Our travel to Jordan had begun with an overnight in the airport before our flight, and a bug that we’d picked up from someone on the cruise. After a fairly painless flight where the guy next to me kindly bought me a bottle of water and gave me some tips for the upcoming trip, then a bus from the airport and then a taxi from the bus station, we were finally able to climb into bed in our next destination: Amman.

The next morning we discovered that we’d been so tired on the flight that we hadn’t noticed Creed had left his laptop on the plane under the seat. We messaged Wizz Air who were very unhelpful, and called the airport lost and found who said they didn’t have it. We almost gave up hope, but tried emailing the lost and found again in case it took a while to get to the office, and got a reply to say we needed the other lost and found office at the airport if the item was lost on a plane. And the other office had it! Crisis averted.

So by midday we were recovered enough and sane enough to start exploring. After waiting for the heat to cool off a little we climbed the hill behind our hotel to the Amman Citadel, an area of Roman ruins with an interesting palace. We discovered that the ancient name of Amman was Philadelphia. Among the columns you can also see part of an enormous hand and a large elbow, the only remains of what must have been one of the largest statues in the ancient world. There happened to be a photoshoot going on with a guy in military uniform with a large Jordanian flag, which made the views even more impressive. After descending the hill via some local art galleries we visited the Roman theatre, a remnant of the old city that is now a popular evening hang out spot.

On Thursday we wandered more of the city, finding the expat area with upmarket restaurants and boutique craft shops. We found one of the cheaper places and had some excellent food and then came across yet more that we would have loved to try if we weren’t already so full. We visited the Nymphaeum, another Roman ruin, this time of an old fountain complex. In the evening we found a shisha bar and coffee shop with a balcony overlooking the Roman theatre, and enjoyed a peaceful hour in amongst many locals.

The next morning we picked up our rental car and headed to Jerash. It was my first time driving a manual on the other side of the road, so it took me a while to get used to the gear box being by my right hand instead of my left, but I got the hang of it. Jordan is extremely hilly and our little car can only go so fast, but it’s a lot less hectic on the roads than many other places we’ve driven, and having our own wheels made the trip significantly easier. Our first stop was Ajloun castle, a 12th century fortress built by the Muslim military during the Crusades. Then it was on to Jerash, one of the largest and best preserved Greco-Roman cities in the world. It was once home to over 20,000 people and was an important city during the Roman empire. The main street lined by towering columns is an amazing sight, and the two theatres and two temples that are still standing are so impressive. In the evening we drove south to Madaba, via a brief stop at the airport to pick up Creed’s rescued laptop.

On Saturday we started our day in Madaba, home to many incredible mosaics including the first ever map of the holy land. The various churches and archaeological sites displaying all the impressive mosaics were fascinating, and we spent a few hours wandering around town taking it all in. Next we headed to Mount Nebo, the biblical location where Moses first laid eyes on the Holy Land and where he died. The view here is quite spectacular, though it’s hard to see as far as Moses did. From the mountain we descended a very steep twisty turny road to the Dead Sea. The road is still a fair bit higher than the sea shore so there aren’t many beaches, but after a few failed attempts and driving the coastline almost until the end we found a great spot, and went for a float. Our final stop of the day was Kerak, another Medieval castle and one of the largest in the middle east, with many large tunnels and a maze of rooms to explore. It was late in the day so the museum was already closed, but it meant we had the site almost to ourselves as we explored the dark corridors and windy battlements.

The next day we drove through the spectacular Dana Biosphere Reserve to Shobak, where we had our steepest drive yet down to Wadi Guwheir. A wadi is a valley or ravine that is usually dry except in the rainy season, and here we hiked for 4 and a half hours through a rocky canyon, following and sometimes wading through the stream running through it. In the middle of the canyon the walls got steeper and closer together before opening up into a little oasis with palm trees growing out of the cliff faces. It was some incredible scenery, recommended to us by our friends Mel and Thomas who did this trip about a week earlier. It’s a shame we couldn’t match up our timings to travel together but it was great to get all of their tips. In the evening we stayed at a farmhouse and were treated to a huge dinner with many dishes made from vegetables straight from the garden.

On Monday we were headed to the main draw of any Jordan trip: Petra. The oldest new wonder of the world, and one of the best on the list on my opinion. Creed has now officially seen all 7! (Neither of us really care about this because there are thousands of wonderful sites in the world and many are way cooler than the ‘official’ 7 wonders of the world, but he was still very pleased to have beaten me to seeing all of them.) Petra is a huge site, so we got there early and didn’t stop walking for a solid 10 hours in order to see it all. The treasury is the best known view, but the monastery, the royal tombs and the high place of sacrifice are all incredible too. It was a long but amazing day, with way too many photos taken.

We’d bought a two day Petra ticket as we didn’t know how early we’d be able to get there and if we could fit it all in. There were a couple of extra hikes we only discovered once already inside Petra, and we considered doing them the next day, but they would have involved a lot of retracing of steps. As usual, my best advice for people travelling to Jordan in the future comes from what I got wrong myself. So, instead, on Tuesday we drove to Little Petra in the morning, a canyon with a couple more cool tombs carved into the rocks.

After this, we hopped back in the car to drive to the desert of Wadi Rum. This is where most movies set on Mars are filmed, as the sand is so red and the rocky mountains are dramatic. The best way to visit is to stay in Bedouin tents, and the camp takes you on a tour through the desert as part of the accommodation package. We ended up staying in the most amazing tent, with huge windows giving an incredible view of the landscape. We split our tour in half, doing a couple of hours in the afternoon ending with tea at a sunset viewpoint, and doing the rest the next morning. We ate a traditional Bedouin dinner, cooked by burying the pot in the sand and letting the meat and vegetables slow cook from the heat of the ground.

The next morning we stayed in our amazing tent as long as possible, before heading back out into the barren landscape for the second part of our tour. Wadi Rum has a few landmarks, including some impressive canyons with ancient petroglyphs carved into the walls, and some sites linked to Lawrence of Arabia and his time in this region. The most fun part, though, is just sitting in the back of the truck, whizzing across the sand, watching the impressive rock formations and dunes go by.

After leaving the desert it was time for our final stop on the coast of the Red Sea, Aqaba. We visited some archeological sites on the way into town, including the oldest Christian church in the world. After a jam packed road trip we didn’t feel much need to explore the town fully, so it was a relaxed afternoon to end our travels. After a little bit of stress trying to book our ferry to Egypt for the next day because the site wouldn’t accept any of the 6 different payment methods we tried, we finally succeeded in organising our exit from Jordan, returned the rental car, and headed out for one last wander along the sea front.

Thanks for following along on my crazy adventures!

 Ros ♥

If you’re interested in how I got here, or where I went next, check out the rest of the story!