Before you start your story……
Pratical Tip 1: Invest in a ‘Jordan Pass’! Go online and buy yourself a Jordan Pass, it will cost you between 70 to 80 Jordanian dinar (80 – 90 British pounds) depending on how many days you want to spend in Petra. The pass will get you entry into almost all the big tourist sites and includes the visa fee for Jordan. One day entry into Petra is 50JD and visa fee is 40JD, so you are already onto a winner. https://www.jordanpass.jo/
February 2019 – Starting at Amman
I arrived late at night and got through immigration remarkably quickly! Mainly Jordanians on my flight from Muscat, so there was only a couple of us requiring a visa. I had already pre booked a transfer with my hotel, so my arrival into Jordan ran pleasantly smooth.
Day 1 – Walking tour of Amman
I wanted a walking tour of Amman as I am a keen walker and love to explore new places on foot. Before arriving in Jordan I had booked myself a guide online after reading many reviews. My guide met me at the hotel and we started the tour by heading to Amman citadel, even in February the place was reasonably packed with tourists, it was very interesting looking at the roman ruins and you got an amazing panoramic view of Amman, the new building mixed with ancient Roman ruins. We walked to the roman theatre and passed beautiful art shops, could not resist buying a painting from a local artist. The amphitheatre is quite a sight, again the views from the top are breathtaking. Visited a few museums on Jordan history, culture and customs. Next visited the market ( perfect if you are looking for a bargain). Asked my guide to take me to the place that sells the best kunafa ( Jordanian dessert) and ofcourse he obliged. If in Amman please try the kunafa at Habibah. Followed by Lunch in a beautiful cafe called Zajal and onto Rainbow street, which is a perfect hang out place for tourists, full of coffee shops and restaurants. All in all it was a lovely first day in Jordan.
Day 2 – Jerash
Sticking with my guide from the previous day I decided to explore Jerash for the day, it is about an hours drive out of Amman and is one of the most intact Roman cities outside of Rome. If you are into photography, this place is great for getting shots of ancient ruins. I learned so much that day about Jordanian history, culture and agriculture. Once I got all my photos, we drove back to Amman just in time for dinner, I did enjoy all the food in Amman.
Pratical Tip 2: JETT buses is a great way of getting around Jordan especially if you want to travel from Amman to Petra. When I say bus it’s more like what we call in the UK a coach. It departs from Amman at 6.30am and arrives at Petra visitors centre at 10.30am. Extremely efficient, reliable and comfortable way to travel to Petra if you are a solo traveller. A single ticket to Petra costs 11 JD and return is 18 JD. If you have plenty of time and are planning on staying in Petra for a few days then this is the best way to travel there. The bus leaves from the Car park in Petra at 4.30pm for Amman if you just want to visit for 1 day ( I would not recommend this as Petra covers a large area and you will need time to explore all of it).
Day 3 – Travel to Petra and the night show
Woke up early to travel to Petra. Took the JETT bus at 6.30am to Petra (read practical tips). Arrived at the car park in Petra at exactly 10.30am. With my suitcase in tow I went to the visitors centre to buy my ticket for ‘Petra at night’ show. I then took short taxi ride to my hotel which was situated on a hill. Once I checked in I decided to explore some of Petra by myself on foot. I walked from my hotel down to Petra’s Visitors centre, no need to queue for a ticket as I had my Jordan pass. I walked through the siq to the famous treasury. It was about a 3 km walk with plenty of sites and photo opportunities.
The walk through the siq is quite a surreal experience, you are basically walking through a gap between 2 mountains. Even though I was by myself I did not feel unsafe at any point. I had done my research and knew to avoid local Bedouins offering free horse rides and souvenirs. Once you arrive at the treasury you will be in or of just how majestic it looks. As February isn’t really tourist season, I was able to buy a cup of tea and sit down in front of the treasury to enjoy my tea and the view. I decided to head back to my hotel as I wanted some dinner before the night show.
I was able to get a taxi from my hotel to take me and pick me up from Petra for the night show ( as I didn’t want to walk in the dark on my own).
Petra at night show isn’t much of a show to be honest but just the experience of walking through the siq at night using candle light to guide your way is well worth it. And if you have a good camera you can capture some amazing photos of the treasury at night. It was 10.30pm by the time we walked back to the visitors centre and my taxi was waiting for me. After a shower it was straight to bed for me as I had another early start the following morning.
Day 4 – Wadi Rum
Through a friend’s recommendation I had booked a guide to take me to wadi Rum. Wadi Rum is about an hours drive from Petra, I would advise you to travel from Petra rather than driving all the way from Amman. At this point I had been living in Oman for about 1 and a half years and seen many wadis, did I really want to see another one? This was the conversation I had with myself and I’m so glad I decided to check it out. It is completely different to the wadis in Oman. Mainly made out of sandstones, it has been used as a location for many films (lawrence of Arabia and Marations to mention a few). It has an amazing history and is the perfect location for amazing and surreal photos. This is a world heritage site but as my guide informed me, many local people and companies are not preserving it and a lot of large construction companies steal sandstone from there.
Day 5 – Backward hike through Petra
This was my last day in Jordan and I had plenty packed in. Waking up super early to start my hike through Petra, starting from about 2 kms away from the monastery. If you love walking and hiking I would highly recommend starting from the back of Petra, especially if you have already walked through the front into the siq. You would need a guide with a 4×4 to get you to the back and to guide you through. Walking through Petra makes you realise why it was voted as one of the seven wonders of the world. It is an amazing experience that takes you back in time, so much to see, you can easily spend the whole day there. Once we got to the treasury of course I wanted the iconic photo of the treasury from above. There are many different paths you can take to climb up with different views. I followed my guide up not realising it is a bit of a rock climb, make sure to wear sturdy shoes. Once you are at the top, the view is well worth it. My guide advised me to continue the rest of the tour above the siq as I had already seen it from the ground. The views were breathtaking even though it was only a short walk from there to the visitors centre.
Once back at the hotel, I had ordered a transfer to Amman’s airport as I had my flight back home leaving that evening.
An amazing end to a magical holiday.
Jordan can work out to be quite expensive. Here are a few ways to cut down the costs:
- Jordan Pass
- Travel with JETT bus rather than taxis and transfers especially if you are travelling solo.
- Research guides, some of them completely overcharge tourists.
- Rent a car from the airport and drive yourself around Jordan.
There are lots of places to visit and explore in Jordan. Below is a list of somes of the places I didn’t visit but are highly recommended:
- Mount Nebo – Views of the Jordan Valley, Dead Sea & the hills of Jerusalem from a mountain peak.
- Dead Sea – The lowest and most salty of the world’s ocean water bodies.
- Qasr Amra – Desert Castles.
- Aqaba – Jordan’s gateway to the Red Sea.
Prints and Stamps 