Best of Jordan
We visited Jordan for 7 days starting on May 22, 2014 and traveled by ferry and bus making stops in Aqaba, Petra, and Amman. Getting to Jordan was an odyssey, the “fast” ferry line from Nuweiba, Egypt to Aqaba, Jordan, well known for its often delays, was no exception for us. We embarked 11 hours after the scheduled time and made it to our destination a day later than expected. To make this trip even more memorable, a Jordanian immigration officer entering the ferry got very confused with our dual citizenship. We had used our Colombian and Salvadorian passports to enter and exit Egypt, but used the USA passports to enter Jordan and the official assured us that it was impossible to use two different passports and refused to let us on board until an Egyptian immigration supervisor clarified the legality of our dual citizenship.
Jordan was a surprise to us in many ways. In one hand, the existence of a monarchy system in the 21st century is quite ridiculous and incomprehensible to us. King Abdullah has been in power after succeeding his father King Hussein in 1999. Pictures of King Abdullah and his oldest son were everywhere. We felt weird to witness so much adoration towards a monarchy and the implicit acceptance of royalty that does not seem to come to an end.Ā
On the other hand, the infrastructure development and cleanliness of this country was an unexpected pleasure that distinguished it from previous destinations. After crossing the Red Sea things changed, the cuisine and culture felt the same but in so many other ways Jordan was different. Jordan in the last decades has become a country of refugees where citizens from Iraq, Syria, and the Palestinian Territories have found shelter. These foreign affairs have brought considerable wealth into the country and made Jordanian property market almost unreachable for its citizens. Unfortunately, with the infrastructure changes there was also a significant increase in prices, which is always a downside for travelers on a budget like us.
Visiting Petra and the Dead Sea were the highlight of our days in this country. Entering the Siq, a beautiful gorge, in Petra is an invitation into a new world where your imagination finds multiple scenarios to play with and evolve. We were perplexed by the combination of red, purple, pink, and white colors of the rock blending in to form an impacting combination of classical and impressionist style tombs. The natural colors of the rock of Petra are by themselves beautiful and if you add the human work that has been created is just another pleasure of visiting this site. The Nabatean city of Petra with its Hellenistic-Roman influenced carved shapes is simply stunning! The Dead Sea was another wonderful experience after craving for months the opportunity to be in the lowest point on earth. We love the oily and soft texture left on the skin after soaking and floating in these salty waters. Sal enjoyed playing with the rocks of salt found at the bottom of the sea and he could not hold down his curiosity to taste it. Covering ourselves with black mud, drying it to the mercy of the sun, and finally washing it off slowly in the sea was a relaxing retreat we much needed. The Dead Sea brought our bodies and soul to life in order to continue the journey. Nature in all its forms continues to be one of the most fascinating gifts of traveling š
Below are other great things we enjoyed about Jordan:
Food and Drinks
Rice with Goat Meat
Yogurt
Hummus
Mint Lemonade
Baklava
Favorite Sights and Activities
Roaming Around the Great Natural and Man-Made Beauty of Petra
Floating and Covering Ourselves in Mud in the Dead Sea
People
Benoit: from Canada, met on the ferry to Aqaba.
Waseem: from Jordan, our CouchSurfing host in Aqaba.
Juan: from Spain, met in Petra.
Farouq: from Jordan, our CouchSurfing host in Amman. Known to us as Lapu-lapu, was a great host and taught us a great card game.
