When I was little I dreamed of one day being Indiana Jones. He aspired to make me a renowned archaeologist, live numerous adventures to discover extraordinary objects or important tombs and, who knows, enter a temple hidden behind a gorge where the Holy Grail would await me, let’s say it was in petra. Of course I didn’t become an archaeologist and I still make my discoveries in my own home, but I did fulfill one of those dreams. I was lucky to travel to Jordan on different occasions and walk through the petra gorge looking for the treasure. I also felt the speed and beauty in the Wadi Rum desert, I floated in the Dead Sea As tradition (and physics) dictates, I was amazed by the colorful fish in the clarity of the waters of the Gulf of Aqaba and they showed me, like Moses, the Promised Land at the top of the Mount Nebo. Obviously that doesn’t mean being Indiana Jones, but I have to say that Jordan It offered me the chance to try and, above all, to never stop dreaming.
Jordan remains that haven of peace in middle East that encourages you to live unique adventures, to feel like a child again. It is one of those destinations where I always recommend saving ourselves for the first time. Precisely to know what those are essential things to see and do in Jordan I have prepared a selection and a itinerary that never fail. Will you come with me, Indianas?
Places to see in Jordan to be Indiana Jones
Jordan is part of the Holy Land that is mentioned in the Bible, a transit of Moses and a refuge that the Assyrians, Persians, Nabataeans, Greeks and Romans masterfully explored. Home to spice traders and merchandisers who came and went from the remotest reaches of the Asian continent. Last nomadic abode of the Bedouins who made the Arabian Desert their own, that shore of the Jordan River that vanishes to drown and float in the Dead Sea… That is Jordan.
Jordan, with everything it has to offer, is one of the countries most prepared for tourism. It does not have a cumbersome visa (it is acquired at the same airport/land border for 40 Jordanian dinars, just over 50 euros). Distances rarely become unbridgeable. Its developed infrastructure (roads and tourist paraphernalia) means that we need only a few hours to get from one place to another, that there are so many beds that booking a hotel is easy (even on the fly) and that the shocks we have are due to “emotional” reasons. » when contemplating historical and geological corners of great beauty. Once we have decided on Jordan as our travel destination, all that remains is to decide on a feasible itinerary and those places to see and that we want to be part of an unforgettable experience. In short, traveling to Jordan is an easily achievable dream.
Behold Twelve essentials for a trip to Jordan lasting between a week and ten days in which we will get a good idea of how much this country has to offer:
Amman, gateway to the Jordanian universe
I don’t intend to deceive anyone. Amman is not among the hundred most beautiful cities in the world. Not even among the five hundred. In fact, many tourists only see it in passing when they arrive (or leave) at Queen Alia International Airport. Messy, bordering on chaos, noisy, hot and with traffic that we could describe as hellish. Those are just some of the adjectives that come to mind for the capital of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. But I still always recommend visiting it. And because? Because it is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities on the planet, because it allows us to take the pulse of an entire country, because between a shisha and a good tea we can turn the chaotic into charming… And, of course, because it has a Fantastic Roman citadel in the middle of the urban mess on the foundations of old Rabbath-Ammon.
It is perfect for shopping in Souk Jara, the city’s great souk, climbing to the top of one of its hills to admire a prodigious sunset and, therefore, acclimatizing to the Jordanian character that, although it claims to be urban, has not yet changed. his hospitable way of seeing life and those we come to from outside.
It is also used as a base to carry out many visits around the country, either on your own or on a private excursion in Spanish with a round trip during the day.
Mount Nebo and the vision of Moses
“I will give it to your descendants. “I have allowed you to see it with your eyes, but you will not go there.” (Deuteronomy 34.1-12). The Bible tells how Moses reaches the top of Mount Nebo and then God shows him the Promised Land, although he does not allow him to go to the other side. In fact, the Holy Scriptures place Mount Nebo as the last resting place of the prophet (in addition to being one of the hiding places where the Ark of the Covenant was). Popular tradition made this mountain, more than 800 meters high, from which you can even see Jerusalem on clear days, to be the biblical Nebo, the geographical and spiritual tomb of Moses. A perfect corner to enjoy one of the best sunsets in the country.
A Byzantine church was built on the site back in the 4th century, which would be rebuilt on its ruins by the Franciscans at the beginning of the 20th century. Luckily it preserves the first mosaics that were made there, and which can be admired on a highly recommended visit. It is a stop of a religious nature, pure Holy Land, but it also has a huge wealth of History. And who knows if we will see the dome of the Rock of Jerusalem shining on the other side…
Madaba and its large map of the Holy Land
Barely a dozen kilometers separate Mount Nebo from the old capital of the Kingdom of Moab. Madaba today is an obligatory stop for visitors and pilgrims who come to Jordan to admire some of the best Byzantine mosaics in the Middle East, especially one in particular. And the floor of the Christian-Orthodox church of Saint George preserves a gigantic mosaic-map that reflects what the Holy Land was like back in the 6th century AD, which should not have been too different from the time in which the main chapters took place. narrated in the Gospels in which Jesus of Nazareth appears. Jerusalem in detail, the lands of Palestine, the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula, the course of the Jordan River, the Dead Sea… all appear in greater or lesser detail. This curious map has provided information to archaeologists and historians about lost cities and biblical settings. And only a tenth of the original mosaic has survived.
Of course, going to the church of San Jorge to contemplate the immense map under a dim candlelight is one of the objectives of travelers who come here. The city is quiet and interesting, very close to Amman, Mount Nebo and, of course, the Dead Sea. It is usually combined with these in one-day visits.
Petra, the place that exceeds your own dreams
The jewel in the crown, the reason that alone pays for the plane ticket to Jordan, is to be able to enjoy one of the best archaeological complexes in the world. Petra was a Nabataean city with more than two thousand years of history that kept important funerary temples inside mountains accessible through a gorge. This whim of erosion used by Nabataeans and Romans remained abandoned and lost on maps for many centuries until it became a Bedouin Legend that appeared in fantasy stories that were told next to the heat of a bonfire in the desert. In the year 1812, the Swiss Johann Ludwig Burckhardt, the same man who found Abu Simbel in Egypt, posing as an Arab sheikh in search of the Tomb of Aaron, rediscovered for the world the center of the Nabataean kingdom and those temples of which the story tellers. Temples and tombs that had been molded into the very rock of the mountains, canyons and gorges.
To see Petra, one of the new seven wonders of the world, you need at least a full day to get the idea of the place (there are even day trips from Amman). But many more stages would be necessary to make different routes through those mountains that dawn orange and turn pink every dawn. A narrow gorge (the Siq) reveals a temple that we already saw in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, the Khasné or Treasure. If possible, the best gift we could hope for, the postcard we have all been looking for. After it emerges a string of tombs of kings, a citadel in which the Romans intervened (it even has an amphitheater) and an ascending path with more than a thousand steps that leads to El Deir (The Monastery), the most beautiful building that the Nabataeans were able to build.
PRACTICAL NOTE: The base to do Petra is the city of Wadi Musa (1 hour from Wadi Rum, more than 2 from Aqaba and 3 from Amman), with accommodation of all categories. The price of tickets is high, and is compensated depending on the days we want to use them. So In 2022 the stipulated price is 50 Jordanian Dinars (approximately €63) for a one-day ticket, 55 dinars (€69) for two days and 60 dinars (€75) for three days (be careful, they ask for a passport to avoid resales, so it is better not to try unnecessary trouble). It is advisable to get up early and be among the first at the door when they open (at 6:00 am) and thus reach the Khasné (The Treasure) without too many people or heat. They close at 18:00 in summer and 16:00 in winter, but they are not too strict. Along with the morning, the last hours of light in the afternoon are the best times of the day to enjoy and take photographs of Petra. It is at the end of the day when the adjective “pink city” finds an explanation.
Night visits are organized to the treasure in which candles are placed on the ground and traditional music plays along with a story told by a local. The attempt is magical but sometimes so many people come that the essence of what is intended is lost. I was lucky enough to go in at night once and I don’t regret it, but I wouldn’t do it again.
Wadi Rum, perhaps one of the most beautiful deserts on the planet
Deserts, paradises of insignificance, inert little pieces of sun and silence where our greatest challenge is to recognize ourselves that we are tiny, priceless, as much as the grains of sand that only the wind is capable of scattering. I am passionate about deserts and what they make me feel. Going out to look for the most amazing deserts on the planet, I am lucky to have been able to wink at Wadi Rum, the Jordanian valley of the moon that actually looks like Mars, and which houses some supernatural landscapes. Halfway between Petra and Aqaba, the Arabian Desert enters Jordan with a carpet of reddish earth and a universe of stone hills, the jebels, that create a movie setting. And so much so that it’s a movie, since there is still the place where Lawrence of Arabia himself hid with his men (and not Peter O’Toole, the one who plays him in the 1960s film).
Wadi Rum is a desert to explore in a 4×4, and even on a camel (if the weather permits, even in a balloon). A classic is to sleep in a tent in a Bedouin camp, although for some time now some of these camps have become so touristy that they have become walking circuses that they can be annoying. The experience is worth it in one that does not exceed eccentricities and respects the silences and moments that the desert offers.
Marine life under the Gulf of Aqaba
I will never forget that my first snorkeling experience was the Red Sea. Not in Jordan exactly but in Dahab (Egypt), but years later I returned to the Jordanian side to look underwater. The Red Sea on calm days highlights its immense luminosity, the clarity of the waters in which colorful fish of all types can even be heard biting the coral. Aqaba (also spelled Akaba) is an excellent base for beachcombing, snorkeling, and clear-bottom boat tours, where you can see not only marine life but also the occasional sunken shipwreck.
Aqaba is a tourist city based on the sun and beach, the most leisurely and banal part of a trip to Jordan. Since it is the only outlet to the sea in the country and borders none other than Israel, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, it doesn’t hurt to stop by and relax in the water alongside the marine fauna that can be observed with goggles and a snorkel.
The Dead Sea and the feeling of being afloat
A basic stop when we travel to Jordan is the Dead Sea. Or leaving from Amman, which is just an hour away, or returning from Petra, Wadi Rum and company. But whatever it is like, living a “Dead Sea Experience” in such a location is a must. In reality, the Dead Sea is not a sea but an inland lake fed by the Jordan River and with a salinity index nine times higher than that of any ocean on the planet. On one shore lies Jordan, while the other leaves Israel and the Palestinian Territories in sight. This place brings together three facets that make it something very special: the first being the lowest geographical point on the planet (416 meters below sea level), the second being a point mentioned in the Bible and other religious texts on various occasions and The third is to be one of the largest and oldest open-air spas in existence, since even Herod considered it a skin disease.
Bathing in the Dead Sea and floating as if we were a cork is a rather curious sensation that is worth experiencing. Then, if we feel like it, we’ll take a dip and, if the budget allows, we can try the infinity pools at the Zara Spa (they say it’s the best spa in the Middle East) or have lunch on a terrace with views of the Judean desert, Jericho and clear days to Jerusalem. I have been asked many times if the Dead Sea experience is better from Israel or from Jordan. Maybe I’ll stick with the second option, Jordan, where it has not yet become so touristy as to create a monster of hotel buildings like Ein Bokek. It seems that the Jordanian side still has a little more purity.
Bethany, the stretch of the Jordan where Jesus Christ was baptized
Tradition and the arrival of pilgrims over the centuries establish that Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River as it passed through Bethany by his cousin John. There are remains that testify that the riverbed (much larger than the current one) was diverted to a type of pool where those who were going to receive baptism were immersed in the water to perform the first Christian sacrament. In fact, many believers who make pilgrimages to the Holy Land come to touch the waters of the Jordan in this religious enclave.
Given its border location with the Palestinian territories, a line controlled by Israeli soldiers just on the other side, it is a place that has special surveillance. That only means that we cannot leave the marked paths and little else. Bethany is a symbol that is appreciated for its religiosity, for knowing it is a point marked forever in the history of humanity. If one is a believer, he will experience it with great emotion…
Jerash, the Rome of Jordan
Returning to Amman, you should not miss it, less than an hour north of this one of the great cities of the Roman Decapolis (this is what the cities of this part of the Middle East in modern-day Israel, Palestine, Syria and Jordan were called). . Jerash (Gerasa) is one of those that has best survived to this day despite suffering a strong earthquake and many wars, but the sand that covered it kept it in good condition until it was discovered in the 19th century by the German explorer Ulrich. Jasper Seetzen. It is, along with Petra, the favorite visit for travelers who come to Jordan looking for pure archaeology.
The dimensions of Roman Gerasa are overwhelming, only comparable in the Middle East with those of the city of Palmyra (one of the places in Syria that we are losing in the war). Some of the essential elements of Jerash are the Arc de Triomphe, the avenue of 800-meter columns that draw the Cardo Maximus, the famous oval square where festivals are also still held, the south theater (with capacity for 5,000 spectators), the Macellum or agora, as well as the temples of Zeus and Artemis.
Jordan’s desert castles
To the east of Jordan, in the middle of the desert, the presence of up to a total of twenty castles is surprising. These types of fortresses are very different from each other, since there are some designed to defend a territory or to serve as a residence for wealthy people who wanted to escape the hustle and bustle of old Amman (more common). If we had to choose the most important desert castles they would be:
- Qasr Al-Azraq: Built to protect the oasis of Azraq, it is the most famous of all since Lawrecen of Arabia himself inhabited it during the Arab revolution.
- Qasr Kharana: A picturesque cube built more than ten centuries ago by the Umayyads surprises travelers because it is located in an absolutely desert area. Without nearby water sources and without documentation that explains its history.
- Qasr Amra: Without a doubt the most original of all the desert castles to see in Jordan. His history is better known about this one. It was ordered to be erected by Walid Ibn Yazid, who would be the Umayyad Caliph Walid II, in the 8th century, a period that corresponds to the great expansion of Islam in the Middle East, North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula. It must have been a summer residence for the recreation of the Caliph and, later, his offspring. The most curious thing about it is in the frescoes on the ceilings and walls where hunting scenes appear, a bear playing the guitar and… naked women. Something not very common in Islamic art.
Azraq Wetlands Reserve (ornithological destination)
The oasis of Al-Azraq, guarded by one of the famous desert castles (Qasr Al-Azraq), is an obligatory stopover for some aquatic birds, which use it as a stopover and inn on their long migratory routes between the Asian and African continents. . From late autumn to spring you can see small lagoons in this reserve where bird lovers come, who walk along wooden walkways (Daimiel Tablas style) to observe more than a hundred different species.
This place is perfect to combine with some of the desert castles like Qasr Al-Azraq because it is completely away from everything.
In the area there is the Shaumari Nature Reserve, the first declared in Jordan in 1975, whose objective then was the breeding and reintroduction of the Arabian oryx (with white fur) in a critical state close to extinction. There are also ostriches, wild asses and gazelles. They can be observed in a protected environment and safe from hunters.
Karak Crusader Castle
What Crac of the Knights was to Syria during the Crusades, Karak Castle is to Jordan. Thick walls protect labyrinthine galleries (some even require a flashlight) that seem to never end. It was first for the Crusaders, then Saladin conquered it and it was even a very important base for the Mamluks. Today it is one of the largest of its kind in the entire Middle East and, perhaps, if only one castle/fortification had to be chosen for historical importance in Jordan, it would be this one.
Travel safely…and with insurance
When we travel abroad it is important for us to be protected against everything that can happen to us. Although Jordan is a fairly safe country, it never hurts to carry a good policy that covers us at the destination against possible accidents, illnesses or setbacks (theft, loss of luggage, etc.) that could entail an extra cost later on. In my case, to travel I always use IATI Travel Insurance because it seems to me that it has above-average coverage, they advance the money if a problem occurs and they offer personalized and immediate treatment in your language. They also have anti-covid coverage that allows us to travel with greater peace of mind in times of pandemic. Readers of this blog can hire the IATI Travel Insurance that best suits what they are looking for with a 5% discount (which is applied directly by entering this link).
Jordan with organized visits from the capital
For those who do not dare to do everything entirely on their own or wish to take specific guided excursions in Spanish, there is the possibility of hiring multiple private excursions in Jordan. Some of the most recommended are:
Rent a vehicle in Jordan?
Renting a car in Jordan is an increasingly growing option. The country has good roads, the distances are not insurmountable and there is plenty of choice to get a vehicle. I usually use the Discover Cars rental car search engine, which also has multiple options in Jordan itself.
eSIM CARD WITH DATA (How to connect to the internet on your mobile anywhere in Jordan?)
It is possible to connect to the internet, forgetting about slow hotel Wi-Fi with poor signal. I usually use Holafly virtual SIM cards (eSIMS) when I travel around the world and I don’t want complications and have a network all the time. For Jordan there are cards with 6 GB (valid for up to 15 days) that are really easy to use. You just have to configure your mobile phone without having to insert a physical card to be able to connect to the Internet as soon as you land in Jordan. And it works immediately. You can now buy it online and receive it whenever you want. To get a discount you just have to enter the elrincondesele code.
What do you think of these nine wonders of Jordan? Doesn’t it make you want to visit the country? If you want to know more about these corners, I recommend you take a look at this video report that details my last trip to Jordan in depth. It is a small documentary of approximately half an hour in which I tell you all those places in Jordan that are essential.
Thank you, Steven Spielberg, for bringing the third Indiana Jones to Jordan and showing me Petra for the first time. That image on horseback along the Siq to the treasure temple made me want with all my might to travel to this Middle Eastern country. Not only did I do it once but I had the pleasure of repeating it.