Jewels of Jordan. October 2006
The Jewels of Jordan holiday with Ramblers. Two fantastic weeks travelling and exploring, including Wadi Rum and Petra. Words and pictures and a gallery of images. Non commercial.
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October 2006 I went with 2 girl friends, Judith Grant and Pat Anderson to Jordan with Ramblers Holidays. We arrived at our hotel on the outskirts of Amman at 2am after a delayed flight. Next day we met the other 12 members of the group and were briefed by our Ramblers leader, Frank and introduced to Abed, our local guide from Guiding Star, who was to remain with us for the entire trip.
Next day we were taken to Amman city, which is built on hills, and to the Temple of Hercules and the Archeological Museum, situated on Citadel Hill, where we saw among other ancient artifacts parts of the Dead Sea Scrolls. From here we drove 50km north to Jerash, a huge site and one of the best preserved, and most important Roman city in the Middle East. It was founded around 170BC. Some of us opted to watch a display of Roman military capability and a chariot race for an extra 10 dinar. The highlights of the site were the Roman theatres, left, Temple of Artemis, huge pillars everywhere, and numerous churches.
The following day we drove to the village of Mukawir and walked to the ruins of the Palace of Machaerus where Salome danced for Herod Antipas and asked for the head of John the Baptist on a plate. Then we had our first walk at Zerqa Ma'In (left) from where we had distant views to the Dead Sea and into the gorge where we could see the hot springs of Hammamat Ma'In. The return to our hotel was via downtown Amman at 6pm and was a motorist's nightmare.
Day 4 took us down the King's Highway to Mount Nebo, where Moses after 40 years in the wilderness finally saw the Promised Land that God had forbidden him to set foot in. He died on the mountain and according to Christian and Jewish tradition he was buried there. We proceeded to Madaba whose prime attraction is the 6th century Byzantine mosaic map of the Holy Land (top) housed in the Greek Authodox church "Church of the Map". We ended the day at the impressive Crusader Castle of Karak (below). It was built in 1136AD on a rocky spur on the south edge of the town. The castle has 7 separate levels and included dark rooms and passageways in the lower parts and vertiginous views from the highest point. The next 2 nights were spent in Karak.
After all the ruins we were ready for some serious walking and we got this in the gorge of Wadi Ibn Hammad (left). It was accessed by a tortuous winding road, and our bus driver did an excellent job. This was a day for wet feet as the entire walk was in the water, which felt warm as we started at a pool fed by a hot spring. It was a contrast from the dry, beige coloured landscape we had encountered up till now, as there was abundant vegetation, ferns, hanging gardens and springs. The sides were high and almost touching at the top in places. It reminded me of gorge walking I had done in Arizona, USA. We returned back along the gorge and changed into our swim wear and played around in the hot springs until the bus returned for us.
Next day we traveled to the biblical site of Sela, but we all thought this wasn't worth the diversion as there was only a cafe there. From here we went to the Dana Nature Reserve. First we wandered round the tiny village of Dana and listened to a talk by one of the guides, then had an excellent lunch for 7 dinars (£5) at the Dana Hotel. Our guide took us on an informative tour of the nature reserve (top) pointing out plants with medicinal properties and the history of the ancient inhabitants of the area. He lifted up a stone to reveal a very poisonous scorpion (below). We know now why we were advised not to wear sandals. It was a very scenic area which again reminded me of the Canyonlands of USA. There was so much to see our visit lasted longer than originally planned so we missed out on the visit to the Crusader Castle of Shobak, and only got a distant view of it. General opinion was that we preferred to have spent the extra time in the reserve. We spent the next 4 nights at the luxury hotel of Taybet Zaman about 11 miles from Petra.
Our first day at Petra was spent at Little Petra doing a short and leisurely walk up the gorge. En route were Bedouins selling rocks, fossils and handicrafts (left). Instead of eating at our hotel that evening we went to the Petra Kitchen in Wadi Musa. It is not a restaurant as such, but we worked with the local women to prepare an evening meal, then ate it. Some of the party then left to see Petra by candlelight.
We spent the next 2 days exploring Petra, and the entry into the ancient city is via the Siq, a narrow gorge about 1.5 km long. At the end you suddenly come upon the breathtaking vision of the facade of the Treasury (1) carved out of the rose coloured sandstone rock. The ancient city is extensive and you could easily spend a week exploring it and we wandered around the main tourist areas (2,3,4), then walked up to the High Place of Sacrifice, went down had a buffet lunch in the restaurant, and headed up to the Monastery and a short distance from it to the top of the mountain with excellent views all round. It was an exhausting day. The second day was a walk from Petra to Jebel Haroun (Aaron's Mountain) (5) which involved an ascent of 500m and from a distance it looked very steep and intimidating, but was in fact a simple walk following the obvious path. It is the holiest site in Petra and there is a simple monument at the top where Muslims, Christians and Jews believe Aaron, the brother of Moses, was laid to rest.
We headed north the next day for more wet walking in Wadi Al Hasa (left), which got up to the nether regions on the smaller members of the party. It was all good fun as the water was warm and beautifully clear. We saw little egrets and some bright blue birds which no one could identify. After the walk it was Dead Sea here we come, stopping off on the way to photograph the stone pillar, which is called Lot's Wife who was supposedly turned to salt. That evening there was entertainment at the hotel in the form of a belly dancer, and I had inadvertently let it out at some point that I had done a little. Why didn't I keep my mouth shut, when the lady came round picking on people I'm sure someone in the group must have given her a sign as she came straight to me and got me up on the floor with much protesting on my part. However the group gave me much applause and later whilst visiting the loo a foreign lady said to me that I was the best dancer of the hour - praise indeed, though to be honest the professional was fairly rubbish.
Our last day at the Dead Sea was another rest day, some floated in the sea or swam in the swimming pool, others went for a morning walk up the Wadi behind the hotel, some went to Bethany where Jesus was baptised by John the Baptist and others luxuriated in mud wraps and massages. Then all too soon it was time to leave the next day.
My conclusions on the trip are that it was an excellent mixture of seeing the historical sites and interesting walking with a bit of relaxation. We thought it was good value for money at £1357 as all the entrance fees and meals except lunches were included. We think we were particularly lucky to have had Abed as our guide as his local knowledge was phenomenal and he was happy to talk to us about any issue on the Jordanian way of life. He was concerned about our welfare and safety at all times and insisted we drink plenty of water and eat when it was hot even though he was fasting for Ramadam and wouldn't let a sip of water pass his lips. We were told beforehand that we must keep our legs and arms covered at all times and wear loose clothing in respect of the local people. This was not actually the case and off the beaten track shorts and t-shirts were acceptable, and even Abed wore shorts on occasions. All the hotels we stayed in were very comfortable, except Karak which was below standard, and all supplied extensive buffet breakfasts and dinners. The Taybet Zaman at Petra was outstanding.
Sue Jackson.