Jordan - Petra & Wadi Rum
We literally walked over the border from Israel into Jordan. Ready for the next adventure and boy did we love it..…we hopped into a taxi to take us to Aqaba airport where we picked up our hire car and then headed into Aqaba for an overnight stay prior to heading inland.
First Stop: Aqaba, 1 night.
Located on the Gulf of Aqaba off the Red Sea, Aqaba was a good stop over to start to get a feel for Jordan, stock up on some supplies, enjoy a nice dinner, change some money and buy the local sim card etc.
Next stop: Wadi Rum desert camp, 1 night
The next morning we hit the road onto our ‘desert experience’ in Wadi Rum. Wow!!! Jordan is stunning and so cheap. We had booked a tent in a desert camp with what turned out to be an all afternoon/evening 4 wheel drive tour to see the desert sights.
Jordan blog comes with a warning that there could be photo overload!! It was so stunning and the scenery and the colours both in the desert and at Petra that we took lots of pics.
Having arrived in the Wadi Rum Park, we left the car at an agreed car park spot and were picked up by our camp host and tour guide! We hopped in the back of our own 4 wheel drive tour and were off. After stopping at a local shop for our lunch we took off into the vastness of the red desert.
Once the sun set we set off to the camp and our traditional Bedouin evening meal (and sign song it turned out as well). It was an amazing experience to learn more about the Bedouin nomadic culture and listen to their stores of life in the desert.
Next stop: Petra, 2 nights
The next morning we were dropped off back at the car and headed north to Petra, about 2 hours. We had planned a two night stay in Petra so that we could make the most of exploring the old city. We had also bought a 2 day entry pass so as soon as we had checked into the hotel at midday we walked down the road to enter the old town of Petra. We walked over 20 kms each day for the next couple of days - the place was vast and mind boggling.
The first day we just went to the Treasury and a bit further to explore inside, all in all still 17 kms the …but leaving the big circuit up to The Monastery for the next day
Day 2 we did a big circuit - back in and past the Treasury, up and on the high path to the Monastery and then a huge trail that loops up and back around to the Treasury - all of about 20kms of incredible sights.
The next morning we headed back to Aqaba for the return flight to Barcelona.
What had started as a random housesit near Tel Aviv, Israel had led us unexpectedly to spending an incredible 4 days visiting a country we didn’t even have on our radar. The unforgettable Jordan, if you get chance to at the very least visit Petra, just do it! It’s absolutely