Jordan, a country with amazing geographical landscapes, incredible history, rich cultural heritage, and more than friendly people, is a must visit destination at least once in lifetime.We strongly recommend Jordan for people especially residing in Gulf Countries as an exciting holiday destination.
BEST TIME TO VISIT
The best time to visit Jordan is during March and April. The weather is pleasant with warm days and cool nights.We traveled during last week of March.
EXPLORING JORDAN
The ideal way to explore Jordan is through road trip. The road trip can be done through hiring a taxi or rent a car. We arranged a taxi from arrival to departure at Queen Alia Airport ,Amman. Arranging the taxi prior to the trip is better option.Important thing to know is Public transport system is poor in the country .
Localtrips.net is a good way to arrange the taxi. They have pick up and drop service and one day trip services at reasonable rates.
VISA
For Indian passport holders, Visa is on arrival. The visa charges are 40 JD per person. Alternatively one can a Buy a "Jordan Pass". This pass covers the entrance fee to most of the tourist attractions and waives off the visa charges.
Jordan pass need to be purchased only for the adults and can be purchased from Jordan Pass. The Pass is available in three types where each type allows different number of day visits to Petra. It is good to buy a pass with 2 days entrance to Petra. The cost of the pass with two days Petra entrance is 75 JD per adult. This pass covers most of the attractions excluding Jesus baptism site, for which an extra of 8JD should be paid.
We purchased 2 Jordan passes with 2 day Petra entrance (75 JD each) with addition of Jesus Baptism site (8 JD each).
Our visa charges were waived off and had to pay visa charges only for the kids.
ITINERARY
DAY 1 : DOHA - AMMAN - AQABA
DAY 2 : AQABA
DAY 3 : AQABA - WADI RUM
DAY 4 : WADI RUM - PETRA
DAY 5 : PETRA
DAY 6 : PETRA - DEAD SEA VIA KING'S HIGHWAY
DAY 7 : DEAD SEA - AMMAN
DAY 8 : AMMAN - JERASH
DAY 9 : AMMAN - DOHA
WHY THIS ITINERARY
Jordan, being a country with variety of landscapes within a relatively small area, we wanted to explore it by Road. Hence started travelling from Aqaba, the Southern most tip towards north, to Amman.
Travelling with a Naughty Kid & High Attention seeking toddler will drain a lot of your energy after 8-9 days of tour. Therefore we chose a direct flight back to Doha which was available only from Amman.
Special thanks to our Jordanian colleagues Moathe Khaleq & May Saleem for providing their valuable inputs in fine tuning this itinerary
DAY 1 : ARRIVAL AT AMMAN AND HEAD TO AQABA
We took Qatar airways flight to Jordan. The flight duration is 3 hours. Arrived at Queen Alia International, Amman at 6.40 pm, completed our immigration procedures which was very quick. It is recommended to keep Jordan pass handy so that visa issuance will be easy . Most of the officials here could not speak English.
After the procedures were done, purchased a sim card (Zain) and lately realized the internet connection is only 2G Speed. Better to go for some other option with higher internet speeds.
Took a domestic flight at 11.45 pm to Aqaba through Royal Jordanian. The flight duration was 55 min. The advantage of Royal Jordanian airlines is you get free access to Lounge.It is also possible to travel Aqaba through road which would take around 4 hours.
Reached King Hussein International , Aqaba at 12.45 pm.The driver was waiting for us at the airport. It is a small airport. Within 20 min of arrival , we could head out with the luggage.
We had booked our stay at Grand Swiss Belresort ,Tala Bay. It is around 22.5 km from the airport. It is very important to book a resort with direct beach access here. We made use of Qatar Entertainer voucher which offers one day accommodation free for one day booking.
If planning for a budget accommodation, there are also various options to stay at cheap rates and can just buy a day pass to resort for beach access.
DAY 2 : AQABA(RED SEA)
Aqaba is famous for its beaches to Red sea with crystal clear water, coral gardens and multicolored fishes. It is no secret that Red sea is one of the world's finest marine destinations, while it's less known that Jordan has 27 km of precious access to this underwater wonderland along the Gulf side of Aqaba.
We had a big breakfast buffet at the resort. The rest of the day was spent relaxing at the beach, exploring small cafes near the beach and watching dances for entertainment.
The resort offers multiple swimming pools each designed for different purposes as kids only, Ladies only and one big infinity pool with access to everyone.
The buffet lunch at the resort was satisfying and decided to rest for a while. Later we took a walk to the Marina which is 5 minutes far from the resort. We booked for a Submarine ride with Neptune boats for the next day. It's better to book the ride as soon as you reach Aqaba. They do not respond to online inquiries. They are the only boat services which provide dry dive experience.
In one of the beach shore shops, we also booked for a sunset yacht package - Sindabad with complimentary dinner.
A small journey in bus is required to reach to the yacht, it was around 5.30 in the evening when we reached destination. Yacht was beautiful and the ride offered a gaze of glorious sunset surrounded by deep blue waters, followed by beautiful full moon light with a spectacular backdrop of red mountains.The Jordanian black tea was an additional delight during the ride.
If travelling with toddlers, do remember to take winter caps as the winds get really chilly in the late night.
We headed for dinner at a restaurant which was included in the yacht package. Vegetarians like us had to be satisfied with only cucumber salad and a vegetable fried rice as the only dinner option.
After dinner , we headed back to the yacht and had a peaceful one hour journey. The Yatch was filled by people from different nationalities and was interesting to know about other people and their reason for the visit. This part is one of the most loved by us when we travel. Most of the Jordanians could not speak English but yet they were very friendly and communicated in few words to us asking about our experience in their country, about Bollywood films and actors. Interesting thing was most of the people there were fans of Salman Khan and Kareena Kapoor. The Captain of the yacht was kind and played some Hindi songs for us.
When we were about to reach, realized had made a mistake. We should have finished the dinner and taken a bus from there back to the resort. But no one told us and we wrongly got back to the yacht. Now the Captain of the yacht told us taking a taxi was the only option. The cleaner of the yacht helped us to find a taxi for reasonable rate to get us back to resort .
Finally we reached the resort at 12.00 pm. We tried to get a good sleep but was awakened by toddler at 2.30 am. She was suffering from fever. We were bit worried since we were only at DAY 2 of the Jordan adventure. We called up a pediatrician through the reception services and doctor visited us at 3.00 am. He gave medicines and assured that travelling with her is ok. We were so pleased with the resort services.
DAY 3 : AQABA - HEAD TO WADI RUM
Woke up in the morning and it was a big relief to to see Aarushi getting better .Grabbed a slice of bread toast and headed for the submarine ride.
The submarine ride was really an interesting experience especially for a non swimmer like me. The view of coral gardens , a wrecked ship and multicolored fishes were really exciting. The ride was for around 90 minutes.
We had an early lunch of Italian pasta at a cafe in Marina. The cafe was good with a view of Marina. The staff was really helpful and arranged a sofa for my sleeping toddler.
Headed back to the resort and checked out at 12.00pm, Started towards our next destination Wadi Rum in our pre-booked taxi. The drive is around 1 hour and 10 minutes.
Wadi Rum is a protected desert wilderness in southern Jordan. It has spectacular sandstone mountains and natural arches . The natural watering hole of Lawrence's Spring is named after British soldier Lawrence of Arabia.
Staying here one gets a feeling of Martian landscapes. At Wadi rum, there are only desert camp stay options. Stay at a Bedouin camp is a really unique experience.
We had booked our stay at Martian tent of Sun city camp . The stay in tent was something new to us. There are also traditional budget Bedouin camps too but we got moved by Martian tents which are popular for night sky view through its glass front. We settled down in the camp.We were mesmerized by the breathtaking views of Wadi rum desert.
At the camp reception, we booked for a Sunset Jeep Safari for the same day and a half hour camel trekking for next day.
Sunset jeep safari unwinded the colorful rock formations and canyons of Wadi rum. We enjoyed a beautiful sunset on the backdrop of red sand, colorful rocks and canyons. We tasted and tried preparing a traditional Bedouin tea with the local Bedouin people (Bedouin or badawī in Arabic refers to people who live a nomadic lifestyles outside cities and towns). The tea was really refreshing. The safari was around two hours.The driver stopped at all beautiful spots for clicking pictures.,witnessed one of the most beautiful sunset in midst of red sand desert. Headed back to the camp late evening to realize again how lucky we were to be able to travel to these parts of the world . It's a privilege for sure.
We had dinner at the camp. There were lot of vegetarian options like grilled vegetables , noodles , okra curry and rice. The nights are really cold at Wadi Rum.
Aarushi was really cranky and after one hour of non stop crying in the middle of desert with no quick access to any medical facility (really scared us), she fell asleep.
We spent the night sitting in the bean bags on our camp deck gazing heavenly bodies displaying the magnanimity of the universe we live in. Sometimes these type of isolated places helps us realize how minuscule is our presence in this universe. Best part of night out was Vinay & Abhyuday were lucky to spot some shooting stars 🙂 .
DAY 4 : WADI RUM - HEAD TO PETRA (WADI MUSA)
After a long night we were quick to wake up in the morning to get ready for the next day adventures.
Enjoyed the breakfast buffet at the camp. Took a camel ride through the desert for half an hour. Here was more of riding to be done, from the mechanical race-monster(Jeep) previous day to a calmly swaying camel , which give a feel of true desert life.
Wadi Rum Desert is just whimsical experience which is compulsion for every tourist who visits Jordan. Without this, trip to Jordan can't be considered as complete one.
We headed back to the tent and checked out at Started towards Wadi Musa in our pre-booked taxi. The drive is around 2 hours, stopped in between at a souvenir shop "Petra view point". Clicked few pictures at the view point near shop in traditional Jordanian scarves and bought some Jordanian Lamps for memories.
Reached Wadi musa by around ,had booked our stay at Movenpick Resort -Petra. Resort room was really spacious and pleasing, finished our lunch and caught up with a good sleep, freshened ourselves and moved out for a small walk. It was full moon and moon rise was a beauty to watch from the backdrop of nearby mountains.
A few cafes were found nearby to hang around and after interaction with a few locals over there, came to know about a restaurant named "My Moms recipe", decided to have dinner over there. We tried Okra curry, salads, lentil soup. The food was really tasty and pricing was reasonable.
DAY 5 : PETRA
Petra is a historical ,archaeological and red rose city in southern Jordan, also one of the new 7 Wonders of the World. The ancient city is famous for its rock-cut architecture, water conduit system and spectacular rock canyons.
It is huge, extends over 60 square kilometers through canyons, up mountains and along river beds - most of its ruins are sized for giants. A mere two storeys high, the Treasury (never a treasury, but rather a king's tomb, No one actually knows what the treasury was for) stands almost 40 meters tall, or eight to twelve times life size.
Entrance gate to Petra is opposite to the Movenpick resort. Just across the road. So we got up ready for the Petra hike by around It is advisable to make early to the site since it includes lot of hikes and becomes sunny. We scanned our Pass for the entrance, hired a licensed tourist guide to accompany us in exploring Petra.
You can walk or take a horse-carriage till the Treasury. Since we were with kids, we did not want to lose energy before we reach there. Horse carriage ride was also adventurous through the rough terrains. A baby carrier is must if visiting with a baby or toddler. Stroller is not possible through the rough terrains. Finally reached the popular Treasury point where people visit from all over the world to click pictures.
We attempted another hike to the colorful cave tombs with the toddler, it was worth the hike. The famous Monastery hike was not possible for us since it consist of 800 steep steps that too not proper ones. With Kids below 7 years, it was not advised. But heard from the guide, the top most view of Petra is amazing from the Monastery.
Petra by Night is also a good idea however we could not try due to kids and exhaustion.
Petra , truly a wonder of the world, was really a treat for our eyes.
Important things for the trek - Carry Sun glasses , Sunscreen lotion, Drink Plenty of water, Wear Trekking shoes, take some cash and better to dress modestly.
Took around 6 hours to finish our visit. Tired & famished headed towards My Moms Recipe for late lunch. Went back to the resort and rested ourselves, most of the evening was spent in the resort pool and ended the day with a good dinner at Red Cave restaurant nearby, most memorable thing here was Aarushi being very cranky and Vinay had to take her out of restaurant till we finish dinner 😉 .
DAY 6 : PETRA - HEAD TO DEAD SEA VIA KING'S HIGHWAY - STOP AT DANA RESERVE , KERAK CASTLE , MUJIB BRIDGE
Checked out at around 10.30 am and headed towards Dead sea. Our driver suggested of a short route through Desert Highway but we still stuck to journey as planned through King's Highway which we realized was a better decision considering the breathtaking views it offers . It is full of scenic overpasses, twists and turns, but felt we got an amazing oversight into life in Jordan, as we passed through smaller towns. There is tremendous history in this road, and you really feel it especially the ruined landmarks of Roman era all along the Highway . It takes twice as long as the Desert Highway, but it's an attraction in its own way.
The drive from Petra to Dead sea through King's highway is around 4.5 hours but we stopped at a Dana Reserve, Kerak castle and Mujib bridge making it to 7.5 hours.
Dana is Jordan's largest nature reserve, covering around 320 square kilometers of broad range mountains and wadis along the face of the Great Rift Valley. Dana Biosphere Reserve has a great variety of wildlife, plants and animals and are characteristic of true desert. We spent some time taking pictures at some view points and headed towards Kerak Castle.
Kerak Castle
This Castle is fantastic Crusader stronghold, the reason to visit Kerak is have a good view of kings highway too. Throughout the castle, boards give detailed descriptions of the history and function of particular structures. Reconstruction and excavation work were ongoing: better to watch your head on low doorways.
Mujib Nature Reserve-Mujib bridge - People say its one of the experience in Jordan, even more enjoyable than Petra. Basically, you hike/swim up a stream/river through a ravine until you arrive at a waterfall. We could not do it as it is not allowed to explore this area with small kids and we still feel some sort of incompleteness to our Jordan trip. We could manage a walk on the bridge peeping into the valley seeing whatever we could. Hope we will make it next time. After taking few pictures as an evidence to our visit; proceeded towards dead sea.
We had booked our stay at Holiday Inn resort. Here too, it is better to book resorts with direct sea access. To our amazement, Holiday Inn upgraded our stay to Luxury Suite free of cost. We were really happy since it was our first experience in a Luxury suite. The infinity pool in the resort was a big plus
The dinner buffet was again a pleasant surprise because after a week's long trip, our taste buds longed some good Indian spicy food. Dinner included sambar (Indian lentil curry) and aloo jeera (Potatoes sautes with Indian spices). Aarushi was more than happy to taste something familiar. We got to meet to a Nepali chef 'Rajesh' over here who took care of us well.
We walked through the premises of the resort. It was really big. In late evening, got to watch belly dance at the cafe inside the resort. After a long day of activity and journey all of us found solace in deep sleep.
DAY 7 : DEAD SEA - JORDAN RIVER (JESUS BAPTISM SITE)-MOUNT NEBO HEAD TO AMMAN
Dead Sea, Arabic Al-Baḥr Al-Mayyit ("Sea of Death"), Hebrew Yam HaMelaẖ ("Salt Sea"),is one of the most saltiest water bodies on earth, its a landlocked salt lake between Israel and Jordan . Its eastern shore belongs to Jordan, and the southern & Northern half of its western shore belongs to Israel. It receives nearly all its water from The Jordan River. The lowest point in the earth at dead sea belongs to Jordanian side.The Sea got its name dead sea as it does not support any Life apart from some micro organisms.
Spent quality time at the Dead Sea, basking in the sun and letting it dry and feeling weightless while floating in the Dead sea. It is again good for a non swimmer like me.It's very difficult to sink and one can just float safely. It was a blissful experience. Due to high saltiness of water, one may get burns on any cuts/ wounds and also causes irritation to the eye in case of direct contact.
Make sure to head to Dead sea as early as 5.30 am because Dead sea, being the lowest portion of earth get very hot towards noon throughout the year. Clay bath is also a popular thing to do here. Cleopatra the ancient queen of Egypt is believed to use products from this area as part of her beauty regimen. The Dead Sea mud is rich in minerals and has a lot of therapeutic properties.
The Resort guide at the beach explained us all the important things to know about Dead sea. Took a fresh water bath in the beach (fresh water shower facility is available). Headed back to resort quickly to quench our hunger, had breakfast buffet at the resort. rested for some time and checked out by 12.00pm. Journey to our next destination Jesus baptism site is just 20 km from the resort.
Jordan River (Jesus Baptism Site) - One need to take a bus available at the entrance to reach the site. Although we are not a religious person but the fact that Jesus Christ was baptized here made the place very exciting and fascinating.The guide seemed to know a lot and kept explaining things and testifying verses from the Bible. The river now has shrunk a lot since the baptism but still it was interesting to see the exact place where Jesus was baptized.We saw people who changed into baptism outfits in special cabinets and got baptized on the Israeli side, I recall they were Egyptians . There are many churches in site one for Catholics for example other for Orthodox .etc. We left for Mount Nebo.
Mount Nebo was so much better than we thought it would be. The views from the top of the mountain were amazing but the mosaics here are by far the best attraction to this site. It has the most quality and quantity of preserved mosaics that we saw. The site is also a memorial or shrine to Moses with some interesting monuments and plaques talking about the biblical history of the site. The staff and the serpent structure is beautiful. Had some good orange juice there and continued our journey to Amman.
We reached Amman, had booked our stay at Almond Hotel Apartments through Booking.com. Apartment stays are always recommended wherever possible for families travelling with kids. Our apartment had a big living room, 2 bed rooms and bath rooms and was much economical than hotel stays.For dinner had wood fire pizzas which were available across the road and came back to apartment for a sleep. With so many things done and seen in a day, our minds took time to settle down.Yes,It was a day to remember for longtime.
DAY 8 : AMMAN - JERASH (ONE DAY TRIP) & AJLOUN CASTLE
Fresh in the morning loaded with heavy breakfast, we decided to explore the ruined city of Jerash. Its around 50 kms from the apartment in Amman to the Jerash City,roughly around 1.5 hrs journey.
It is Jordan's largest and most interesting Roman site. It's huge ceremonial gates, temples and theaters all explains the glory of the place when this was an important imperial center. We, being a big fans of archaeology, enjoyed a full day at the site.
The entrance is south of the ancient city, close to Hadrian's Arch. The ticket office is in a modern souq with souvenir and antique shops, a post office and a semi-traditional coffeehouse.
The site covers a huge area and may seem daunting at first,we engaged one of the knowledgeable guides at the ticket checkpoint to help us navigate the main complex and to help the ruins come alive . Walking at a leisurely pace, and allowing time for sitting on a fallen column and enjoying the spectacular views, and visiting the main ruins, it takes minimum 3 to 4 hrs.
At the extreme south of the site is the striking Hadrian's Arch, also known as the Triumphal Arch, which was built in honor of the visit of Emperor Hadrian. Behind the arch is the hippodrome, which hosted chariot races in front of up to 15,000 spectators.
The South Gate, originally one of four along the city wall leads into the city proper. One of the most distinctive sites of Jerash, the forum is unusual because of its shape and huge size (90m long and 80m at its widest point). Fifty-six Ionic columns surround the paved limestone plaza, linking the north-south street with the Temple of Zeus.
The elegant remains of the Temple of Zeus, , can be reached from the forum - a worthwhile climb, even if only for the view. Next door, the South Theater was with a capacity of 5000 spectators. From the upper stalls the acoustics are still wonderful, as demonstrated by the occasional roving minstrel or drummer.
There is a small museum, contains a good collection of artifacts from the site.
Like many major archaeological sites, Jerash kept us excited for the whole day. It was like each monument trying to tell us a thousand tales about its origin and journey in time.
AJLOUN CASTLE
It is a 12th-century Muslim castle situated in northwestern Jordan, The name 'Ajlun is from a Christian monk who lived on this mountain in the Byzantine Period.The castle stands on the ruins of a monastery.Had a quick stroll around the castle, took some pictures and headed back to Amman.
After a long day of walk & Hike, we were very tired and hungry. Our taxi driver suggested an Indian restaurant by name "Kashmir",it offered us a very tasty dinner and we filled all the food that our tummies can hold. Headed back to Apartment for rest with a sense of satisfaction.
DAY 9 : AMMAN -CITADEL - RAINBOW STREET- HASHEM RESTAURANT- AIRPORT
Here we arrived to the last day of the trip, always it's a day of mixed feelings,depressed feeling because it ended and feeling of fulfillment because we made it . Woke up very late in the morning - Thanks to Jerash adventure previous day.
The day started with exploring Amman Citadel.Citadel is center of downtown Amman and an interesting place to explore, we felt its much like a mini Jerash site. The major buildings at the site are the Temple of Hercules, a Byzantine church, and the Umayyad Palace. It took 2-3 hours with a guide to complete the tour.
We always try to make it a point that we eat local food and stroll down the streets to understand the local life.
As we were hungry planned for a brunch in popular local restaurant "Hashem". It is, located in downtown Amman, and is one of the most well known local food restaurants in the city. They have Falafel, moutabel, ful medames, and hummus also probably a few other dishes I missed. This was the best falafel we had ever had, Also to our delight it's a vegetarian restaurant.
Along with serving excellent Jordanian food, Hashem Restaurant is also about enjoying the local atmosphere. It's busy and crowded, and it can be a little confusing to figure out how to order (if you don't speak Arabic), but that's beauty of the place which makes it so fascinating.
Rainbow Street - Did not have the time to visit it at night, but from what it looks like, it was our loss not going there in the evening.A fair amount of boutique shops, coffee bars, and restaurants. Nothing too special, but there are a few great spots sprinkled in the area. Also a nice view of the city below.
It was time to airport ,reached on time and we bid adieu to our taxi driver who was very helpful for couple of days in Amman.
Jordan experience for us was magnetic, piercing, and of unparalleled beauty that makes us crave for more of this place. "indeed Mashallah "
For any details/queries, please feel free to contact us on beshilpa@gmail.com.