Forum | Jordan (Non-QPR) by aston

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Jordan (Non-QPR) 20:26 - May 2 with 2129 views

No not the 'model' now known as Katie Price, the country in the Middle East. Anyone been? Any do's/dont's? Things to see other than Petra? towns or villages worth a day or two of my time?

Poll:

Moses Odubajo - Stick or Twist?

Jordan (Non-QPR) on 21:25 - May 2 with 2007 views

Boston

Actually, this is Jordan.

Poll:

Thank God The Seaons Over.

Jordan (Non-QPR) on 21:53 - May 2 with 1964 views

E1Hoop

Hi Aston,
I went there about 10 years ago, so not thee most up to date, but had a really great holiday. Amman is the capital and a good place to spend a day or two and has some great restaurants. I will try to remember them and post an update later.

Other places to see are:
Jerash - North of Amman with great Roman ruins
Petra as you mentioned - a long day and the site spreads over miles and there is lots to see and amazing views. It is much more than the Treasury building that is in Indiana Jones.
Wadi Rum - the desert with amazing rock formations and you can camp overnight. An amazing experience. If you cant camp overnight a 4x4 tour will let you see the sights in daylight.
Aqaba - Red Sea resort was ok but been to better seaside resorts round the world so if pushed for time i would miss this out.
Dead Sea - again a bit of tourist thing but difficult not to take the chance to have a picture of you floating and reading the paper.
Near the Dead Sea - numerous castles from the time of the crusades and Mount Nebo. I think that this where Moses saw the promised land. I am not religious myself but had to go and see the site.

All in all it was a great holiday and the people were really friendly.

Jordan (Non-QPR) on 22:34 - May 2 with 1915 views

dannyblue

I went about 15 years ago. Loved it. I'd echo all of that above. Could have spent two days in Petra (if you like that kind of thing. Wreck diving form Aqaba was fun. Amman didn't interest me much.

Had a week in Syria and a week in Jordan and it was really a great and varied 2 week hoilday. So fortunate to see Syria before the war, and so sad what has happened to that place.

Jordan (Non-QPR) on 22:47 - May 2 with 1875 views

RamseyR

Jordan (Non-QPR) on 21:53 - May 2 by E1Hoop

I'd echo everything said here. Depends on what your thing is, but Amman has lots of western style eateries. Try and avoid these and go for the local fare.
Wadi Rum is one of the best places I've ever been. Loved the isolation and ruggedness. You can do canyoning here if you want something more adventurous, and definitely do a tour which includes the rock bridges and an overnight stay.
Quite difficult to get a beer though!

Jordan (Non-QPR) on 23:03 - May 2 with 1829 views

lightwaterhoop

We took my Mother there in 2012 as she had always wanted to go to Petra.Very much enjoyed it, we did a couch tour holiday so everything was done for us and we saw all the main sights Petra,the Dead Sea and Wadi Rum the desert where Lawrence of Arabia was filmed were the highlights for me.
The only slight downside was that booze was expensive.The food was very good and no
one on our group got tummy problems like you do in Egypt.Security was quite tight as Westerners can be a target in the middle east and our guide did tell us he was avoiding going through certain towns and districts to be on the safe side.

Jordan (Non-QPR) on 23:20 - May 2 with 1813 views

PeterHucker

Jordan (Non-QPR) on 12:12 - May 3 with 1600 views

GloryHunter

My sister-in-law lives in Amman. She married an arab and converted to Islam. She carries a hand gun in her bag. Most middle-class people seem to keep hand guns in their homes and cars. If you ask them, they will say there is no crime, but they carry guns and have bars on all the windows.
Jordan is an interesting place because of the biblical antiquities and sites. Go to see the Dead Sea Scrolls if you get the chance - our guide took the money off us and didn't actually take us into the inner sanctum where they are kept. Ripping off Westerners is seen as fair game. For example, if you are at Petra and go to buy a drink from a stall, the server will ask who your guide is. The guide then goes up afterwards and gets his cut from your inflated price. If you say you came on your own without a guide, then the price might be cheaper - we actually tried this and it's true.
The Dead Sea is almost dried out because of water extraction from the Jordan River for agricultural irrigation by the Israelis. The Jordanians keep shovelling tons of sand around the shore to make a "beach" but you can see that the water level has dropped by many metres.
Jordanian men wear red headscarves. The ones wearing white headscarves are Palestinian refugees. You will see lots of old Palestinian men hanging around looking wistful and sad. The refugee camps just look like ordinary houses and flats to Western eyes, so you won't notice them unless they are pointed out to you by a local.
Booze is technically illegal for Muslims, but drinking is tolerated for middle class Muslims in hotels and swanky bars and nightclubs. Christians are allowed to drink but it is expensive. Resident Westerners buy cheaper booze in supermarkets and drink at home. Our local supermarket was actually a Safeway, and there are also Carrefours.
I find the place rather depressing.

[Post edited 3 May 2023 12:17]

Jordan (Non-QPR) on 13:59 - May 3 with 1505 views

aston_hoop

Thanks all, some really interesting stuff. Going to have 8 or 9 days I think and will be putting a couple aside for Petra. Wadi Rum is now interesting me a lot, will try and put a couple of days aside for that at least too for staying out in the dessert and doing a few more outdoorsy bits!

Poll:

Moses Odubajo - Stick or Twist?

Jordan (Non-QPR) on 20:38 - May 3 with 1389 views

Juzzie

Amman is deep inside Jordan

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