Jordan Wrap-Up

It was so nice to start our trip with Jordan because it was so easy to travel there, everyone was really nice, and the sights were amazing. We spent the first part of our trip in Amman, Jordan’s capital. Some parts of the city are extremely Westernized with designer clothing stores and people playing “Hotel California” on Rainbow Street. The old part of the city is much more traditional with souqs, bazaars, and women wearing hijabs. The highlight of Amman was seeing my friend Hala and her family. Amman has a few Roman ruins of its own, but we took a few day trips to Jerash to see the well preserved ancient ruins of Geresa and to Madaba to see Byzantine mosaics from 1500 years ago.

Citadel Hill - Amman

Dinner with Hala and her sisters

Entering Petra from the Siq

We spent the second part of our trip near Petra, which was amazing. The ruins had very few tourists while we were there – the violence in neighboring Syria and the uncertainty in Egypt seemed to keep people away. With so few other tourists, it was much easier to pretend to be Indiana Jones as we wandered the ancient city for 3 days.

The Monestary - Petra

While at Petra, some Bedoin people invited us to stay longer in Petra to have a Bedouin dinner in a cave. We went into the desert wondering if we were being incredibly foolish to follow complete strangers away from the other tourists and out of the park. It ended up being a fun evening with campfires, singing, chanting, and drinking gin.

Following our Bedoin friends into the desert

Bedoin Cave Dinner

More photos from Jordan