By chance we found a tour in Jordan – Betsey’s top of the list has been Petra for photography so when this popped up, we grabbed it.
It was a ‘close to the ground’ walking tour but a lot of fun. The highlights were Petra and the Wadi Rum desert but we visited Amman, Aqaba, the Dead Sea, Kerak, and Jerash. Oh boy, did we walk! The group of 10 consisted of 3 couples and 4 singles along with a local guide (Osama) and it was a blast.
We arrived in Amman, the capital of Jordan, a day early from Istanbul and toured the Roman Theater, the Citadel and the Mosque. The theater, a staple in many ancient roman cities, could seat 6,000 was built in the 2nd century AD is awesome – very steep to climb to the top – they still have concerts and shows there. The Citadel ruins, located in downtown Jordan, contain many buildings including temples, a byzantine church, and a palace. Earthquakes have not been a friend in Jordan. Much of the construction has been damaged or destroyed over the centuries but the remnants remain.
The mosque we visited in Amman was a little underwhelming after Hagia Sophia but was impressive none the less. Amman is a nice, thoroughly Muslim city, with most/many women fully covered by a Burqa and minarets everywhere. Hard to find a beer!
We gathered the night before we set off on the tour with the rest of the participants for informal introductions before we set off in the morning. Our first destination was a Bedouin camp in Wadi Rum, a 5-hour drive from Amman – 3 hours in a van followed by 2 hours over the sand in 3 4X4s. Our guide Osama brought us up to speed with a running master’s course on the history and culture of Jordan, the Syrian valley, and the entire middle east as well as religions. It was fascinating. Though some parts are surprising to western sensibilities, they are normal to Jordanians. Some Osama highlights include:
‘arranged marriages are like buying a watermelon – you don’t know what you get until you get it home’;
‘I go with my wife to the store because she is too emotional to go on her own’;
‘Women have full rights and are in charge but really prefer to stay in the home so they could never be leader’.
Our campsite in the midst of the Wadi Rum National Park was breathtaking and other-worldly. Beautiful desert with scattered mountains throughout. The Wadi Rum desert has been used as a film location in many movies including, Martian and Star Wars.
Tents were basic but they had cots with lots of blankets for the cold desert nights. We spent 2 days hiking around the area where camel caravans used to travel, had Zarb, a delicious meat and vegetable dinner cooked in an underground pit, and watched the milky way and stars move across the heavens. After a 10 km hike through the desert one morning, we took a side trip to Aqaba on the Red Sea, about an hour away. From there, a boat took us snorkeling (Mark scuba dived) all within sight of Egypt, Saudi, Israel, and Jordan. Then it was back to our Wadi Rum camp for another night under the peaceful stars.
Petra is amazing! The location was an ancient fabulously wealthy trading city in Jordan that dates back to the 4th century BC. One of the things that makes Petra unique is that the buildings are literally carved out of the surrounding rock instead of built from the ground up. There are large elaborate burial tombs, smaller tombs, temples, and ancient living spaces. (No treasure in the tombs though.) When ships took over the trade routes the area was abandoned. In 1812, a swiss traveler and explorer named Johan Ludwig Burckhardt, disguised as an arab traveler discovered the ruins of the ancient city. Serious excavations began in the 1930s and again in the 1950s to unearth the sites we see today.
The area was well protected over the years because the sites were carved and relatively inaccessible. What you can see today is incredible. After hiking for about a km through a slot canyon then come out to see the Treasury – a 130ft temple carved into the stone with 7 pillars, intricately carved Corinthian capitals, friezes, figures and more. Hiking further you come upon the Monastery – even more impressive – hard to believe anyone could carve these beautiful structures out of the rock walls with the rudimentary tools of the time. We saw the Treasury, Monastery, the Great Temple (thanks to Brown University archaeologists) along with many other tombs and temples – the night viewing of the Treasury with candlelight hike in was inspiring. All in all, a couple of 10 mile+ days.
After Petra, we continued to a resort for a quick stop to float in the Dead Sea. The resort was within sight of Israel and many historic, biblical sites. Osama made sure we were up on our biblical history before we arrived. At -430 meters below sea level, we swam and floated – lots of fun and the mud baths take 10 years off your age (Mark went twice).
For the last couple of days of our tour, we visited the remains of Kerak Castle a large 12th century crusader’s fort high on a hill which was the target of many sieges. From there we could see Mount Nebo where Moses is supposedly buried. And finally, Jerash, one of the most well-preserved Roman cities – also a UNESCO site. It is chilling to walk in these places where truly history was made and legends walked. On the final night we had a fun dinner with our whole crew – new friends who were great fun to be with!
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