Blogs from Jordan, Middle East - page 94

So, we finally made it to Jordan last night a bit after 7:00pm here and 12:00pm your time. We set our room up and went to bed. Class starts at 9:00am each day. This morning we had our first experiences with public transportation! The first was a bus, it was ok. We went to the vegetable and fruit market and were given a list of them in Arabic, with the pronunciations of course! That was an experience in itself. From there we went to the completely modern Mecca Mall. Wow, I am telling you this puts our malls to shame, including Circle Center. It is 4 or 5 levels high with tons of stuff, I believe there is also a movie theater. From there we came back to eat lunch and that is pretty much the ... read more

Somewhere in the Middle East, south of the Dead Sea, on the edge of the Jordanian desert, hidden and surrounded by a ring of mountains, is a place unique and bizarre, a city carved into the rocks, a wonderland of temples, tombs and caves. Even though its life, colours and structure are long fallen to dust, its magic stayed alive throughout the centuries and legend became mystery, and one of the strangest, most fascinating places in the world... or how a poet once said: "Match me such a marvel, save in Eastern clime, a rose-red city, half as old as time...!" ...Petra! - The Kingdom of Jordan or the land of wonders - All travellers on the popular landroute Istanbul-Cairo or the other way around will have to pass through the Kingdom of Jordan. Coming from ... read more

Beautiful Beautiful Wadi Rum: Wadi Rum (Arabic: وادي رم) is a valley cut into the sandstone and granite rock in southwest Jordan. It is the largest wadi in Jordan. This was my trip favorite. Possibly the most single beautiful location i've been to. Peaceful and untouched by the modern world (unlike Petra which was too touristy and commercialized in my opinion). If you like a vacation with adventure, where everything is not spoonfed to you, then i highly recommend over-nighting in a Bedouin camp in Wadi Rum. Before I go on about thoughts on Wadi Rum, let me preface it with this. To enjoy Wadi Rum for its beauty, please consider these recommendations: A) Keep your party small (one or two ppl max; this is one of those cleansing experiences). B) Definitly overnight in the desert. ... read more

On the road to Petra Petra is an archaeological site in Jordan. It is renowned for its rock-cut architecture. The approach through a kilometer long, cool, and gloom chasm (or Siq) a long narrow gorge whose steeply rising sides all but obliterate the sun, provides a dramatic contrast with the magic to come. Suddenly the gorge opens into a natural square dominated by Petra's most famous monument, The Treasury (El-Khazneh), whose intricately carved facade glows in the dazzling sun. Make sure to visit the Khazneh in the morning around 9am (the way the morning sun hits the building is marvelous). The site remained unknown to the Western world until 1812. It was famously described as "a rose-red city half as old as time." In 1985, Petra was designated a World Heritage Site. Excavations have demonstrated that ... read more

Today was a massive day. We joined our tour group in the morning at about 9am at the Shepherd Hotel in Amman. They had all only just arrived from the UK at about 2am. We were the only people doing a land only trip so we were in a pretty good state compared to all of them. There were about 14 people on the tour and only one other man so Dave was in women heaven. Unfortunately most of the ladies who were on the trip were a little only ( a group there as a 50th b'day present to themselves). We all hopped on a bus and then headed off towards the first stop of the day at Mt Nebo. Mt Nebo is supposedly the mountain where Moses died, within sight of the promised ... read more