Trip to Jordan

Two weeks ago we decided to venture down to Jordan. Once we passed the boarder, we went off the beaten track and ventured cross country past Jerash so that we could follow the Jordan Valley road down to the Dead Sea. Despite this route taking significantly longer than anticipated (the road is very windy and once you get to the Jordan Valley you follow the boarder with Israel so there's lots of check-points) I'm glad we chose this route, since Jerash looks very interesting and warrants a visit next time we travel to Jordan.

Our first impression of Jordan is best described as how we expected Syria to be before we moved there. The scenery is wonderful in this area, with dramatic valleys, but also quite green since the area is quite heavily irrigated. However, we were happy to arrive at our first hotel stop late in the afternoon, to the very luxurious Kempinski Hotel Ishtar, where we were welcomed with a chilled fruit juice and flannel and where Beatrice went straight to work charming the hotel staff.

From Trip to Jordan

March is still off-season at the Dead Sea, so it almost felt like we had the huge resort all to ourselves. For some reason the hotel manager also decided to give us a complementary double upgrade to a huge suite, which is probably one of the nicest hotel rooms we've had the privilege to stay in, making us feel extremely spoilt. Maybe it was because Flo and Beatrice were registered as being Dutch in the booking, since the hotel manager is a very nice Dutch gentleman.

So far, so good... the hotel is great, but to be honest there's not a great deal to do at the Dead Sea unless you enjoy relaxing by the pool and being pampered. Flo and I did take it in turns to float in the Dead Sea (while the other attended to Beatrice) and although it's nice to have done it, we both agreed that we have no urge to do it again; it's not a particularly pleasant experience. We both smeared ourselves in Dead Sea mud also, but we'll save exposing you to those pictures!

From Trip to Jordan

The Dead Sea is certainly not something you'd expose your small children too, so Beatrice was restricted to the hotel's swimming pool, not that she seemed to mind.

By the way, it's not true that you don't get burned sunbathing at the Dead Sea. It is true that the haze over the sea filters out ultraviolet light, but my legs can vouch for the fact that the remaining light spectrum is sufficient to burn, even in the mid twenties Centigrade off-season period.

It was nice to relax for a couple of days, but I already had itchy feet so was happy to be venturing on towards Petra. Since we didn't have a great deal of fuel left in the car, we again cut across the valleys and headed to Al Karak, stopping near the castle for lunch at Kir Heres Restaurant. From here, we eventually found our way onto the highway and we were starting to get a bit stressed as by this time it was getting close to sunset and we didn't fancy driving at night. Fortunately, this last bit of highway is really rather good and the Jordanian civil engineers that constructed the banked corners should be very proud of themselves (engineers don't often complement one another!).

We arrived in Wadi Musa at dusk and checked into the Crowne Plaza hotel. At six thirty the following morning we checked out and went down the street to the Movenpick hotel...

From Trip to Jordan

From Wadi Musa it's about 2.5 km walk to Petra, which is a magical place. This was our first outing with Beatrice riding in her back-pack and she seemed to really enjoy herself judging by the enthusiast jabbing she gave me in the ribs, presumably trying to get me to trot a little quicker... perhaps Flo should get her some stirrups for next time?

From Trip to Jordan

To get to Petra, you have to walk down through an imposing Siq, at the end of which is the majestic Treasury carved into the rock, as featured in one of the Indiana Jones films.

I won't bore you with the guided tour of Petra, but you can have a look at the photo album and get a feel for the place...


We went a little off the tourist track on the way back, deciding to walk through Wadi Muthlim. In hindsight, we probably wouldn't have done it with Beatrice since the narrow gorge includes a couple of small climbs, but Beatrice seemed to actually enjoy the being at odd angles, giggling and chuckling away on my back (and kicking me in the ribs to go faster).

From Trip to Jordan

Petra is great and we'd like to have stayed longer and done some more walking and exploring, but sharing hotel rooms (and specifically our bed) with Beatrice was starting to take its toll and we headed back to Damascus the next day. On the way back we stopped off at Carrefour in Amman, hoping to stock up on booze and bacon, but finding out that unlike the supermarkets in Lebanon, they stocked neither! We made up for it in the small duty free shop on the boarder though...

We'll definitely be returning to Jordan, maybe in the autumn when it's not too hot to camp in Wadi Rum and do some snorkelling in the Red Sea at Aqaba?