When
- March/April 2012 for six days
Places
Ajlun castle ruins
- On top of a hill and pretty well preserved.
Jerash city ruins
- Massive ruins very spread out – it even had an area for chariot racing;
- There was a huge amphitheatre where some locals were playing some music which sounded great and we danced along.
Wadi Rum
- Camping under the stars here in the middle of the desert was great and we went for a few walks up the dunes and through the mountains;
- We had a jeep safari here driving all through the Wadi Rum desert and to some stunning look out spots;
- My birthday here so they surprised me with a birthday cake – in the middle of the desert!!
Petra
- Geez this place is pretty damn impressive, the Monastery especially;
- The entrance fee is not cheap (about $50) but lasts for two days – make the most of it and take your time exploring the many many caves;
- You can even ride a donkey up to the monastery if the walk is a bit steep.
Aquaba
- A cool coastal town where locals swarm the beach;
- We went on a glass bottom boat where they showed us a sunken Palestinian tank which they were pretty proud about;
- Locals were leading horses and camels up and down the beach for rides and even a dancing camel!!!
Accommodation
- Jordan Tower Hotel had hostel rooms in Amman
- Wadi Rum desert camp – incredible!
- Accommodation was organised through the tour
Language
- Arabic but English is fairly common and you shouldn’t have any issues.
- Hello: Salām (Arabic)
- Thank you: Shukran
- Good bye: bāy bāy
- Yes / No: na’am / lā
Visa
- Jordan tourist visa is required for Australians on arrival, visa fee JOD10 ($14.10USD)
Money
- Jordanian Dinar (0.70 JOD = $1 USD)
Food
- Mezze platters which includes food such as hummus, falafel, pickled vegetables, baba ghanoush, tabouleh, olives, pickles and other various dishes
- Fatoush, tabouleh and baba ghanoush are big salads and quite common
- Mixed grill kababs – Kofta is delicious with ground meat and various spices
- Mansaf is a traditional Jordanian dish made of lamb cooked in a sauce of fermented dried yogurt called Jameed and served with rice or bulgur
- Typical breakfast – white cheese, cucumber and tomato – in a salad
Tips and tricks
- I cannot recommend Petra enough. I personally had not read much about it before I went to Jordan but it is one of my favourite places there – just so incredible and amazing how they could build something so massive!
- Aquaba is a little town off the normal path and it was cool that a few of us went here instead of the Dead Sea (I had been there in Israel so didn’t need to pay for it again). There was a hive of activity with kids running around splashing in the water and even a dancing camel!
Jordan blog posts
