Jordan, 10 days

Incredible trip, with an incredible host! Our Jordanian friend, Zade, made our trip extra special and unforgettable!! From helping us organize many things, to joining us on crazy hiking in Petra, to partying at a Jordanian wedding in the Dead Sea… not to mention all the great details and gifts he had prepared for us 🙌

And to wrap it up, amazing travelling friends, with our own special nicknames for this trip: Moni aka shopaholic (well, self-explanatory…), Cat aka heat seeker (as always cold), and me aka animal whisperer (as every time I saw an animal I ran for it).

NOTE TO SELF

Tracking shoes, scarf to cover shoulders and head, sunscreen and sunglasses. Preferably no shorts, or big cleavages, out of respect, after all it is a Muslim country.

Take some energy bars or nuts with you, as you might need to recover energy on the way.

Don’t take pictures of people assuming they’ll like it… Bedouins are really polite and respectful and don’t like to be photographed most of times.

Be aware that that all drinks, especially tea and lemonade always have a ton of sugar 😳 so best to ask all drinks with no or little! Our favourite drink of this trip was their mint lemonade or limonata!

Pick your dates to travel carefully, as the time of year is super important. Spring being the best moment, and thus high season. We were very lucky and got amazing weather, but from 12h to 15h it can be really too hot to hike. Also, avoid Ramadan period, as it is more sensitive to eat nearby Muslims during the day.

Check the cost of the Jordan Pass vs what you’re planning on visiting, it might be worthwhile. In our case though, we didn’t take it and bought all our tickets separately.

Commuting: we were recommended to take a driver, but if you fancy driving yourself, it’s better to choose a 4×4, to access the desert hotels (Dana Biosphere Reserve and Wadi Rum). Having a driver was super convenient, as we didn’t manage parking issues and we only took it to commute between cities.

We’ve used this service:

Hassan Al Khateb – katebhasan@yahoo.com

00962 79 6142564 (WhatsApp 00962 79 5709903)

HOLY GRAILS ☺

Jordan is super safe, so you can relax and enjoy! We were 3 girls travelling alone most of the time and everyone was very nice and respectful. Just don’t give them much leeway to avoid engaging in longer conversations you don’t want to have, they’ll most surely end up asking you for money.

Bedouin wisdom combined with desert mindfulness (candlelight and no Wi-Fi), amazing opportunity for slow living, enriching one’s self, and getting inspiration from such a different culture!

Suleiman’s words, Bedouins are:

Strong like the desert,

Soft like the sand,

They move like the wind,

Forever free.

Bedouins, but Jordanians in general, take hosting a serious business. For them having guests means giving them the best they can to make them feel welcomed. There are unbelievable stories of Bedouins hosting people that harmed their families, but once they’re guests in their house, they are protected. It’s incredible how far it goes… Inspired in all this, we even bought the book “Married to a Bedouin” by Marguerite van Geldermalsen. Having said this, I can’t even try to describe how incredible our host Zade was throughout the whole trip, #amazinghost!

My new favourite word in Arabic: mish mish (apricot, مشمش)

HELL NO

Petra at night! Well, it was quite disappointing… I would tell you to do it just because… as you want to say you did it, but we actually didn’t like it at all. It’s was too crowded, noisy, and after 2 songs it was over. This might have also to the fact that it was high season but still not really worth it.

Beware when they tell you something is an Antique, as most of them actually come from China… they are everywhere, they swear by its authenticity, but it’s a lie.

So many flies everywhere, all the time… 😵 I sound like a city girl now, but it’s just so annoying.

Don’t take “NO” as an answer, if you need something at the hotel, even if it’s an extra bed, they will say they don’t have one to get you to take another room, but don’t settle, insist politely, I’m sure they’ll find a solution… they always do (true story).

MYTH BUSTING

Donkeys are damn fast, I had never seen them in action before, but I was impressed with what I saw!

But my absolute favourite mountain animal must be the goat… 🤣 they are insane, what they manage to climb up and down is unbelievable!

Camels can kick you 😳 I was kicked by a baby camel, as I was going towards him to pet him, beware!

BY LOCATION

Amman

Whilst here it’s a must to visit Jerash, not far from Amman, which is a really beautiful and well preserved ancient Roman city.

Enjoy the views and the civilization, as the following days will be all about adventure: hiking, sand and dust!

Feynan Ecolodge

Going there was a great idea. Such an amazing sustainable concept, close to Nature and to the locals. It was a fantastic experience to understand better the Bedouin ways, and to be welcomed and treated as their guests. It was great as we didn’t feel it had been commercialized and was truly authentic.

Suleiman, one of the guides there, made sure to show us around, as our private guide, asking absolutely no money in return. Full of wisdom, it was a very inspiring experience.

You can follow him and 👍 the picture I took of him on IG: https://bit.ly/2GY2bji

Petra

To visit Petra, it is best to go early: fewer people for your pictures and less heat. We went at 6:30h AM and was probably a very wise decision, as by 12h it was very hot!!

Stay at Movenpick in the center, it has a great location, after walking the whole day it will be nice to be nearby. We didn’t manage at it was fully booked, so we stayed at Marriott. If the same happens to you, and you can’t stay walking distance, check the hotel shuttle times and pickup locations before leaving to the hotel. If you take a taxi, always negotiate the price before getting in, from centre to Marriott you shouldn’t pay more than 6JD (that’s what our Jordan friend manage to get – locals and men always have an advantage negotiating these things).

If you do Petra at night bring a plastic bag to sit on.

Wadi Rum

For the desert, best to take: lantern, power bank (sometimes there’s no power) and insect repellent, is very important too. Prepare yourself to be completely J.O.M.O., as you’ll have no connection to the world, mobile phone or Wi-Fi, so it’s a great detox!

If you want to do the balloon ride in Wadi Rum, you must book in advance, as it’s always fully booked almost a month in advance as there are not many balloons. Be aware though, it is also weather dependent. Here you must: watch a sunset, if you can also do a sunrise, and spend one day with a local visiting the desert on a Jeep. Ali, from our camp, spent the day with us and showed us around. It’s great to actually take the time and make it as a private tour, and chat to the Bedouins, their way of seeing the world is completely different and interesting. Food for thought.

You can either spend 1 night or 2, but leave early if you stay for 2 as you’ll cover pretty much everything there is to see by Jeep.

Dead Sea

What a view!!! Amazing contrast between the pink mountain and the sea, and its reflection on the water 😮 stunning!! Colours change throughout the day with the sun, so enjoy every moment, and make sure not to miss the sunset.

Float and have fun in the sea, and treat yourself with a full-on mud mask, it’s quite an experience.

Also, a great way to relax and finish your trip, a great stepping stone to civilization after your time in the desert.

RESTAURANT RECOMMENDATIONS

Absolutely a must is to go to FAKHIR EL-DIN. An old home converted into a traditional food restaurant.

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