Jordan

Another blog brought to you by Carl…

We arrived in the evening to Queen Alia airport. Jordan immigration was easy, and the officer next to ours gave me recommendations about what to eat in Jordan. He even interrupted the group he was processing to make sure I knew to eat Mansef with my hands. We had arranged a ride with our hotel and found our driver waiting for us. Nobody hassled us like in Cairo. The car was nice and the ride was quiet for a change.

We checked in to the Boutique Hotel in the center of Amman, and the owner Ali pulled out a map of what we should do the next day. We nodded along sleepily and then headed to our room. The street outside was loud as many people in Jordan are off on Friday, but we had no trouble falling right asleep.

Friday, July 1

Anni was awoken by the 4am morning prayers, but I either slept through it or blocked out the memory. When we did get up we headed to the roof for breakfast, which consisted of more mezze as well as Jordanian breads with Za’atar and cheese. There was also the best cantaloupe of our lives. We soaked up the views of the surrounding buildings built into the hillside, and were excited to spend the day walking around the city.

We started with a hike up the hill to the Amman Citadel. We walked around and basked in all the history around us. People have lived in this site for tens of thousands of years and many empires have laid claim to it.

The citadel museum had artifacts from Paleolithic and Iron Age peoples, and there were various structures that had been a part of the Persian Empire, Greek Empire, Roman Empire, Byzantine Empire, and Islamic Empires. At one point the afternoon prayers started and we could hear mosques all around the city converging on us.

We traveled back down the hill for lunch, stopping at Hashem, a place so famous for its falafel that even the king has eaten there. We got stuffed falafel and hummus with lamb. A plastic sheet was placed over the table and some pita thrown down, and we ate with our hands. It was all great. We swung by a coffee shop after and I had my first Turkish style coffee, which was floral and delicious.

Our next stop was the Roman Theater. We climbed around the ancient structure and enjoyed having the place mostly to ourselves. At the base was the Museum of Popular Traditions and the Jordan Folklore museum, both of which showed Bedouin life. The most intriguing part of the attractions however were the disproportioned figures on display, which looked like life-size Barbie dolls, some converted into male roles.

We looped around the main streets of Amman. Everyone we crossed paths with told us welcome to Jordan. We checked out the famous Husseini Mosque, but being unfamiliar with proper etiquette I was too scared to go inside. We walked through the open air markets and took in the smells of fruits, perfumes, and spices. Our favorite shops sold air conditioning units, which were blasting cool air to demonstrate their effectiveness. The owners didn’t seem to mind up walking VERY slowly by.

On our way home we stopped by the Habibah sweets to try kunafa, a spun pastry soaked in syrup and layered with cheese and pistachios. It was as amazing as our hotel owner Ali had promised.

That evening we went up to Rainbow street, the heart of nightlife in Amman. The party scene hadn’t started yet, but we found a food court area nested in the back of some artisanal craft stalls. An adorable kid helping his parents sold us dolmas, samosas, and a Palestinian treat that was indistinguishable from a chicken taquito. We also had a great strawberry and blackberry juice from another vendor.

The special treat from the market were fig cookies, which the owner proudly said were sugar free and milk free. His wife who was making the cookies had us all take a picture together. We attempted to buy a box but they refused our money, giving us the box as our reward for being the new sales models for their company.

Saturday, July 2

We had a tour booked for the next 3 days that would include Petra, Wadi Rum, and the Dead Sea. Our driver, Ahmad, told us to call him Habibi (roughly translated to darling in Arabic), and it was quickly apparent that he would be much more than just our driver. He told us our current itinerary was only “half good,” and that he would like to change a few things with our permission. The first day was supposed to be a simple drive down the desert highway to Wasi Musa with a few stops along the way, so when he offered instead a canyoneering adventure and scenic drive along the Dead Sea we readily agreed.

Our Habibi was quite the character. He was a fan of driving race cars and drove our hybrid like one, often texting and vaping at the same time. He had made a fortune running a clothing factory in China and then Egypt, but lost everything during the Arab Spring, and was now driving tours until he could restart business. Our tour had promised a driver with limited English, so we were lucky to have someone who would also act as tour guide, interpreter, and photographer. Plus we did twice as many activities as expected. Could have gone without the speeding though.

After leaving the city we stopped at a van in which a man appeared to both live and sell coffee out of. He served us coffee that was billed as a mix of capuchino, latte, and Nescafé. Not sure what that means, but it was good and we felt amped as we cruised down nearly 400 meters below sea level to the Dead Sea while Habibi blasted EDM.

Our first (off book) stop was Wadi Mujib, where we were provided life jackets and told to walk up the river as far as we could. We hiked through the beautiful sandstone canyon, occasionally swimming when the water was deep, and using ropes to ascend the steeper sections. It was gorge-ous. My phone in its waterproof pouch can’t do justice to the colors of the rock surrounding us.

After 45 minutes we reached an impassible waterfall and turned around. On the way back someone who must have been a lifeguard showed us where we could slide down the smooth rocks instead of climbing down, compete with a splash into the river. As we left the river we noticed tons of tourists checking in, and we realized we had been very lucky to have the canyon mostly to ourselves.

From here Habibi pulled over to the public area on the Dead Sea so that we could see the salty beach. We hiked around and took pictures until the dirt we picked up on the way down combined with the salty beach to form a thick paste under our sandals.

Back in the car we marveled at all the religious history around us, with signs pointing to where Jesus was baptized, where Moses was buried, and where Lot’s wife was turned to salt.

We turned from the Jordan Valley highway onto the Kings highway and ascended from below sea level to 1200 meters above. The scenery changed from white to brown to red and we pulled over several times to take photos. We were amazed by how many farms we passed on this drive, not expecting the desert to be so fertile.

At the top of the valley we stopped at a hotel overlooking Dana Reserve for tea and more views. The tea was “Bedouin style,” aka black tea with mint and lots of sugar. It was the best of the many Bedouin teas we would have in the coming days.

Our next stop was Shobak castle, built in the 12th century by the crusaders but later used by local kingdoms. The surrounding houses were caves with simple structures built out front, providing natural temperature control. We also laughed at the nearby “worlds smallest hotel” which was an old VW bug on the side of the road with a bed in the back.

We then arrived at Wadi Musa and went to Little Petra, Nabataean ruins built around the first century and thought to have been a suburb of Petra. We opted for a local Bedouin guide from the town next door, which had been formed when the Bedouins living in Petra were kicked out by UNESCO. He had a thick accent and limited English, but was nice and we were happy to support him.

He walked us around the many building carved into the sandstone canyons, surprisingly well preserved considering the soft material and history of people squatting in them. One diving room still had the beautiful Greek-style frescoes intact on the roof. There were many channels dug into the walls to collect rainwater into big wells at the base of most buildings, critical to survival in the desert. Several of the cave-rooms had black swirled designs on their ceiling- formed from decades of smoking tobacco inside.

At the end of the canyon we came across a bunch of kittens living in a tourist shop and Anni melted into a puddle. While we were there a local came up with a backpack full of leftover rice and chicken and we watched as more cats came out of every crack to join the feast.

We invited Habibi to dinner and he took us to a restaurant away from the tourist zone. We finally got Mansaf, which the immigration officer had told me about and is considered the national dish of Jordan. It consisted of lamb and rice served on a thin bread and covered with fermented yogurt sauce. I ate with my hands as instructed in case immigration was watching, and it was delicious. We also had some kofta and maqluba, a rice and chicken dish known as upside-down because it is served directly from pot to plate at the table.

Very full, we all drove up to an overlook just outside to town to enjoy the sunset and take goofy pictures. We finally got to our hotel for the night at 8pm and exhausted went to bed early in anticipation for another busy day.

Sunday, July 3

We got up at 5:30 in order to be the first people in Petra when gates opened at 6am. There appeared to be only 2 other couples in the entire park, and it was still chilly as we started the hike through the canyons and into the city. The area around Petra is thought to have been inhabited for 7,000 years, with the most impressive structures being built in the first century CE by the Nabataeans, who were able to carve out this oasis in the desert through their skills in water management. At its peak 20,000 people were thought to have lived in Petra.

At the end of the canyon was the Treasury, the most famous building in Petra, named from a local rumor that treasure was hidden within. It is now understood to be a mausoleum for a past Nabataean king. You can see the bullet holes in the fresco where Bedouins had tried to dislodge the possible treasure. It was truly stunning.

We also had the place to ourselves aside from a few locals trying to sell camel rides and guides to view points. We declined any offers as the camels did not look well and there was a large sign in English saying that any hikes to viewpoints were free and did not require a guide.

We continued past the treasury as the canyon opened into a wide valley with houses carved into every wall. We hiked up to an area overlooking the valley with larger structures thought to be more kings tombs and stopped for breakfast, which consisted of dry sandwiches the hotel provided for take away because we missed their complimentary breakfast. We continued to soak up the area as the sun crept up and the heat increased.

We continued along a columned walkway past an amphitheater and several temples, with countless dwelling units on either side. At the site of the great temple a kid came up to us and tried to sell us a pack of postcards for 1 Jordanian Dollar ($1.25 US Dollars). We didn’t want the postcards but we gave the kid a dollar anyways.

Ten minutes later another little girl came up to us, selling the same postcards. When we said we didn’t want to buy them she said “Aw! Come on!” in a perfect English accent. I then asked her why she wasn’t in school and she shot back saying there was no school. We later learned they were indeed on a summer break.

At the end of the walkway we reentered a canyon and stared at the daunting stairs which would lead up to the second most famous structure, the Monastery, so named because some crosses had been carved into the back of the cave during the Byzantine age. The sun was now fully up and temperatures increasing, but we had brought a lot of water and were ready for the challenge.

We met a family from Sun Valley, Idaho along the way, who we would continue to leapfrog the rest of the day. We would also use each other to distract the vendors, who had strategically set up shops along the narrow pathway and were the most confrontational people we had met in Jordan. A few times my pinky was grabbed against my will to force a pinky promise that I would check out their shop on the way down.

At last we made it to the Monastery which, though less decorated than the Treasury, was bigger and more open. The people charging to climb the rocks to see another view hadn’t made it up yet so we enjoyed climbing up a bit to see the Monastery from above and check out the surrounding canyon lands.

We did our best to power past the insistent staircase vendors and get back to the main square, which was now packed with other tourists and vendors. We took some side trails to see a church and some other tombs we missed the first time through, and after much searching found a shady place out of the way to choke down the rest of our dry sandwiches.

Feeling satisfied we found the energy to make our way back out of the canyon, pitying all the tourists just starting their day in the midday heat. As we exited the park we ran into our Habibi, who bought us espressos and gyros as we packed back up to hit the road. As we left Wadi Musa we saw a shop advertising the “best view in the world.” We stopped at the next turn, the “second best view in the world,” and got some final pictures of the valley from above.

Our original itinerary had us spending all day in Petra with a jeep tour in Wadi Rum the next morning, but Habibi figured with the long days we could do the jeep tour in the same say and allow for a unplanned visit to Acaba and the Red Sea the next day. We agreed, and sped along to Wadi Rum, stopping just once at a Turkish train from the 1950s to take more pictures.

We arrived to Wadi Rum at 4pm, and at the end of the road loaded into a 4×4. Wadi Rum is a preserved area of beautiful red sandstone rising from the desert, famous as the filming location for Lawrence of Arabia as well as most movies that take place on Mars.

The landscape was unreal. We cruised along and stopped at a few points of interest, including a natural arch, a canyon with ancient carvings, and a large dune that we hiked up. At each stop we were offered Bedouin tea, which we eventually had to start declining due to overcaffeination and not wanting to tip any more.

After 2 hours of touring the desert we arrived at our camp for the night. It was much nicer than advertised, with private tents, showers, and electricity. Habibi wanted to climb up the mountain behind the camp for sunset and we joined him, being careful with the soft sandstone. Anni wore her photo-opp ready skirt and decided to just go up halfway, taking pictures of us from below. We reached significant elevation in a short amount of time and were rewarded with incredible views of Wadi Rum during the perfect time of light.

We returned to camp and met up with the other 5 tourists who would be spending the night there. The bedouins showed us how they cooked the chicken and vegetables on top of coal buried under the sand, and we all sat down for a feast that also included salads and mezze definitely not cooked in the desert.

Stuffed and with perfect nighttime temperatures, we sat next to a campfire with our new companions and swapped travel stories under the stars. The crescent moon provided a surprising amount of light, but we were still able to see the most stars since our time in the Bolivian desert.

Monday, July 4

We had a mezze breakfast in the Bedouin camp and then packed back into the jeep for a final cruise through Wadi Rum back to the land of pavement. Habibi had arranged us a snorkel tour of the Red Sea, so we sped down to Aqaba at the far south end of Jordan. Aqaba seemed like a nice town with many date trees, and we could see across the sea to both Israel and Egypt.

We boarded a glass bottom boat and set sail into the Red Sea. We immediately started to see coral and fish below us, and we crossed over a sunken airplane. Our captain set anchor down near the shore, and we put on snorkel gear and jumped in. The water was a bit cold for Anni’s taste but was very clear, and we swam around the famous red coral which gives the sea its name.

We spent 45 minutes swimming around 2 reefs and a submerged transport ship, and saw many anemone fish, sergeant majors, and wrasses. We were also surprised to see a lion fish and a puffer fish. The star was a juvenile butterflyfish whose pattern we had admired on an Australian fish guide but never saw on that trip. When we got out of the water our captain showered us with fresh water than then forced us to assume the Titanic pose while he blasted the song, My Heart Will Go On.

After this we were back to our scheduled itinerary, which was to spend the afternoon at a resort on the Dead Sea. We headed back north along the border with Israel, noting the increase in military presence. We arrived at the resort around 2pm, and headed first to the buffet lunch. We enjoyed a greatest hits of Jordanian cuisine and waddled down to the shore.

The resort had a designated swimming area with a guy spraying everyone with fresh water after leaving the sea. We entered the water, conscious of the 10 minute maximum of being in that level salinity. It was a wild experience being so buoyant. We were able to lift our arms and legs out of the water while still floating on our backs.

We got out and coated ourselves in Dead Sea mud as Habibi had instructed. It was so hot my sweat didn’t allow the mud to dry completely, but we allowed ourselves to bake awhile before jumping back in the sea to wash off. Our skin felt softer afterwards but we weren’t convinced it was worth all the effort.

We ran into our friends from the Wadi Rum camp and all went to the pool to grab a beer. The pool was not as cold as desired considering it was 101 degrees outside, but we tried to make the most of our resort time. Around 6pm we tracked down our Habibi to get us to our Airbnb.

We had a relatively early flight to Budapest and then Rome the next day, so in anticipation we had booked a room next to the airport, about an hour from the city center. Habibi grabbed us some falafel sandwiches along the way in anticipation for our remote lodging, and we arrived just before sunset.

We said our fond farewells and checked into the Airbnb, which was quite roomy and much nicer than expected based on price and location. It had been a long action packed few days and we enjoyed the peace and quiet before going to bed.