Jordan – Scribbles and Snapshots

Jordan – Day 7/8 (Dead Sea!)

April 13, 2024April 13, 2024Posted in JordanTagged Amman, Dead Sea, Jordan, Royal Jordanian, Travel DayLeave a comment

We had another early start this day – there would be a lot of driving! We were set to see some desert castles and then head to the Dead Sea in the afternoon. We hadn’t really looked up too much about the castles ahead of time, but we were sure they were going to be pretty cool.

The first stop was in the middle of nowhere. It was one of the only structures in the area. They believe the structure was to have been built in 718 AD – and what it was used for was up for debate. But you could see that there was a central courtyard and there used to be balconies facing the interior. The thought was it could have been a stopping point for the camel caravans.

From there, we made our way to a bathhouse that is a UNSECO world heritage site (Quseir Amra). When we pulled up, it felt like something that inspired Star Wars with its rounded roof. Inside, there were beautiful murals all around. It also served as a hunting pavilion – you would see the connection in some of the murals.

The last castle we visited was one of Lawrence of Arabia’s strongholds. This one had been in pretty bad shape and had been restored. It was made of black stone – and you could tell it had been put back together. Things felt a little, well shaky? And some of the areas had holes in the roof so if you didn’t watch your step you could fall through!

Carved into the floor was the game Mancala.

Our favorite part was the doors to the main entrance is composed of a single massive hinged slab of granite weighing roughly 3 tons, was hinged with palm oil, it was created in a way that was hard to enter, which slowed down would be attackers, so they could pour hot oil from above. The doors would basically close after you entered, quite a cool aspect of this castle considering they still worked. We had fun trying to open them because it took a lot of effort!

We haven’t seen Lawrence of Arabia, but we did leave feeling inspired to watch it now knowing it was based on a true story!

After this last castle we boarded the bus to make our way to the Dead Sea – we were about 2+ hours away now. Our tour group paid for day passes at one of the Dead Sea resorts. It was a beautiful resort! We wish we could have stayed there for a night. (And would highly recommend that area if you are making your way to Jordan!)

Once we got there, we had lunch before changing up to head down to the water. As soon as we got down there I made a bee line for the water. It wasn’t super warm, but this was a once in a lifetime opportunity! Others from our group were already in the water and they said to just sit back and then you’d float.

Standing on the East bank of the Dead Sea

We lucked out with the weather, it was a quite decent day!

And sure enough, that’s exactly what happened! I just leaned back and my feet popped up from underneath me. What an extraordinary experience! Andy stayed on the shore to take a few pictures and videos before joining me.

We climbed out of the water to do a mud bath. The resort we were at offered the mud for free – but knowing I didn’t want to get water in my eyes or mouth I only did half of my face. Also, wasn’t too sure if it would stain my swimsuit so tried to only put on my skin that wasn’t near that.

If you’re heading to the Dead Sea, some words of wisdom. Do not, and I repeat do not get the water in your eyes or your mouth! We heard a few people say how vile it tasted – and I can only imagine how badly it burns. The Dead Sea is 9.6% saltier than the ocean. And what we wished we would have known is that the salt can stain your swimmies – so bring something you don’t care if it gets stained. We rinsed ours off 2-3x and ours were fine!

You can actually see how salty the water is!

We were at the Dead Sea for lunch and floating for about 2-3 hours before we made our way back to Amman. We did make one more stop at a place that gave us a “special” discount for 50% off – but coincidentally we heard them tell 2-3 other groups the same thing. We figured we could likely get something at the airport for cheaper so we skipped.

This was the last day we would see our tour guide and bus driver – we tipped them and then went back to the room. We freshened up at the hotel and packed up as this was our last night in Jordan.

We didn’t want to do the banquet again, so we walked over to our new favorite spot – the Amman International Hotel. Our server from the previous two nights had the night off, so we had a new server. He was great too! Stefan and Nicky joined us – and we had a great final dinner together.

They were off to Petra again at 7 the next morning. And we were getting picked up at 7:30 to head to the airport.

—————————————————————————————————-

The next morning, we transferred to the airport with our Canadian friends. They were moving on to Egypt – and we were so excited for them! But once we got to the airport we quickly went separate ways due to flying different airlines. However, the Amman airport was super easy to navigate and we took advantage of the Royal Jordanian lounge access before getting on our plane.

This was a REALLY cool lounge – they had a little coffee shop. A buffet. Two totally different seating areas. It looks like later in the day a dessert place would open AND a pizza place! Definitely a highlight.

Our return flight connected in Chicago vs. JFK. THANK GOD! We didn’t want to deal with that again. There actually was a long line even for Global Entry, but it moved pretty quickly.

There weren’t any lounges – and it was St. Patrick’s Day in Chicago. So the Irish-themed restaurant was busy so we just found another restaurant and sat for a while.

We weren’t thrilled to learn that the tour company booked us with American Airlines, who I had vowed never to fly again (for the second time) in January. Thankfully, we made it home on time and didn’t have any issues at all. I still will avoid them at all costs in the future. Fool me once…

Up Next:

⁃ Spain/Portugal/Morocco cruise (August/September 2024)

Jordan – Day 6 (Jerash)

March 30, 2024March 31, 2024Posted in Jordan, UncategorizedTagged Castles, Jerash, Jordan, Petra, Roman Ruins, Rome, Temples, ZeusLeave a comment

Friday we had a pretty early start, as we were cramming a lot into one day. We started with a very brief panoramic tour of Amman. In reality, we just drove to the Roman theater and took a quick picture. Up the hill, we could see the citadel. (I was hoping we would go up there as a group, but it wasn’t part of the agenda). We also drove by a beautiful blue mosque and a Coptic church.

From there, we made our way to the Ajlun castle, which was really neat! It was in really good condition. This castle was built to help defend against the crusaders. It was positioned on top of a hill, and could be seen from miles away.

As we were inside, we saw a very cute cat who was meowing quite a bit. It felt like she was trying to tell us something, and she quickly jumped into a large vase. Upon further inspection, we could see kittens! We aren’t sure if she was trying to ask us for help to get them out or warning us to stay back!

There was a lot to see and do. We quickly made our way to the top to take in the views – from there we went to the “post office” which was actually a rookery.

From there, we went to Jerash. Which is one of the largest and most well preserved sites of Roman architecture in the world – outside of Italy of course! It is an ancient city, and much of the reconstruction was done in the first century AD. By the third century, the city reached about 20,000 people. There was a slow decline in the city due to a variety of different events – crusades and natural disasters that left it deserted in the 13th century.

We toured part of the ruins as a group and at the end we were given about an hour to explore on our own. We could have easily used another 1-2 hours to explore in more detail.

Starting off as a group, we saw their hippodrome – where they would host different events. One of them being chariot racing – but there was also gladiator fighting, etc! There was a large oval plaza that had a ton of columns surrounding it. It was all so stunning to look at.

This is where the chariot races would take place

We also saw a theater – where there were locals who were performing with drums and a bagpipe. It was quite the spectacle. That theater was also able to fit about 3,000 people. It’s just crazy to think about how many people lived there in the past!

The group we spent the week with – view from the Temple of Zeus

It was so vast! You can see the plaza in the background – Jerash is known as the city of 1,000 Columns

We walked a bit further as a group, but then broke off. Andy and I ran ahead to look at the mosaic floors left from a church. It’s mind blowing to know that these tiles are so OLD and exposed to the elements and they were still in incredible condition!

I believe these were in the Church of John the Baptist

We then made our way to the Temple of Artemis – this was one of the Crown Jewels – as you could see its large pillars from far away. Our next stop was the north theater, which actually made the first theater look small. The tile was more intricate – and it was just a stunning structure.

Because it was a bit of a walk to get here, we had the place to ourselves!

We knew we were running out of time – but we could see a gate in the distance so we decided to see if we could make it over there to get a few pictures. We had that whole section to ourselves! It reminded us a lot of the Roman forum, but far less busy!

The giant pillars from the Temple of Artemis

You could see a structure that used to be a fountain, I’m sure it was incredible during its time. This was along the Cardo, which was the Main Street. This is where the hustle and bustle took place in the city.

It must have been a sight to see when it was a bustling city

It was easy to feel so small! You can see a bit of difference in the color of the columns due to how buried in sand some of them were!

We made it back to the group right on time and even had enough time to grab a freshly squeezed pomegranate juice.

We returned to the hotel and hung out for a bit before heading to another hotel that actually was serving wine during Ramadan. It was a short walk, so quite a few people from our group ended up there as well.

Because it is Ramadan, the hotel was putting together special banquets in the evenings. There was a lot more food from when we stayed at this hotel on the front end of our trip. We called it an early evening because we knew we had a busy day following.

Hotel:

Hotel Gerasa (Amman)

Up Next:

Desert castles

Dead Sea

Jordan – Day 5

March 25, 2024March 25, 2024Posted in JordanTagged Amman, Desert, Jordan, The Martian, Wadi RumLeave a comment

A slight break in the itinerary for a more leisure day driving back to Amman. The return drive from Wadi Rum to Amman was around 4-5 hours. This was a more relaxing day for us. We left the camp after breakfast and made multiple stops along the way.

This local baby didn’t mind us at all as we moved around in our Martian Tent

The tour company does a good job of breaking up the drives to make sure people have plenty of opportunity to use the bathroom and get snacks. We had lunch at the same “Midway Castle” that we did on the way down. Thankfully, this time people were far less sales-y and we were able to look at more things.

We were also relieved because this next hotel we would be at for three nights – so less unpacking just to repack. This was the same hotel we stayed at on the front part of our trip.

The room this time was much better than the first night, another small win!

This little fella met us again as we pulled up to the hotel

We relaxed in our room before making our way over to the Amman International Hotel – that did have a full service bar and restaurant. A Russian woman was our server, and we enjoyed talking with her.

Just as our food was coming out, Steffan from our group walked in. We invited him and his wife Nicky, to join us. We sat around and had a lot of good conversations.

Hotel:

Gerasa Hotel (Amman)

Up Next:

Panoramic tour of Amman

Ajlun Castle

Jerash (Roman ruins)

Jordan – Day 4

March 21, 2024March 20, 2024Posted in JordanTagged Camels, Desert, Jordan, The Martian, Wadi RumLeave a comment

We woke up with incredibly sore legs after walking so much the day before. Thankfully, the day was pretty light. We were set to make our way to Wadi Rum, which is something that we were really looking forward to.

The drive wasn’t too terrible – we made it to our camp pretty early. We were able to check in right away – which was awesome! We were so excited – we had paid for an upgrade to have a Martian tent. It was worth every penny!

We were set to do a 4×4 ride through the desert right away. Most people sat in the back of the truck bed, but there wasn’t enough room for all of us. Andy and I were inside the back of one of the trucks, at first it was a little disappointing that we weren’t outside. We quickly realized that the sun was hot and even more dusty.

A few people offered to switch spots with us, but we decided it was fine inside at that point. We stopped at a few different scenic points from different movies – or that were just naturally beautiful.

It was so beautiful – felt like we were on another planet!

It’s so fun to get to see camels everywhere!

I think we were on the tour for about 2 hours. We got to see quite a bit. After we got back, we had a few hours before our communal dinner.

We relaxed in our tent – and then took a few pictures as the sun was setting. We had heard another guide tell his group to arrive on time to watch them pull the food out of the ground. This is a traditional way of cooking – called a Zarb. Marinated meats and vegetables are buried in a sandy oven in the ground – which is supposed to leave the food really moist and flavorful.

Cooking underground; chicken, potatoes and carrots

We had dinner with some individuals from our group – which was really fun to sit around and chat. I didn’t want to say anything out loud, but all of my food felt really gritty. I compared notes with Andy later, only to realize it was me! I still had sand in my mouth from the 4×4 ride!

We had signed up for stargazing because Wadi Rum is supposed to be a dark sky environment. Unfortunately, it wasn’t as dark as some of the places that Andy and I have visited in the past. It was really cool though, there were two parts. The first section was pointing out different constellations and the second section was looking through five different telescopes that were pointed at different items.

Sirius, the brightest star – the North star – a nebula in Orion’s Belt – Pleiades – and one that we can’t quite remember. On both the way there and on the way back we did get to ride in one of the 4×4 truck beds. Glad we got to do it on a short distance – and at night!

The stargazing group – I’m hiding behind the giant man in white. This isn’t our actual tour “group” although there were a few from our bus!

We returned to our tent because it was late at that point. It was a really unique way to spend our 10 year anniversary!

Hotel:

Hassan Zawaideh Camp (Martian tent)

Up Next:

Return to Amman

Jordan – Day 3 (Petra!)

March 17, 2024Posted in JordanTagged Camels, Jordan, Monastery, Petra, Romans, Seven Wonders, Seven Wonders of the Modern World, Treasury1 Comment

The Lost City. There’s so much more to Petra than the Treasury!

We had an early start for Petra – which we were happy to get up early to go back after getting a small sneak peek the night before. We have about 14 people in our group, and at times it seems challenging for our guide to get us all together. A few of us joked it was like herding cats!

It’s not a long walk down to Petra, probably about 30 minutes on a downhill slope. There are other ways to get down there – you can pay for a golf cart (I think about 15 Jordanian dinar one way), and taking a horse down is included in your ticket. However, someone will lead the horse down with you and they expect a tip. Our guide recommended 5 JD, but we didn’t mind walking.

The walk was much easier in the daylight, as you could see the gaps in the stone. We found out that the reason why the road had different types of terrain was because when the Romans took over they put in cobblestone roads. (Where didn’t the Romans reach?!) A few different floods had washed out the stones and they were replaced by pavement.

Some sections they filled in the gaps between the stones to make it a bit smoother, but other sections you really do need to tread carefully. Because we had our guide, we learned a lot more while we were walking in vs. Petra by night where we were on our own.

The Nabatean people were the people who lived in and carved all of Petra. They really rose to power in 1st century BC, and that was when Petra was built. At its peak, it was home to over 30,000 people. Isn’t that crazy!?! Petra was a trade hub – it connected Arabia, Egypt, Greece, China, and regions across the Mediterranean Sea. Over time, this made the Nabatean people very rich.

Very advanced at the time, you could actually see the way they routed water into their city by using terracotta pipes. They also harnessed the power of natural springs, and created underground cisterns for storage. They had numerous temples, villas, theaters, and elaborate tombs for both the VIPs and the normal people.

The slot canyon was our hike down, it reminded us of Utah!

We were shocked by a few things: there were actually quite a few toilets along the path (with running water!) and tons of little shops with water, soda, snacks, etc. Of course there are a million stands that are selling souvenirs as well. It was great because you didn’t need to worry about carrying a lot of water. You could always stop and pick up a cold bottle when you wanted.

The Treasury, one of the most famous Petra sites

As we walked we continued to see the Roman influence on the region. A large amphitheater that could hold 3,400 people (the size of my hometown!), and some of the architecture. Although, to be fair, the Nabatean people were well traveled and since they were a trade hub, you could see influences from other regions.

So many camels littered throughout the area!

The sandstone had some amazing colors naturally blended in from all of the different minerals that were mixed with it, it was beautiful to see!

The large group of us had lunch together, and then we had a few hours of free time. We decided instead of heading back to the Treasury, we were going to tackle the Monastery. I mean, it was only about 800-900 steps that were littered with donkey poop… so why not?

Most people from our group opted out of the Monastery hike, but we knew we would have plenty of time so we set out. It was steep – and the steps were uneven. However, if you take your time you can do it if you take your time! One thing I found interesting with both our group, but also hearing conversations in Petra was that the number of Americans were small. Yes, there were other English-speakers, but a lot are from the UK. The trail was scattered with people from all over the world!

As we climbed, we crossed even more shops and stands trying to sell you a cold drink or souvenirs. Honestly, I didn’t want to add the extra weight as we were climbing. It wasn’t even that hot! But we were working up a sweat as we climbed the stairs.

It was well worth the effort, there were hardly any people up there! So we walked around a bit – we saw there were signs for other points and in handwriting “Best view in all of Jordan.” But our legs were tired – supposedly it was a 3.5 mile hike in from the visitor center. I didn’t log the hike on my watch since we stopped so many times when we were with the bigger group.

We made our way down and then towards the visitor center. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t tempted to take a golf cart to the visitor center. But we walked the whole way! We totaled 22,000 steps that day. Woof. My legs still ache as I write this 2 days later!

What surprised me the most is when I think of Petra, I only think of the Treasury. But this is a CITY. It’s incredible. I wish we had more time, and we would have if we hadn’t been with such a large group. I don’t think we will be back anytime soon, but there was so much that we missed out on!

We still had an hour to kill so we found one of the only hotel bars in the region that served wine – so we went there and ordered pizza. At 5 pm, our bus brought us back to our hotel where we were rather worthless.

It was a great day.

Hotel:

RN Petra

Up Next:

Wadi Rum

Jordan – Day 2

March 15, 2024Posted in JordanTagged Amman, Castles, Jordan, Little Petra, Madaba, Maps, Mosaic, Petra2 Comments

Jet lag, strikes again. Although I was so tired from a long travel day, my body woke me up wide awake at 3:00 am. I wasn’t thrilled knowing that we had a long day ahead of us, but instead I was determined to lie awake thinking of all the things that could go wrong. Does Jordan get earthquakes? I forgot to check for bed bugs – did something just crawl across my leg?

Then I switched over to the more positive… What would be a good quote and/or song to accompany our celebration of completing all seven wonders of the world?

Once Andy woke up (he is blessed with being able to sleep anywhere, well) we started the morning off with breakfast at the hotel. We met up with the rest of the group and got on a coaster bus – we were slightly disappointed because there was a charter bus parked next to it. (More space in general – sometimes a bathroom to use, etc).

Our first stop was Mount Nebo. For those of you who have read the Bible, you might recognize this as the place that Moses was granted a view of the Promised Land. It’s a special place for Christians, because this is where Moses was laid to rest as well. We could see all the way to the West Bank, the Dead Sea, and Jericho (one of the oldest cities in the world).

Dead Sea, West Bank above, and Jericho on the right middle

There was also a church at this location that had some of the most beautiful mosaic floors and walls that I’ve seen before. You were meant to be silent while you were in it, and it truly was very peaceful. On the grounds there was an olive tree that was planted by Pope John Paul II in 2000.

From Mount Nebo we made our way to a mosaic manufacturing place – we were able to meet a co-op of artists that specialized in mosaic and pottery. It was pretty cool to see them in action. They also had a great partnership with DHL that allowed them to ship large pieces around the world.

After that we made our way to St. George’s Church where one of the oldest mosaic maps depicting Palestine was. It was smaller than we thought – and pretty damaged. But it was interesting to see it. It was made in the sixth century AD, and they made it based off of their mind/perceptions.

We also went to a castle that was built by the conquerors in 1115. It was pretty well maintained, and it was a fun stop.

From there, we went to Little Petra. This was supposed to happen a few days later, but our guide switched it up. It was good to see the smaller one before the big one.

The Nabatean people were advanced – having mastered engineering to move water and hold onto it in cisterns. There was even a fresco in a cave that you had to climb up to. Supposedly, it is one of the oldest frescos at roughly 2000 years old.

There’s supposed to be grapes and chubby little boys – I think I can see the vines?!

Because we switched up the itinerary and added Little Petra today, and not on day 3, we had to quickly check into our hotel and eat dinner before heading to Petra at night.

We didn’t realize it was technically a “show” – we thought it was just going to be open to the public and be candlelit. There were some typical Jordanian performers – playing a flute and the other played a one string instrument called a rababa. It was nice to hear music while taking in the Treasury. But I don’t think it’s my style of music.

We made our way out of Petra (which was really uneven and treacherous in the dark!) and back to the hotel. We had a pretty early morning the next day, but because I hadn’t slept much I was able to fall asleep pretty quickly. We were excited to see more of Petra the next day!

Hotel:

RN Hotel Petra

Up Next:

Petra

Jordan Day 1

March 13, 2024March 14, 2024Posted in JordanTagged Amman, JFK, Jordan, Petra, Royal Jordanian, Travel Day1 Comment

March 9, 2024 – We woke up bright and early to make our way to the airport. I was trying a new approach and decided that I was going to fit everything into a carry on and personal item. This is a feat in itself, because I don’t know how to travel light.

We’ve experienced this with other travel groups, and didn’t want to have to wait for our luggage once we go to Jordan. Unfortunately, there were no direct flights into Amman, so we flew from San Diego into JFK.

Our flight was smooth – it was supposed to be a full flight but somehow we had an open seat next to us. It allowed us to be a bit more comfortable. In New York we had a 3 hour connection, which we thought would be plenty of time to find the American Express Speakeasy. We were so wrong. We had to exit our terminal, get on the AirTrain, and go to another terminal to get there.

We realized that we took the wrong train – and decided we were going to opt out of the Speakeasy. We made our way to our terminal – and thankfully we did. Because it was an international flight (even though we were in JFK…) our TSA pre check didn’t work. So we had to get into one of the worst security lines we’ve seen, ever. I don’t say that lightly.

JFK TSA has to be one of the least efficient organizations around. We barely made it through security when our flight started boarding. We made it with plenty of time, but didn’t get a chance to eat in the airport and honestly, most of the time it’s the roll of a dice if the airline will have good food.

Because this is our 10-year wedding anniversary trip we took a chance and put a bid in for business class, and they accepted! It was a great way to kick off our trip – we were thrilled that on our 11 hour flight we had the option to lie flat in our seats. It’s going to be tough going back to economy, where we belong!

The flight itself was pretty uneventful – and I actually did sleep for about 5.5-6 hours, which may be a new record! With the time difference, we landed around 4 pm.

The southern tip of the Dead Sea as we flew into Jordan

We quickly deplaned and found our guide from Exoticca. This is the second time that we’ve traveled with Exoticca, the last time was in Egypt. We had a great experience with them, and hope they are able to match our Egypt experience!

There was only one other woman on our flight traveling with Exoticca. Tia – from Maine. An adorable little thing that reminded us of a combination of two our friends, so we became fast friends.

What we didn’t know – is that in Jordan their weekend is actually Friday and Saturday (no work) and Sunday was the start of their week. We got stuck in pretty bad traffic.

Our driver had to stop to get gas, and Tia went to use the restroom. She confirmed that Jordan indeed also has squatty potties (throw back to Thailand and Sri Lanka! The real ones remember the infamous squatty potty story in Sri Lanka).

We made it to our hotel around 6 pm and freshened up before going to dinner at the hotel restaurant. It’s pretty common for the restaurants to just have buffets – and not necessarily menus to order from.

We weren’t too surprised to learn that the restaurant didn’t carry wine, but this made us wish that we had packed some to celebrate our anniversary with. Oh well!

We got settled in because we knew the next day we were set to do some sightseeing and Petra by night, which meant it would be a long day.

Hotel:

Gerasa Hotel (Amman)

Up Next:

Mount Nebo
Madaba: mosaic map
St. George Church
Shobak Castle
Little Petra
Petra by night