Jordan – Following the footsteps of Indiana Jones and Moses

If you are like me who is a fan of the Indiana Jones series, being able to visit the “lost city” featured in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade would be something that will give you adrenaline rush. It is for this very reason that Jordan came up on my travel bucket list as I am dying to visit Petra for my “Indiana Jones adventures”.

First big question that many would have – Is Jordan safe? Despite all the warnings and reservations from people telling me that the Middle East is not safe to travel for ladies, I still decided to go ahead with another female friend (so 2 young ladies travelling free and easy). Throughout my trip, at no point in time that I felt unsafe. Even on busy streets in Amman in the evening, I was roaming around to buy dinner and was not harassed. Jordanians are very friendly people, maybe much so that international travellers may be used to. Whenever I visited any shops or stopped by to rest in front of someone’s house, I am always invited to come in to have tea. At first, I was cautious and wondering if they are out to scam me, but after a while, I realised Jordanians are just hospitable. My driver shared with me that it is considered rude in their culture when someone is at your door and you do not invite them for tea and advised me that it is absolutely normal and I don’t to be on heightened alert on this. I gladly accepted some towards the later part of my trip including dinner at someone house and had a great time talking and interacting with the locals! Also, people tend to think because of conflict in Syria close by that the entire Middle East is iffy, but that’s quite untrue of Jordan; I surely don’t feel like I am in a conflict zone.

Suggested itinerary

Jordan can be comfortably covered in a week . I am sharing my suggest itinerary below including the suggested time for each city and you can plan based on what you like to see/do. The Holy Land with its well-preserved Roman sites, Byzantine churches, Roman Piazzas, Madaba mosaics, Machaerus Fortress and Mt. Nebo, the ancient city of Petra, Mars-liked landscape at Wadi Rum and the Red Sea have so much to offer from scenic routes, to relaxing resorts soaking in the Dead Sea or the Red Sea, to historic sites – we are talking “Moses-was-there-kind-of-ancient” sites. This blog will be long as I am including a lot of details here for travellers to plan out their adventure to this Holy Land.

Day 1: Amman

As the capital and most populous city in Jordan, Amman is the city where the old meets the new. This is likely the place you start your trip to Jordan as international flights will arrive here (another alternative is Aqaba at the South of the Country). I recommend that you allocate at least a day to cover Amman city (visiting the Citadel and its famous Hercules’ Temple, Roman theatre and bazzar).

Where to stay in Amman: There are many good hotels in Amman. Do note that the grading of hotels in Jordan (and many other places in Middle East and North Africa) may be different from what you may be used to. Staying in the city center is convenient but noisy and can be chaotic. There are lots of choices so just read the review and pick based on your budget 😊

Day 2: Jerash

Jerash is one of the world most well-preserved Roman architectural site and around an hour drive from Amman. The great condition of the ruins will blow you away. It really feels like you are transported back 6,500 years ago similar to what you see in Ben Hur. I must first warn you that the place is huge so make sure you give yourself ample time (at least half a day but it is not difficult to spend one full day here) to explore the place. The middle of hippodrome in Jerash that could host up to 15,000 people, the Hadrian’s Arch, the South Theater that could house up to 5,000 people, the forum, the temple of Artemis and Hercules, and the Cardo Maximus must see sites in Jerash.

The Alijuh Castle, a 12th century castle used in defending crusaders, not too far from Jerash is also worth seeing.

Depending on your flight arrival timing in Amman and whether you will like to spend more time in Jerash, you can either combine Jerash with Amman tour and stay 2 nights in Amman, OR drive to the Dead Sea via Mt Nebo after Jerash if you start your visit to Jerash early in the morning.  I decided to do the earlier so that I get sufficient time in Jerash and cover Madaba together with Mt Nebo (see my comment on Madaba).

Day 3: Madaba – Mt Nebo – Dead Sea

• Madaba

The King’s Highway is an attraction in itself and winds through mountain towns, small villages and skirts around the Dead Sea. Once you drive out of Amman and get on to the 5,000-year-old King’s Highway, the fist ancient sites just a hour outside Amman that you will pass by is Madaba, also known as the “City of Mosaics”. I will strongly encourage you to stop by Madaba (and hence I did not do Jerash on the same day). The Greek Orthodox Church of St. George with its famous 6th century Mosaic Map of Jerusalem and the Holy Land is well-worth a visit. With two million pieces of vividly coloured local stone, it depicts hills and valleys, villages and towns as far as the Nile Delta. We also stopped by Madaba Archaeological Park (a short walk from the Greek Orthodox Church of St George).

• Mt Nebo

Continuing on the King’s Highway from Madaba, Mt Nebo just a short drive away. This is one of the important sites in Christianity as it is the place where Moses first saw the Promised Land (the West Bank of Israel). If you are lucky and blessed with good weather, you can too (I did get a glimpse!!)! It is such a surreal feeling to be able to stand at the very place where Moses did thousands of years ago. Moses is buried in Mount Nebo area and you can visit various religious sites such as Moses’ Spring or Moses’ Memorial Church.

• Dead Sea

Form Mt Nebo, driving another 2 hours will take you to the Dead Sea, the lowest point on earth set at below sea level. This is another highlight of my Jordan’s trip and checking off my bucket list to float in the Dead Sea. There are 2 sides of the Dead Sea – the Jordan side and the Israel side. I have not been to Israel so I can’t comment on which side is beter (initially wanted to go with this Jordan trip but unfortunate events took place resulting in travel warnings to visit – next time…). On the Jordan side, there are no budget hotels but some of the 4* hotels are rather affordable. Do take note that most beaches on the Dead Sea are private but if you are not staying there, you can still go but just pay a fee to enter. Alternatively there are public beaches (e.g. Amman Beach). The good thing about private beaches is that it is less crowded so you will have plenty of space to “float around”. Different resorts charged different fees. For hotels, some of the private beaches are just at its door step whereas for others, the hotels will arrange for transport to the private beaches. So you may want to do a little research before you book.

Where to stay in Dead Sea: I love Hilton Dead Sea Resort & Spa (5* hotel) as it has direct access to the beach. There’s also a heated pool in addition to the beach which comes in helpful since I visited during the winter season. If you have a tighter budget, you may want to look at Ramada Resort (4* hotel). This is slightly off the main road but serves good buffet (I went for their buffet lunch and its good). The downside is that there is no direct access to the beach and you will need to catch the hotel shuttle which will take you to the beach (a short ride but less convenient compared to Hilton).

Day 4: Karak – Petra

Depending on whether you will want to spend time pampering yourself with the spa treatment and do an overnight at the Dead Sea, you can potentially combine Day 3 and Day 4 itinerary into one day if you are short on time. Karak is a short drive from the Dead Sea and is famous for the historic Crusader Castle. Thereafter, continue on the King’s Highway to drive to Petra. The total driving time from Dead Sea to Petra is around 4 hours excluding stopping so plan that accordingly. Depending on how early you want to start your day and your arrival time, you may be able to do part of Petra in the afternoon or just rest and relax in Petra.

Where to stay in Petra: All hotels are located in Wadi Musa which is just outside Petra. If you are looking at 5* hotels, there are only 3 choices. The best is the Petra Movenpick Resort which is just a short walk to Petra entrance and the most expensive one!. This hotel is really nice. I only decided to book my  trip really late so Petra Movenpick was sold out. Hence, I decided to be a little adventurous and do my hotel hunting when I reached Petra so I can share a bit of the different hotels I visited (the hotels in Petra are so nice to allow me to see the rooms before I decide). If you are looking for an international branding hotel, you can look at Petra Marriott, another nice 5* hotel. The rooms are nice but I decided not to go with this as the hotel is located at the mountain top. You have good view but it also means it will be colder (since at mountain top) and also further away from Petra so it is a slightly longer drive to Petra. The third 5* hotel is The Old Village Hotel and around 5 minutes drive from Petra entrance. The hotel has free shuttle bus taking you to the Siq. This is quite a unique hotel with the hotel buildings dated from 1800s (they comprised of old village houses now converted into nice 5* hotel). The hotel is very charming, great service, super nice and comfortable room and breakfast is great and I truly enjoyed my stay. If you are on a budget, there is Petra Moon (4*) and Venus Hotel (3*) which are near Movenpick.

Day 5: Petra

Petra’s beauty is jaw-dropping and will surely be an unforgettable experience with its impressive Nabatean sandstone carvings and the natural landscape. Even during low season (October to March), there will still be quite a fair amount of tourists, though not as bad as the high season. The site opens early in the morning (if I am not mistaken around 6am) so if you want to escape the crowds, go early. I am not an early bird so decided to still go at a more godly hour but taking the “off-the-beaten track” to avoid the crowd (will share more shortly).

The standard visitation route is via the main path from the entrance to the Treasury. It is around 20 minutes walk but getting to the Treasury is not that difficult as it is a down slope walk. Walking back will be more tiring as you will be walking up-slope. Walking to the Treasury is impressive as you will pass through the Siq (narrow canyon) and when you are about to reach the end, you get the first glimpse of the Treasury and I am sure you will be impressed with how magnificent it looks! You will find most of the crowd gathering in front of the Treasury. No worries, you can still get super nice photos if you take the “off-the-beaten path track” which will take you to nice viewpoints on top of the Treasury and also get to see the High Place of Sacrifice. If you decide to do this, I will strongly recommend that you wear good hiking shoes. I strongly recommend that you get a guide as the “off the beaten track” to the viewing points is not well marked and hence difficult to find. Also, the trek consists of climbing up (and after the viewing points, climbing down!!) the rocks with no railings for you to hold. I must say it is quite difficult to reach and physically demanding (going up is tiring but coming down, I kept wondering if I will fell off the cliff lol). But rest assured nothing bad will happen if you get a guide who will teach you the tricks of navigating the tough terrain. So please wear good hiking shoes for this. Since you are already near the top of the mountain, don’t miss visiting the High Place of Sacrifice, the Lion Monument and also walk to the summit. The whole trek up and down takes around 2 to 3 hours and I must say that the trek to the viewing points is definitely worth it as the view you see is amazing! Even if you decided not to do this, it is still sensible to wear comfortable shoes as you will still be walking A LOT for the day.  

After the Treasury, depending on how much energy you have left, you can decide if you want to visit the Monastery on the same day or to do it the next day. The walk from the Treasury to the Monastery (to and back) takes around 3 hours and up 822 steps. You will pass by various sites such as the Royal Tombs the Theatre, The Nymphaeum, Colonnaded Street and the Arched Gate before you start your 822 steps climb to the Monastery. I strongly recommend that you include a visit the Monastery as you plan your itinerary as it will be a pity if you miss it. If you have tighter time or are tired, an alternative is to ride a donkey to the Monastery which will shorten the journey easily by 1 hour to 1.5 hours thus allowing one to have more time. I was convinced by my guide to do the donkey ride but regretted when the climb starts (and regretted even further when coming down…). It is quite scary as the donkey walked close to the edge (possibly to make way for the tourists to climb) and I can just pray that the donkey does not throw me off the cliff lol. I thus recommend that you break Petra visit into 2 days instead and you can add in Little Petra too. Given that you will be spending a full day in Petra, you can get your hotel to pack lunch for you to take along so that you don’t go hungry.

Night activity: You may want to consider Petra by Night to see the Treasury lighted up with around 1500 candles. I did not do it as I went in winter and do not want to brave the cold night.

Day 6: Petra to Wadi Rum

The Middle East is known for desert and Jordan is no exception. But the desert you see at Wadi Rum is quite different from the fine sandy Sahara desert that you may imagine. Wadi Rum is more of a rocky desert which looks a lot like the surface of Mars – so we got to visit Mars while on earth? 😉

The drive to Wadi Rum is along the Desert Highway and took around 1.5 to 2 hours from Petra depending on traffic. Once you arrived in the village of Wadi Rum, you need to leave your car at the main car park and get on a tour (you are not allowed to drive into the desert and the tour will transfer you to a local 4WD truck to take you to see the various sites. The landscape in Wadi Rum is amazing and you get to see the Burdah Rock Bridge, Al Hasany Dunes, Jebel Rum, Lawrence Spring and House, Khazali Siq, Nabataean inscriptions, etc. If you like, you can take a camel ride, try out the tea and also some traditional Bedouin food. Also, you can also choose to stay a night in a Bedouin camp which is a unique experience. It may also be a good choice if you are thinking of going to Aqaba after Wadi Rum as it takes an hour drive from Wadi Rum to Aqaba. I decided to return to Petra to stay a night (really love my Petra hotel and I am not ready to stay in a desert camp in winter).

Half a day is sufficient to see Wadi Rum so you can either visit Petra in the morning (or sleep in) and visit Wadi Rum after lunch OR visit Wadi Rum in the morning and head to Aqaba or Amman if you are tight on time.

Day 7: Aqaba or Back to Amman

Aqaba which is a hour drive from Wadi Rum is a world apart from Wadi Rum. This is where you reach the Red Sea and you can enjoy all the seaside resort activities. I did not go to Aqaba (again not much sense to do so in winter) and make my way back to Amman instead from Petra, which is 3-4 hours drive along the Desert Highway. Note: If you decided to go to Aqaba, there’s an international airport there so you can plan to fly out from Aqaba.

Tips

• Jordan is surprisingly not a cheap destination so do not expect to pay super cheap prices for things.
• Transportation around Jordan is easy. It is an easy drive if you like and unlikely you will get lost – the 3 key highways are The King’s Highway, The Dead Sea Highway and The Desert Highway. However, driving styles in different countries can vary. Also, note that the Desert Highway has a lot of big lorries/trucks. So you may be better off hiring a driver (which I did via an agency). I heard public buses and taxis are also safe for tourists but I did not try it.
• A tour guide is not necessary if you are an independent traveller. Anyway if you get a driver, logistics is already taken care of. If you want explanation at historic sites, there are guides that you can hire there (eg in Petra).
• Dress appropriately. Though Jordanians are quite open minded, it is still an Islamic country and you do not invite unnecessary stares.

Food

Mansaf is a must try as it is celebrated as Jordan’s national dish. This is a dish of meat (lamp, chicken or camel meat – you can specify what you want), roasted nuts, layered with paper thin flatbread and great piles of aromatic rice with yogurt sauce, traditionally served in a large platter meant for sharing.

Maqluba is also another interesting rice dish that means “upside down” as it is cooked and the pot is then flipped upside down. Another yummy dish that I highly recommend!