Jordan was a great vacation from our
vacation - not as novel as Iran but easier traveling. We
were lucky to stay with our friend Monica for 4 days in
the capital Amman, it was fun to see Monica. We explored
nearby Jerash, Bethany (the baptisimal site of Jesus) and
the Dead Sea. In Amman itself, we also ran twice with the
local and friendly H3 group.
After Amman, we traveled down the King's Highway, stopping
at the beautiful Dana Nature Reserve (which we had never
heard of) , the Crusader castle of Karak, Petra and Wadi
Rum. Petra is everyone's favorite place in Jordan and is
one of the greatest archaeological sites anywhere, on par
with Angkor Wat, Tikal and Machu Picchu. We had a great
time exploring it for 2 days. Truth be told, we did a lot
of napping all over Petra! We'd climb to a great view point,
nap and then repeat the process until the end of the day.
:)
Wadi Rum was beautiful, but our experience was bit spoiled
because we selected an unsavory tour operator to take us
around. Better luck next time! After Wadi Rum, we took
the boat to Egypt and stayed in a great backpacker bungalow
operation near Taba before heading home. |