Jordan

I have always been fascinated by this country, but I managed to go later than I thought. One of the reasons was of course to visit Petra, one of the seven new wonders of the world, but the rest of the country was just as great! I was supposed to visit Jordan and coordinate the trip during the New Year’s Eve of 2021-2022 but everything got cancelled due to Covid. Finally, this year I managed to go! We were a group of fifteen plus me and it was a good group overall, that worked fine. My mom came as well as a friend I met during another trip. Organizing the trip was pretty easy as I had an itinerary prepared that only needed a few adjustments, and I easily found a guide (for groups, it is compulsory to have one). Then I booked all the hotels and, finally, I had the bus and driver confirmed.
Time to leave!

26^th August
Our flight was in the afternoon but at least it was direct to Amman except for one person, who had a layover in Istanbul and arrived super late at night. The hotel I booked was just a bit outside of the city center but comfortable and we fell all asleep in no time.

27^th August
First proper day of our trip! After breakfast, we met our guide. We briefly stopped on the way to exchange our euros into Jordanian dinars and then we headed to the first landmark of the day. This was the Citadel of Amman. This is the most ancient part of the city, used as a settlement probably since the V century BC. Amman was built over seven hills (like Rome!) and this one is L-shaped. During the time, several different populations used it, and you can then see the remains of Roman temples, a Byzantine church, and a palace of the Umayyad period. After this first visit, we drove to Ajloun, where there is a beautiful castle. This is a Muslim fortress that dates back to the XII century. It is on top of a mountain from which it dominates the surrounding area. Later on, the castle was partially destroyed by the Mongols, then rebuilt, and then, eventually, abandoned. We visited it inside and climbed to the top terrace to enjoy the view. Going out, we stopped at some street vendors to buy fruits and snacks.  Our last stop of the day was Jerash, and I was so happy we ended the day here in the afternoon. The archaeological site is simply stunning, and the light of the sunset makes it even more wonderful. This city dates back to the Neolithic but really flourished starting in the Greek period until the IX century. For a long time, it was completely covered by sand, and this helped to protect it so that today we can still admire much of it. As of today, a great part of the city is still to be discovered by digging. Who knows what down layers of sand and soil still remains. Alexander the Great arrived here in 332 BC when the city was one of the biggest settlements in the area. With the Romans, the city was enriched by theatres, temples, and an oval square. The square is nowadays the most known sight of this place even though the columns were put back together by archaeologists. Starting in the 3rd century, its importance started to decline as the commercial routes changed. The Byzantines destroyed many buildings to leave space for churches and, later, the Persians and the Arabs kept on destroying the city until the series of earthquakes gave the final coup de grace.  After this intense day, we drove back to Amman, and we asked the driver to drop us off in the city center. We walked down Rainbow Street and then we had dinner in a famous restaurant specialized in falafels. Those falafels were the best! And it was as cheap as 3 euros for dinner per person!

28^th August
Okay, I loved the falafels of the night before, but my belly paid a toll for that. Anyway, after a couple (or more) toilet stops, I was ready to head out to Wadi Mujib. This place was not on my winter itinerary, but I added it for the summer one, and I am so glad I did. It is a gorge where you do canyoning, so we dressed up with a life jacket and fancy shoes and started walking up the river. The beginning was easy, and everybody made it. At the second waterfall, however, some people stopped because it was a bit harder. I am proud to say I did the whole trail! There were waterfalls and parts where you had to climb in and out of water and, at the very end, there was a big waterfall.  It took us almost the whole morning and then we had a well-deserved lunch on the bus (more falafels!) before continuing to Al-Maghtas, also known as Bethany Beyond the Jordan. This is officially recognized as the place where Jesus Christ was baptized. It was extremely hot because we were lower than sea level, so we stayed there just a little while. This place has been made accessible only starting in 2002 and it is the only place in Jordan where you can reach the river Jordan. Being the river the border between Jordan and the West Bank, it is obviously militarized, and a soldier actually entered the bus to check we were okay to enter.  The next stop was Mount Nebo, the place from where Moses saw the Promised Land before dying. There, there is a church and monastery of the Franciscan order. Among the different things they do, they also try to preserve a lot of mosaics that are found in the area. From the mountain, you can get a great view over the river Jordan Valley, the Dead Sea, Israel, and the Palestinian Territories.  Finally, the last stop of the day was the city of Madaba, where we went last, which is famous for its mosaics. We visited several places including the church of Saint George with a mosaic depicting a map of the Holy Land. It is super interesting to see it as it gives you an idea about how this territory looked like back then. For instance, you can see boats and fish in the Dead Sea, which means it has not always been like it is now.  We finished our day with a super good dinner with local dishes. For once, we did not have falafels but other Jordanian delicacies.

29^th August
We started the day by visiting other places in Madaba as our guide runs some restoration activities there. They have found many mosaics and most of them are not properly managed, possibly due to a lack of resources and general interest.  We then left Madaba and headed to the castle of Karak. I had maybe better expectations about it but still, it was interesting to visit. The castle is an example of a Crusader fortress, built on top of a hill and protected by huge walls. There are no panels with explanations of the place, so it was helpful to have the guide with us. It was built in 1142 by Payen le Boutellier and resisted for four years the attacks of Saladin, who eventually conquered it in 1189. The fortress was then modified by the Arabs with new, more refined, constructions.  After this visit, we drove for a long while before arriving at another castle, the Shoback one. As we did not have much time, we decided not to enter but we just briefly stopped on the way to see it from outside. We were definitely more interested in reaching Siq al-Barid, mostly known as Little Petra before the gate closed. Everybody told me it makes more sense to visit this site before Petra because otherwise, it loses a bit of charm. Maybe this is true, the two sites are very similar, but I must say I loved it! Maybe because we arrived there at sunset, and we got to see the rocks turning red, but we were getting excited for the next day.  We arrived at the hotel in Petra and made a surprise birthday cake for one person in the group and went out to get a drink afterward. 

30^th August
Petra day arrived! We entered with our guide, and he gave us many interesting information about the site. What I did not know was how big the archaeological site actually is.  Everybody thinks about Petra identifying it with the treasure but that is only a tiny part. There are different routes and trails, and some of them even require to have Bedouin guides because the trail is not indicated or safe enough. The area has been inhabited since 7000 BC but the Nabateans, who made Petra one of the most florid cities in antiquity, arrived probably around the IV century BC. The Nabateans were nomadic Arabs who established this area as their hub to dominate the incense trade routes. Petra became their capital andexcavated the stone to create impressive buildings. Most of what we see nowadays are the famous rock-cut buildings, mostly tombs, while much of the free-standing buildings got destroyed over time. The Nabateans reached a huge power and expanded the kingdom until Damascus. Eventually, the kingdom became part of the Roman Empire. During this time, more buildings were added. It was then destroyed by an earthquake in 363 and then again in 749. At the time of the second earthquake, the city was already mostly abandoned as the Romans succumbed to the Arabs and the trade routes changed. It was only in 1812 that the city was ‘discovered’ by Europeans and archaeological expeditions were organized.  We arrived at the treasure at the peak hour, so it was hard to get a nice picture without crowds, but we managed. We hiked to a higher spot that the Bedouins decorated with carpets. You pay some tips and get a nice photo spot and tea. One thing I can say, Bedouins are good businessmen. After we finished taking pictures, we continued our explorations, and we did a bit more off-the-beaten-track visit and eventually arrived for lunch at the only place where there were a couple of restaurants. Guess my menu! In the afternoon, we were on our own and we all went to see the Monastery. To get there, it takes a nice hike with more than 850 steps partially carved directly into the mountain. The trail is partially under the sun and Bedouins go up and down with donkeys to take up who can’t take a step more. Almost dead, I arrived at the top and I was not even the last one. It is totally worth it to go because it is indeed an impressive remaining. I even went up to the peak in front of it where a Bedouin placed a tent and sold drinks and tea. Probably, that was one of the best teas I have ever had in my life. After regrouping, we walked down and then some decided to do another short hike, some went back. My feet that evening were dying but it was one amazing day!

31^st August
As we had a ticket for two days in Petra, some of us decided to wake up early and enter the site at 6 AM. We walked fast and we were among the very few to first arrive at the treasure so we could take pictures and enjoy the peaceful time. We also went to see some other parts of the site such as the Grand Temple and some tombs. We met so many cats that were just adorable! We stopped for tea and then walked back as we were to leave and continue our trip.  The next step was the desert of the Wadi Rum. We drove with our bus until a certain point and then the Bedouins came to take us and drive us to the tent camp. Now, you should not imagine a proper tent camp as the tents were actually built of concrete and there were toilets. On the other side, the camp is quite hidden, so you don’t really see it from afar. After lunch, we jumped on the jeeps and went out to explore some sights. We stopped in a Bedouin tent to get tea, then at a stone arch, where we hiked to the top, on some dunes, and even on a spot that you can see in a Star Wars movie. Wadi Rum is actually a popular movie set. It has been used for several Star Wars movies, The Martian, and so on. To complete the experience, three of us did a piece of the way on dromedaries. I did it before when I went to Tunisia, and I found it quite relaxing. We ended up enjoying the spectacular sunset.  For dinner, we got proper Bedouin-cooked food, in other words, an ingenious way to cook vegetables and meat under the sand. We could not observe the stars as it was a full moon, and it was really bright, but we stayed out a little bit, nonetheless.

1^st September
We left the camp in the morning, and we drove south to Aqaba. This city represents the only access to the Red Sea for Jordan. A little bit on the south, is the border with Saudi Arabia, on the west with Israel, and, just a bit more west than Israel, is Egypt. It became famous as in 1917 it was conquered from the Ottomans by Prince Feisal and English allies, guided by Lawrence of Arabia.  We took a boat, and we spent over 5 hours in the sea. We went snorkeling and saw many fish, a turtle, and even some planes! These were put underwater because corals grow faster on them. We came back in the afternoon, and most of us turned into an intense red color and went to the hotel. We went later for a walk and explored the market. We also entered the mosque but the part for women was very small and in a different building than the main one, so we were a bit disappointed. For dinner, we went to a nice restaurant, but we were sitting outside, and the air was not breathable. It was extremely hot, and, inside the hotel, the AC was super low so some of us got sick with fever and stomach. Thankfully, the trip was almost over. 

2^nd September
On our last day, we had a super long drive back to the north. We took the way along the Dead Sea and arrived just before lunch at a super luxury resort on the north shore. We entered with a daily ticket and went right away down to the sea. We put mud all over our bodies and waited some minutes before entering the “water”. It is an experience to try once, the water is oily and doesn’t smell super good. On the other side, the skin becomes super soft in just a few minutes. The coolest thing, though, is that you do not go down. Even where you do not touch the ground, you simply cannot go down. We stayed some time there and took the classical pictures before showering and getting dried. We had lunch and then stayed a bit more by the swimming pool before driving back to Amman.  For dinner, the guide arranged an evening with an association that helps refugees. On paper, it seemed a nice thing to do because they use the money to develop their projects but then they asked us for more money than what was agreed, we had to pay the transfer that should have been included and the driver was just awful. We agreed on being dropped off in the city center to spend the last night there and he asked how much money he would have gotten. I spoke on the phone with the lady of the association, and, in the end, we got it as we wanted but the experience itself was meh. Also, the projects of the associations seemed a bit meh. I complained to the guide but anyway, that was it. In the city center, we went to a bar to get a final drink and a final shisha. God if that was strong! I got as high as I had never been before! It was a nice way, though, to finish the day after the bad dinner experience, and conclude this trip.

3^rd September
Just time for breakfast before our last drive, this time to the airport. Everything went smoothly and we said to each other goodbye.