A Journey to Jordan
March 2025
I've wanted to go to Petra since 1989, when I saw the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. The "Temple of the Sun" is called the Treasury, and it's real! It turns out that Jordan also has an abundance of other interesting things to see. It's a fascinating, safe, and welcoming country with a ton of history and natural beauty. I chose to go on a small-group tour, but it's an easy place to travel on your own, and many people speak English. This was a good time to go: tourism was way down due to the Gaza War.
Jordan is considered the Switzerland of the Middle East: it has good relations with its neighbors (including Israel), remains neutral in religious wars, and is safe and peaceful.
I flew Qatar Airlines non-stop from Seattle to Qatar (14 hours). From there it was another 3 hours or so to Amman, the capital of Jordan.
The Kaaba icon on the flight display indicates the direction of Mecca, so Muslims know which way to face for their prayers. I also saw these icons in hotel rooms, on the ceiling or inside a drawer.
Doha, Qatar, has a modern, high tech airport. It was decorated for the month of Ramadan, which had started about two weeks before I arrived.
The Orchard is a tropical garden in the Doha airport, with soothing water and bird sounds, and multiple places to stretch out for a nap.
Sleeping bench in The Orchard tropical garden in the Doha airport
Amman
I spent two days in Jordan's capital, Amman, before joining my tour group to visit Dana Biosphere Reserve, Petra, Wadi Rum, Madaba, and the Dead Sea. I spent an extra day in Madaba after the tour ended. I wish I'd had time to see more of the country, including Aqaba (on the Red Sea) and the ruins of the ancient city of Jerash, just north of Amman.
I stayed two nights at Carob Hostel, walking distance to the main sights in Amman. They had a wonderful rooftop garden.
The $5.60 hostel breakfast included fruit, felafel, baba ghanoush (pureed roasted eggplant), salad, pita, potatoes, and mint tea.
On the street near the hostel I came upon this truck unloading produce. Jordan is a desert country, but has irrigated land along its western border.
The Citadel ruins sit atop the highest hill in Amman, and cover about 40 acres. The Roman Temple of Hercules was built during the reign of Emperor Marcus Aurelius (161-80 CE/AD).
Looking from the Governor's palace in the Citadel down a once-colonnaded street toward the copper-domed Reception Hall.
The Reception Hall was built in the early 700s and used by a series of rulers to meet with administrators and military leaders.
Amman has a magnificent Roman theater built around the 2nd century CE, when the city was known as Philadelphia (city of brotherly love).
Roman Theater stage with Citadel visible on the hill
The theater seats 6000 and has been restored enough to be usable for events. The stairs are steep, with no railings!
Men shopping at the market (souk) in Amman (there were many women shopping too). It was Friday, prayer day, so no school or work. (In a number of Muslim countries, the weekend is Friday and Saturday.) It was also Ramadan, and people were shopping for food they couldn't eat until sundown.
This stand sold olives and pickled vegetables. Beet root makes Levantine pickled cauliflower and turnips neon pink.
Jordan grows a variety of dates.
Fish from the Red Sea, four hours south of Amman
Jordanians love their sweets, including baklavah and halvah.
Mounds of spice mixtures in the Amman market. One of the most prevalent is za'atar, a blend of herbs like thyme, oregano, or marjoram, plus sesame seeds, sumac berries, and sometimes cumin or coriander.
Lavishly embroidered dresses in a multitude of colors and patterns are traditionally worn by Jordanian women on special occasions.
Perfumeries like this mix custom scents. Create your own, or order a spot-on copy of your favorite.
Shop selling Bedouin fabrics
The women are alluring in their long dresses and hijab scarves. Most of the women I saw wore head scarves, a few wore face scarves as well, and others went bareheaded.
Woman selling cheese, wearing traditional red-and-white checkered Jordanian head scarf. Everyone has mobile phones.
The Bedouin are a nomadic desert people of the Middle East and North Africa. Their geometric weaving patterns, like in this wool rug, influenced the Spanish, who brought the designs to the New World and influenced the Navajo.
This Folklore Museum diorama shows a woman shaking milk in a goatskin bag to make yogurt or butter.
Diorama showing the interior of a waterproof Bedouin tent made of sheep or camel wool.
Traditional women's work: grinding coffee, milling grain, making bread, embroidering
From what I saw and read, Jordan is a pretty good place to be a woman.
Amman is a sprawling and hilly city of five million. It's crowded, noisy, pedestrian-unfriendly, dirty, unattractive, safe, welcoming, and fascinating. It's a feast for the senses. It smells of incense and spices.
To walk in Amman is to go up and down a lot of hills. The elevation is between 2300 and 3600 feet. It has cold winters and hot summers.
Young women hanging out by a fountain in downtown Amman on a Friday night. During Ramadan, the streets come alive at night, as people become semi-nocturnal after fasting all day (no food or drink, including water, from dawn to dusk). Shops and restaurants open late and stay open until the wee hours.
My Tour
After two nights at the hostel, I moved to this hotel to meet up with my tour group.
I chose a one-week hiking tour with Intrepid, the company I went to Africa with in 2019. They offer a variety of trips at various levels of adventure, comfort, and price, and they often have good sales. The trip included five days of hiking.
This bus ferried us from place to place, dropping us off for a day or two, then picking us up again.
The group of 10 included five women and five men (seven Brits and three Americans). There was one couple, and five of us were traveling without our significant others. Age range 37 to 73. Every single person was just wonderful.
Our friendly driver, Taisir, and our hardworking, knowledgable, kind, 30-year-old guide, Mohammed
Dana Biosphere Reserve
Driving south from Amman on the good highway, we saw a mix of ancient and modern.
We drove two and a half hours to Dana Biosphere Reserve, an expanse of sandstone cliffs and valleys with a large diversity of plants and animals.
It reminded me a lot of the Canyonlands in the US.
Local people still use the reserve for grazing.
A local guide cooked us a delicious lunch of fried potatoes, and sautéed tomatoes with onion, garlic, and za'atar spice. Served with bread, hummus, and baba ghanoush.
The hike was more of a scramble, with lots of boulders. It was 79 degrees with a light breeze, and climbing back up out of the valley was pretty exhausting. The subsequent four days of hiking were much easier (and cooler). Spring or fall is the best time to go to Jordan to avoid the winter cold and summer heat.
Petra
Late in the day we arrived at our camp near Petra. The red brick building on the right is the bath house. There were cabins, a dining hall, and a common area.
I was in cabin #4. You will soon meet my delightful roommate.
The cabin interiors were lined with fabric to create the feel of a Bedouin tent. It was cozy and comfortable.
The camp common area had firepits for cold evenings.
Dinner began with six mezzes, including hummus and baba ghanoush.
The main dish was maqluba, also known as "upside down." It's an unctuous mix of rice, chicken, and vegetables (potato, eggplant, carrot, cauliflower, onion) sprinkled with za'atar. I especially loved the buttery-soft eggplant.
This is why they call it "upside down." (Video credit: tour mate Matt.)
One section of the breakfast buffet, which included yogurt, hummus, baba ghanoush, vegetables, olives, halvah, and too many other items to list.
Little Petra
Most visitors to Petra go to the main entrance in the town of Wadi Musa. We took the "back way," starting in what is known as "Little Petra." It was probably a suburb of the ancient town of Petra, possibly where wealthy merchants lived and entertained traders passing through. It dates from the 1st century CE (AD), during the peak of the Nabataean culture.
This building was used for entertaining. Above was a private party space. Servants cooked below and carried food and drink up stairs (now eroded away).
Another entertainment space, called the Painted Biclinium
Portions of ancient frescoes survive on the vaulted ceiling of the Painted Biclinium, depicting vines, flowers, birds, and insects.
From the end of the canyon that forms Little Petra it's about a four-mile hike to the top of the canyon that forms Big Petra (aka Petra). It was a beautiful hike with very few other people.
This is Inese, my delightful roommate. She is from Latvia, lives in the UK, and is one year older than me. Intrepid paired us up (I did not choose to pay a private room supplement). We were very compatible. I loved her positivity and joie de vivre.
A stunted olive tree surrounded by textured sandstone
It was great to have a guide because the trail wasn't always obvious.
Rock steps and walls along the trail
Looking west to the Great Rift Valley and the West Bank in the distance.
I own many scarves, and resisted the strong temptation to buy another one.
Petra
Petra was once a thriving city and a regional trading hub located at a crossroads between Arabia, Egypt, and Syria-Phoenicia. Home of the Nabateans starting in the 4th century BCE (BC), its estimated peak population was 20,000. The Romans conquered it in 106 CE (AD), and an earthquake in 363 destroyed many structures. It was eventually abandoned, and remained unknown to the western world until 1812. The city center was surrounded by elaborate rock-cut tombs, hundreds of which dot the area. It would take weeks to visit them all.
What a thrill to come around a corner and see this! Petra's largest monument is Ed-Deir, the Monastery, 148 feet tall and 160 feet wide (you can barely see a tiny person standing at the base). It was probably a temple. Many visitors to Petra never see this building because it's high above the main city, requiring a long climb up 800 steps (riding a mule is also an option). Because we came in the back way, it was all downhill to the main city.
Walking down the 800 steps, I was glad for my trekking poles! It was a delightful surprise to practically have the place to ourselves.
In the center of the ancient city of Petra are the ruins of a few constructed buildings (most of the buildings are carved into the sandstone cliffs). The 56-foot-high Temenos Gate originally had arched entries with huge wooden doors. It was probably built in the 2nd century CE (AD).
This Roman street in the center of the city once had 72 columns on each side and was part of a complex with temple, gardens, fountains, and pools. The Romans and Nabateans were masters of rain collection and water management.
Map of Petra with Monastery (Ad-Deir) and Treasury (Khazneh) circled. The walking distance between the two is about 1.6 miles. The entire archeological site (only partially shown on this map) is over 100 square miles and contains over 600 known tombs. (Credit: Holger Behr, Wikimedia)
This massive theatre, carved into the rock, was said to hold around 8,500 people.
The Treasury building (Al-Khazneh) is believed to be a mausoleum. I cried when I saw it because it was even more amazing and beautiful than I ever dreamed, and because it made me think of my dad, who loved Indiana Jones. The cultures the Nabataeans traded with were all influenced by Greek culture, so many of the façades of the tombs in Petra are Hellenistic in style. Most of the tombs contain interior burial niches carved into the stone.
Me gazing in rapt delight at the Treasury, while our highly educated local guide, Suleiman, regaled us with stories (photo credit: tour mate Charles).
Most visitors approach Petra from the visitor's center via a 3/4-mile-long narrow gorge called the Siq. Here you can just glimpse the Treasury building at the end of the Siq.
Until about two years ago, the Siq was lined with vendors. Due to numerous complaints from tourists and guides, they were evicted. Now only a limited number of vendors are permitted, and not in the Siq. Walking through this storied space is peaceful and magical.
The Siq was paved by the Romans, but sand covered the stones until restoration work in 1996.
Wadi Musa
We spent two nights at a hotel in Wadi Musa, the pleasant town near the Petra entrance.
Another fun group dinner in a traditional Jordanian restaurant
Jordanians love grilled, skewered meat.
Petra By Night
That evening some of us went to an event called "Petra by Night." The Siq and the Treasury were illuminated by approximately 1500 luminaria with real candles. It was utterly magical to walk through the candlelit canyon and emerge into a candlelit clearing with the Treasury glowing above.
They served mint tea and illuminated the Treasury with colored lights. We sat and listened to traditional songs on flute and rababa, a single-string fiddle-like instrument. At the end there was a prayer for peace and an end to war. It was very moving.
Petra Hike, Day 2
The next day we took a long hike in the hills above Petra in a gorgeous landscape reminiscent of the American Southwest.
Some places were quite steep. Luckily sandstone is not slippery!
For many years the Bedouin people lived in caves in Petra. In 1983 the government relocated them to a new town nearby, in order to protect and manage the area for archeology and tourism. A few local people still have permission to use caves for living or grazing animals.
I'm in line, waiting for my turn to slide down!
It had been an unusually dry winter, but rain a week before we arrived allowed these green lilies to blanket any areas that weren't solid rock.
Ancient watchtower guarding the High Place of Sacrifice atop Jebel Madbah Mountain
The scenery was magnificent.
There was a bit of scrambling
and lots of stairs.
This building was probably a home.
What a view!
A sweet couple sold tea and souvenirs.
His flute is made out of a trekking pole tube! (Photo credit: tour mate Charles.)
The Tomb of the Soldier is one of many "off the beaten path" tombs that few visitors see.
Across from the Soldier's Tomb, this space served as a banquet hall for funerals. I love the way the rock looks like it's melting.
We hiked all morning and had the afternoon free to explore on our own. Inese and I visited an ancient Byzantine church from the fifth century. Parts of its stone floor mosaics are beautifully preserved.
Stone mosaic in Byzantine church, Petra. The bare-breasted woman is holding a fish.
One of four Royal Tombs, or mausoleums, built by Petra's wealthiest or highest-ranking families. They gaze down upon the city center.
Inside Petra's mausoleums there are burial niches. The black on the ceiling is from fire smoke.
The rock colors and patterns are gorgeous.
Wadi Musa
Catching up on wifi at the hotel while waiting to go to dinner. King Abdullah is the current King of Jordan. His father, King Hussein, ruled until his death in 1999. His son, Prince Hussein, is the heir apparent. According to our guide, the King is well-liked and a good ruler who works hard. There is also a prime minister and a parliament. Jordan has no oil and few natural resources. They've accepted many Palestinian refugees, based on promises of foreign aid to help support them. US aid cuts are hitting Jordan hard.
Elan Restaurant menu. One Jordanian Dinar (JD) is $1.41, so 10JD is $14.10.
The chicken sawany was delicious. Served with rice and pita.
The restaurant makes its own pita bread.
Kunafah is a Jordanian specialty made from goat cheese, vermicelli, pistachios, and sugar. I loved it.
Kunafah is served warm, with the cheese all melty...
Typical Jordanian entrees
Wadi Rum
The next morning we drove two hours south to the fabled desert of Wadi Rum. We stopped at this convenience store to buy large jugs of drinking water to refill our individual water bottles. Jordan has a severe water shortage and gets much of its water from Israeli desalination plants.
Typical produce stand. Farms rely on irrigation.
The landscape was bleak and barren. I saw many windmills and solar farms.
I fell in love with this old headpiece at a souvenir shop.
The Hejaz Railway once ran between Damascus and Medina (near Mecca), reducing the pilgrimage time from 40 days to four, and protecting pilgrims from bandits. In 1914, thirty thousand pilgrims used it. In 1916 Lawrence of Arabia's troops cut the line to interrupt Ottoman resupply during the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire.
In Wadi Rum village we climbed into the backs of pickup trucks and rode out into the desert.
We climbed up to a viewpoint.
The majestic landscape of the Wadi Rum desert is where Lawrence of Arabia fought the Ottomans and where the movie was filmed. Parts of Dune and Star Wars were also filmed here. It is truly an amazing place.
Khazali Canyon
Ancient petroglyphs in Khazali Canyon
Stopping for tea in a tent (photo credit: tour mate Charles)
The trucks took us to a shady spot for lunch. Two trucks left and one stayed as a sag wagon for our afternoon hike.
Lunch break
Lunch was stewed tomatoes, hummus, cheese, and bread.
We spent the afternoon hiking through the desert. High of 72 with a brisk wind.
More soul-filling Wadi Rum scenery
Our camp for two nights
Climbing down to our camp
Still climbing down to our camp
Whether in boots or "trainers" (what the Brits call tennis shoes), we made it!
Cabins at the camp
More Bedouin tent decor
I was surprised to find deluxe facilities with showers and flush toilets. I don't know where they get the water. I'd have been happy with an outhouse and a sponge bath.
The dinner buffet included a fabulous array of vegetable, yogurt, and tabouleh salads.
Solar-powered torches in camp (photo credit: tour mate Matt)
On our second day in Wadi Rum we spent the whole day roaming the sands, returning to camp about 5 pm.
We saw baby camels! There are no wild camels, only domestic.
Wind-eroded rock arch
I loved walking through this otherworldly landscape.
On our second and last night in the desert, the cooks made Zarb (Bedouin barbecue): rice, meat (in this case lamb), and vegetables placed on a metal rack and roasted for four hours in a coal-filled pit covered with a blanket and then dirt. I didn't try the lamb but the rest was delicious.
Unveiling the Zarb (video credit: tour mate Peter)
I loved spending time in Wadi Rum. In the morning we loaded into trucks and said goodbye to the captivating landscape. This was the perfect parting image (photo credit: tour mate Matt).
It was 39 degrees and too cold to sit in the back of the truck for the 30-minute drive to Wadi Rum village. I enjoyed chatting with the driver, Raed (means thunder), about village life, and listening to his music.
Raed grew up in Wadi Rum village. His father raises goats and camels.
Madaba
It was about four hours north on a good highway to our next stop, Madaba. There were many "Camel Crossing" signs, apparently for good reason.
Our guide, Mohammed, reading the Quran. He was fasting for Ramadan. Muslims are encouraged to read the Quran daily. If you can't read aloud you should move your lips.
I really got a kick out of seeing this exit for Saudi Arabia and Iraq!
Typical gas station. Jordan does not have its own oil. Gas was around $5 a gallon.
Approaching the city of Madaba. It was nice to see some green. Most of the country is brown.
Madaba is most famous for this 6th-century stone mosaic map of the Holy Land. It once covered the floor of St. George's Church. It's the oldest biblical map in existence, and depicts 157 major sites labeled with Greek captions. The complete mosaic contained more than two million tiny pieces. This is just one of the remaining sections.
Interpretive map of the mosaic
Buffet lunch. This was the salad table. There was also a hot food table and a dessert table.
Dead Sea
After lunch we drove 45 minutes on a serpentine road that dropped 3800 feet down to the Dead Sea, the lowest point on Earth at 1300 feet below sea level.
Swimming access is via a day pass at one of the many hotels that line the shore. They provide changing rooms and showers to wash off the salt.
The water level is dropping about one meter per year, due to less rainfall, and more irrigation water being taken from the Jordan River.
So buoyant my pony tail didn't even get wet!
Madaba
Back in Madaba we checked in to our last hotel room.
Most of the group left early the next morning. I was surprised when I sat down for breakfast and they brought me all of this! Hummus, felafel, yogurt, and vegetables are typical breakfast fare.
I stayed an extra day so I could explore the small and charming city of Madaba. Here is a typical street with a mosque and minaret.
Church of the Beheading of John the Baptist. Madaba has one of the largest Christian populations in the country (30% to 35%), primarily Catholics and Greek Orthodox. The city is known for its strong tradition of religious tolerance, with Christians and Muslims living peacefully.
Madaba is called the "city of mosaics" because so many ancient ones have been discovered in old churches and homes. The Madaba "Tree of Life" is a famous Byzantine-era mosaic in the ruins of the Church of St. Elijah.
One of dozens of beautiful mosaics I visited in a variety of locations around the city
Another ancient stone mosaic. Many people think that USAID only funds humanitarian aid, but in fact they fund many other important works, including preservation and restoration of priceless ancient treasures, like these mosaics.
"Tourist Street" is an attractive car-free stretch of shops, and the vendors were not pushy.
I happened upon the Arabella Workshop for Mosaics (not on the Tourist Street), where I sat and watched these women work, and learned about mosaic making.
I bought a "tree of life" mosaic made by this woman.
View of the Holy Land from Mt. Nebo, Jordan. This part of the world is sacred to Jews, Muslims, and Christians. You can see the Dead Sea on the left. Jericho, the green area in the middle, is on the West Bank.
Places you can see from Mt. Nebo, depending on how clear it is
Amazingly intact mosaics in the church on Mt. Nebo, circa 530 CE (AD). The mosaics on the walls used to be on the floor (the church is in use, and they didn't want people walking on the mosaics).
I walked the four miles from Mt. Nebo back to Madaba through the outskirts of town. The friendly Tourist Police stopped to make sure I wasn't lost.
All the kids I met wanted to practice their English. These four were especially delightful. Jordananians are really friendly and welcoming. I can't count how many times I heard a very sincere "Welcome to Jordan!" Many people speak good English. Crime is low, and I was told I could walk anywhere alone and be perfectly safe.
Money
Jordanian dinars (JD). One JD = $1.41.
Book recommendation
Married to a Bedouin is the delightful memoir of Marguerite van Geldermalsen, a New Zealander who fell in love with a Bedouin man in Petra in 1978. They raised three kids and lived happily ever after (sadly he died at age 50). The book describes living in a cave, moving to the new town, and being part of the tribe.
Costs
The tour I went on ranges in price, depending on sales and last-minute deals, from around $1600 to $2000 (seven nights accomodation and about half the meals included).
Flights to Amman range from about $800-$1000 economy.
I spent about $200 on tips and meals. Airport transfers were about $70.
My total cost for the trip was under $3000.