It all started with a week off and nowhere to go.
John and I knew we wanted to go somewhere in October. Due to the nature of his job, we took a week off well in advance and tossed around some ideas of where to go. He was hoping to go to New Zealand, but I wasn't sold on the super expensive, long flights, for just one week of vacation.
I decided to track flights on google.com/flights for any destination that Chicago flew to nonstop over our dates. One day one of my flights took a huge dip.
Chicago to Amman, Jordan went from $1000 to $599 round trip. We looked it over after work and decided to book immediately. Neither of us had a ton of background on Jordan, but we knew it had some of the world's best views.
So we booked the trip. When October came around, we got ready for a 12 hour flight to Amman.
Is it safe?
We had many people question why the heck we would go to Jordan in the Middle East. Most people view of the Middle East as terrifying (yes, we know it's neighbors to both Syria and Iraq). BUT Jordan happens to be incredibly safe; think of it as the favorite cousin of the Middle East. It has a good relationship with every country surrounding it, and actually welcomes many refugees annually.
In fact, there is enhanced security everywhere, a plethora of friendly police officers, and we even had a private driver (the awesome, Hassan) thanks to our tour company Experience Jordan. I never felt I could get mugged and was never harassed by street vendors. We felt safer than we do in some major European and U.S. cities.
The Lost City of Petra
A quick 3 hour drive south from Amman to Petra is how we started our first night, where we stayed at a Bedouin camp (named after the people who still inhabit the area surrounding Petra).
When most people think of Jordan, images of Petra fill their head. Considered one of the Seven Wonders of the World, the little city was once hidden from the rest of the world by the people that still inhabit it. Thanks to a Swiss explorer who tricked his guide into taking him to it, the entire world now has access to it. Good or Bad? Who knows.
Taking the regular entrance via the Siq corridor (narrow canyon) opens up to the Treasury, arguably the most famous site of the ancient ruins. Walking up what seems like 1000s of stairs to the Monastery is truly an entire day hike.
TIP: We suggest getting a local guide, through a tour company, and taking the "Back Door" way, only allowed with a guide. You walk through this open desert, start at the Monastery and come down to the Treasury, out to the entrance via the Siq. This avoids going up the stairs to the Monastery and allows you to walk past and pity all the miserable travelers.
Desert Riding in Wadi Rum
So do you remember the movie The Martian? Where Matt Damon gets stuck on the scary oxygen-less desert landscape? Well it was filmed in Wadi Rum! Since then, it's popularity for tourists coming to Jordan has sky-rocketed. After a 2 hour drive from Petra, even further south, we arrived at the Space Luxury Camp with big, black, private tents facing the rocky desert landscape.
We started with a 2 hour Jeep (ok it's a pickup truck actually) ride through the desert, and stopped along the way to view some famous rock carvings and drink tea with locals.
After a dinner with the other camp guests, John walked into the desert (alone!) to take some AMAZING astrophotography shots.
If you thought you needed coffee to wake you up in the desert, try a bumpy camel ride. It was quite the way to start our morning.
Camels are really expressive creatures. They made a lot of noises the entire time. Some of them let me pet them, others seemed annoyed that I pet them. Either way, they seemed fine to walk us around the desert for about 40 minutes. A quick break in between let us snap a couple of beautiful shots of them.
Diving in the Red Sea
After some fun adventures in the desert, it was time to head to the Red Sea. about an hour west of Wadi Rum. We had been really excited for this for awhile, as it was going to be my first time scuba diving outside of a lake!
I was pretty nervous, because as some of you may know, I had "mask squeeze" during my advanced training in southern Illinois. Going down to a depth of 85ft I made the mistake of not equalizing my mask (less important compared to equalizing lungs!). I had broken blood vessels in my eyes for a couple of weeks and was really nervous about diving in Jordan.
However, it was absolutely smooth sailing. A company called Sindbad Dive Club put us with an experienced guide along with two other divers our speed, and we had a really fun dive.
TIP: The Red Sea is very salty, so don't get any in your eyes. :)
We stayed at the nicest place we stayed our entire trip, the swiss hotel Movenpick in the resort town of Aqaba. It was dreamy.
Floating in the Dead Sea
Did you even go to Jordan if you didn't float in the Dead Sea?
We drove another 4 hours north to the Crowne Plaza Dead Sea (where I felt like I was at a resort in Mexico LOL), which had kid friendly pools, lovely rooms and plenty of restaurants. We finally got to relax and ended our night with a couple's massage at the spa.
Once sunrise hit the next morning, we were out the door and down to the Dead Sea. You can put on a couple of nice mud masks before you get in, wait for them to dry and then go in to wash them off. But you can't just go anywhere out in the Dead Sea. They take it really seriously. Our resort had a roped off section the size of a house, with multiple lifeguards. I don't really get this because you literally can't sink.
It's hard to explain what it's like to float in the Dead Sea, but I'll try.
If you've ever put your legs in a life jacket in a lake and floated, this is exactly what it feels like. Except with no life jacket. You can actually stand up in the water, with your arms above your head and not move and you won't sink! It's incredible.
I will say, after the Dead Sea, we jumped in a regular pool in the hotel, and I could hardly stay afloat... what a density shock! (and I swam in college, smh)
TIP: The Dead Sea is very very salty, so don't get in with any big cuts, and don't even shave anything on your body a couple of days before. It will sting... bad!
Exploring the Beautiful City of Amman
Our last stop was to Amman, which is pretty close to the Dead Sea, where we would fly out the next morning. We stayed at a super chic boutique hotel that I would highly recommend. After settling our things in, we started off on our trek through the city.
Our only mission: find amazing street food.
I had heard of this amazing shawarma place, Shawarma Reem, as well as a famous falafel place Al Qud's Falafel. Both sell their sandwiches for 1 Jordanian Dinar or less ($1.40). It was better than any of the expensive, touristy food from every place before Amman. I still think about both sandwiches often, where can I find them here?!?!
Jordan: you are friendly, beautiful and adventurous; you are the best parts of the Middle East just waiting to be seen.
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