Time flies when you’re having fun. It really does. One week in Lebanon was over within what felt like a second. The flight to Jordan (1.5 hour) felt longer than the whole week in Lebanon and we guess that’s a good sign.
Arrival in Jordan
Up to now crossing borders went rather easy. In the van it’s quite relaxed as we just sit in the van wait until it’s our turn. But flying somewhere is always a bit of a hassle. Well, Jordan is something else.
We immediately feel we are in a totally different country. Men in djellaba’s standing in line, people shouting, chaos, women in burqa cutting the line. So, there are several lines to enter Jordan. The first one being the PCR test line. We have paid for it before arrival so we just have to wait until there is someone available. It goes rather smoothly, also the test itself. Maybe our noses getting used to it, maybe it’s the kind woman.
Then there is the second line. To enter Jordan we need a visa, but we have paid for it already via the Jordan pass. This pass includes our visa and some tourist attractions like Petra and Jerash. It takes quite long to get through and again is very chaotic. Some women are given special treatment as they cut the line, some men say something about it and the custom man doesn’t like it so tells the group of men to get at the back of the line. They of course get more angry and while it involves a lot of raising voices in the end they do what the man with power tells them to.
It’s our turn and after five minutes we get to the third line; customs. As always we think we choose the shortest line but we don’t and we end up waiting and waiting. Many men in front of us seem to come from another country; Saudi, Yemen, Dubai maybe? They look like migrants, coming here to work and to be honest they are treated as such. Actually they are treated as brainless sheep. A rather big man tells them where to go and what to do and shouts at them when they do it wrong. It makes us feel sad for those men, but they seem not to care too much and just do what the man shouts towards them.
However, it takes very long for the customs to check all their papers. Finally, after two hours (this took longer than the whole flight) we are outside, finding our way to the rental cars. We get a not very interesting nor colourful Kia but it has four wheels so it will get us where we want to go.
We head to our first hotel not far from the airport. It’s midnight already and we can use some sleep. The next day our adventure really start.
Jerash
We skip Amman, just another big city, and drive north to Jerash. It’s famous for being an important and well preserved archeological site and even though we’ve seen so many already we are quite curious. One of the highlights is the old souk way from one entrance of the city to the temple in the middle. Alongside the road many columns can be found and behind it the old souk. It’s beautiful! One can imagine the many people that once walked here, buying stuff in the souk, talking with each other. It must have been crowded and noisy. A bit further up is a beautiful amfitheater – truly amazing. And there is a nice hippodrome (an ancient Greek stadium for horse racing and chariot racing) and some temples. The temples have been destroyed, only a few columns are still standing. We’ve seen better ones.
We walked here for hours, but at some point it gets too hot so we decide to move on. To the Dead Sea!
The Dead Sea
Here we arrived at the end of the day. Which was good because we got to see the sunset while floating on top of the salty water. The Dead Sea is about 10 times more salty than the ocean and it’s bordering Israel. That’s also the reason that it’s not allowed to swim after sunset. Apparently the government is afraid of illegal border crossings at night. Anyway we got to drift a bit, see the sunset and enjoy the magic of the Dead Sea. It’s quite nice to just float on the sea and relax. A wonderful experience. Just don’t get any of the water in your mouth or eyes, it hurts. We found out the hard way…
Flat tire and strange border
We were planning a nice route along the Dead Sea to the South, stopping at worthy places and end up in Petra today. Instead we got a flat tire not far from our hotel. Immediately a group of Jordanians stopped and helped us fixing the tire. We had to go to our rental company to change the tire and found one not too far away. 25km’s, so we were hopeful. Until we got nearby and the road looked a bit shabby. At the end we ended up at a check point where the police didn’t let us through. Of course they didn’t know any English and we know no Arabic. We had to go back and circle around them. Which we did. Only to find ourselves in a strange abandoned area, which looked like a modern Wild West. Most shops were empty and left behind to rot. Windows were broken, company names only half visible and bored border patrol flicking their cigarettes.
Of course the location of our rental company was abandoned just like all the others. As there was no one who spoke English, we decided to get to the airport.
Little and big Petra
We changed the tire at the airport and moved quickly towards little Petra. The road we took wasn’t very interesting it was quick though. It’s called the desert road and that’s just what it is. A highway through the desert with villages scattered around it. Some sand twisters followed us and bumps in the road made us test our breaks every now and then.
At some point Google took us off the highway and into more desert area. Suddenly we found ourselves in an incredible landscape and soon we arrived at Little Petra. Little Petra isn’t very touristy because there is not much to see, except for one amazing temple cut in the rocks. We were alone except for the Bedouin living here trying to sell some souvenirs.
We enjoyed our short time here, until we headed towards Wadi Mousa. This is the village on top of the ancient Petra, it’s quite touristy but still has something left of the local culture. Like; no alcohol! Well, there is a cave bar where you can find alcohol so not surprisingly we went there to have a Petra beer and food. Now with 50% discount due to Covid-19: nice!
Petra by night
In the evening we went to check out Petra by Night. A bit too touristy for us. With many tourists we walked in line through the siq (a rock canal that leads to the city) to the treasury. Even though we were walking in line people were trying to rush towards the front of the line, which of course annoyed the hell out of us.
At the treasury it looked spectacular, beautiful. With all the candles and the Bedouin music, very magical. However, people (tourists and locals alike) talking through the Bedouin fluit concert makes it impossible to really enjoy the scenery and the magic of the area. Petra by night costs about Eur.20,- per person and is definitely not worth it.
Petra
At 6 o’clock we walked through the gates of of Petra with only a few other tourists. Such a relief compared to Petra by Night. At the treasury we were all alone. Except for some locals who offered their guiding services. After taking some photos we walked through the park, cause Petra is a lot more than just the treasury. There are many tombes, cave homes, an amfitheater, temple, church with beautiful mosaic and an amazing monastery.
Between all the historical sites you’ll find many souvenir shops and local people offering tea. For free, or happy hour, but of course it’s kind to give something. It feels a bit like a big open air market and again this commercialised souvenir market does something to the magic of the site. We are wondering what the previous inhabitants think when they see their capital being used like this. Of course we will never know but it’s fun to think about.
To go from the treasury to the monastery is a long walk and the end is quite challenging due to the many many stairs we have to climb. But it is so worth it. The monastery is as beautiful as the treasury but bigger. Afterwards we walk through the site, pass many tombes of which some are unfinished. We hike up the mountain to visit the sacrifice, a place where they used to sacrifice cows and goats to offer to the gods. The blood would flow down a small canal and people would drink it together. From this place we got a view over the ancient capital city Petra. Amazing!
From here we walked down to a viewpoint on the treasury. Very touristy and Instagrammable. Many of the girls visiting here wear the prettiest colourful dresses to get the nicest Instagram shot. Not really our scene so we didn’t stay for too long. To get to this spot, we actually needed a guide cause the way is a bit tricky and apparently it’s not allowed to walk here without one. However, not surprisingly, we walked down without a guide and as you are reading this blog we survived! Didn’t even get a fine
Petra was beautiful! We walked 23km’s, have seen a lot of the site but not all and enjoyed our time here. We had tea and bought a scarf to support the locals and had nice talks with some guides. The downside of this world wonder is that it’s very touristy, a bit too much. So many people selling stuff made in China or Pakistan, so many people trying to get your buy their stuff or wanting to guide you. It’s too much to be honest and at a UNESCO sight we expected a lot less. A lot less garbage as well. Everywhere is plastic, also at Petra, which is really a shame.
It’s beautiful though, recommended to visit early. For us this part of our Jordan trip was over, more adventures to come.
Love, Milene & Yuri