea of the epic proportions of the excavations they involved. Dedicated to the Nabataean deities Dushara and Al 'Uzza, their iron-rich stone gleams in the sun and they appear as totems in this once sacred territory.
The altar area includes a large rectangular Here, you are far above the mortal vicissitudes of ancient and modern cities - and you will easily understand why this site should seem closer to heaven than to earth.
Monastery: Hidden high in the hills you need to climb 800 stairs to get there. It was built as a tomb by the Nabateans in the 3rd century BC. The name derives from the crosses carved on the interior walls, suggesting that the structure was used as a church in Byzantine times.
Royal Tombs
✿ Have lunch or a fresh drink within Petra’s site
With Petra’s site, there is both a restaurant called The Basin Restaurant, and a café for a fresh drink called Nabatean.
✿ Have dinner in Wadi Musa
Some other places I saved in Wadi Musa but did not go to all:
My Mom's Recipe Restaurant (we actually went to this restaurant and did not like it as it was way too touristic and the food was nothikng special).
♥ Day 6: Wadi Rum Desert
If you wish to find my map pins and easily follow them, follow me on mapstr!
✿ Drive to Wadi Rum Desert
Usually, most Wadi Rum Desert resorts tell you to park at private parking lots they own in Disah (which is the city right outside the protected area of the desert (which is possible to access only with the Jeeps from the resorts you have booked, they would come pick you up and bring you to your hotel). So inform yourself about which parking you need to go to :).
✿ Stop along at the Abandoned French Fortress
To reach this point, you need a strong car (a Jeep or a 4x4 SUV). The fortress is a beautiful and is really worth a stop, but you won’t make it with a normal car. If you do not have a strong car I suggest you 2 options:
First option: do anyway the road to get there, because it’s a really nice way to stop, enjoy the desert really BY YOURSELF (no tourist, no tent, no one…). We stopped there until our car could make it to do a short picnic in the desert and enjoy the dunes.
Second option: when you arrive at your resort, you can ask the beduines to do you a favor and bring you there with a Jeep (you can pay them some money and they will be happy to do it for you!)
✿ Book your Desert Resort
There are various resorts in the protected area of the Wadi Rum Desert, which is only accessible through private Jeeps of the resorts.
We booked the Desert Magic Camp & Resort. We had a great experience with them, the rooms were good and also the experience in the camp was nice. The owner, Mohammed, is a really good guy, he talks very good english and is really fun!
The camp has a common area where you can get drinks, meet people, they would serve you breakfast and dinner there. The dinner is cooked with the beduine way of cooking meat and vegetables using the heat from the bon fire that is maintained under the sand. They will show you how they make it.
♥ Day 7: Jeep Tour in the Protected Area
Every resort or camp you reserve will offer activities. Some of them are
Jeep tour
Sandboarding
Camel rides
Stargazing
Hiking
Here you can find the tours and activities of the Desert Magic Resort & Camp we booked.
✿ 8-hour Jeep Tour
The Jeep tour will take you an entire day (they offer them of different legnths, we chose the 8h-long one).
The Jeep tour brings you around the entire Protected Area of the desert, and does various stops at the main attractions, such as
Hiking the Um Fruth Bridge (a sospended rock in the desert you can climb to).
Visiting the spot of the Lawrence of Arabia movie
Picnic lunch in the desert
Using the red clay from the sand to paint your skin or the rocks
Watching the sunset from the desert with a beautiful golden hour light
Seeing camels and horses
Drinking beduine tea & buying souvenirs from beduines tents (quick note on this: the souvenirs are more expensive here, and we believed had a lower quality than the ones you will find elsewhere, but it’s anyway nice to contribute economically to the beduine families of the area).
✿ Stargazing
The resorts usually offer an activity to watch the stars from a non-lighted spot in the desert, check with them!
♥ Day 8: Camel Ride, Sandboarding & bye-bye desert, driving to Red Sea!
✿ Sunrise Camel Ride
Not necessarily at sunrise (we actually did it around 9 am), you can ride camels in the desert for an hour or more. I think 1 hour is enough.
Please note: I usually do not like to do these experiences because I am against animal exploitation. Though, I had to admit that animals here are kept in relatively-good state. They are not treated bad (for what i could see) they have some freedom and seem also to be in good shape. Camels, donkeys, horses are all every-day rides of the beduines in the desert, and are not only “used/exploted” for tourism.
✿ Drive to Aqaba on the Red Sea
It’s time to leave the desert and reach our next destination: Aqaba. It’s the Jordanian port city on the Red Sea, it’s a quite large city.
Make sure to book a hotel that’s around this area where all pins are :).
✿ Have a walk around the city
Some key spots you want to walk to:
✿ Have lunch at Al Shami Restaurant
It looks as an open market in the street with shop in front, the food is great (you should order fish meals!) and the atmosphere is very local. It was the best there :)
✿ Go snorkeling in the Red Sea
THere is corals and a crystal clear water! DO NOT go into the “Glass boats” they try to sell you there, you don’t see much!
✿ Walk inside the local market in Ar-Razi street
You will find
fruits stands,
herbs and spices and tea (we made our own mixed beduin tea at Alkodare beduen coffee & spices)
bakeries (this is amazing, you can see bread whilst beind made Bakary Al janob
✿ See the local Fishermen Harbor and Fish Market
The Fish Market & Harbor is a cute port which has beautiful colors with its colourful boats. Infomr yourself at what time of the day you can find fishermen there and when the market is ongoing!
✿ Have dinner in the city
Two more restaurants I haven’t attended but were suggested:
Rakwet Kanaan Restaurant & Cafe
Syrian Palace Restaurant
✿ Live the local nightlife at Al Fardous Cafè
Al Fardous has big tv screens projecting soccer matches, drinks, shisha, cards to play and more! You will see local people attending this bar and instantly feel like part of a small village in your summer vacation!
♥ Day 9: Wadi Mujib & Dead Sea
✿ Drive north to the Dead Sea
Time to leave the Red Sea and go to the Dead one!
Drive up north, pass through this Google Maps route, to have another panoramic road you did not yet do!
Stop by Adnan, this great man who opened its own activity in Jordan and has its beautiful shop called Half Way Rest Area on the road to take a break drink some coffee buy some snacks and leave!
✿ Hike in Wadi Mujib Natural Reserve
The Mujib Biosphere Reserve is the lowest nature reserve in the world. The Reserve is located within the deep Wadi Mujib gorge, which enters the Dead Sea at 410m below sea level.
Over 300 species of plants, 10 species of carnivores and numerous species of permanent and migratory birds have been recorded.
IMPORTANT TO KNOW before going:
you will get fully wet, wear sports shorts, sports top, do not bring any shoes (I strongly recommend to buy the rock shoes they sell you there at the visitors center - the entry to the reserve - because they are done esecially to climb on these rocks, and to walk into these waters where small rocks enter your shoes and you can easily get them out since their shows have holes. I met some people who brought their own rocks shoes and they did not work well! The shoes cost 5 dinars.
the ticket entry is 25 dinars per person, you can buy the ticker right there.
i recommend not to bring anything with you, you can leave everything in the car which you park in front of the entry & you can leave the car keys to the reception, they have a specific place to keep them.
you can bring or purchase a dry bag to bring your phone to take photos or other things, but I do not recommend it. Some people lost their sunglasses, hats, or other things as the stream is very strong and things just “flow away with it”. Just go as easy as you can!
The Siq trail (that is the trail in the gorge) is the most beautiful and reasonable. It takes you 1.5 hours to go up until the final waterfall, and around 30/40 minuted to come back. It depends on how many people you find there, because on some points where you need to climb, some queues of people may create. THe trail starts from the visitors center here.
✿ Relax at a Dead Sea Resort
Note that resorts in the Dead Sea are the most expensive of Jordan, but they are really worth it.
We loved the resort we booked, the Samarah Dead Sea Resort. It has multiple pools in front of the Palestine landscape, and beautiful houses with a view.
✿ Have dinner at the Dead Sea Museum Restaurant
The restaurant has a beautiful location and view on the dead sea. The best moment here is at sunset, you can see the entire land of Palestine from it.
The food is also very good! You can smoke shisha and drink the Carakale local beer, which I have to warn you is very sour.
♥ Day 10: Back home
After relaxing at the Dead Sea, you have regained all the power and you are ready to say goodbye to this beautiful land!
You can pass by Madaba or Amman for last quick souvenir shopping before taking your flight back! <3
I can assure you though, that no relaxation can ever prepare you to leave this natural beauty and lovely culture and atmosphere, I was very sad to leave but probably also because I had great company to live this experience with!
As of today, I can say this was the best trip I have ever done.
I have seen one of the Seven Wonders of the World
I have felt like in a different universe every single day, even if driving only one hour distance.
I have met a completely different culture than mine
I have encountered beautiful souls
I have spent amazing time with my friends
Thank you Jordan <3