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Jordan

9 In Jordan/ Middle East/ Trip Guide

20 Things to Do in Amman, Jordan

For many people, the city of Amman is just a stop over on the way to the more famous sites of Petra, the Dead Sea and Wadi Rum.

But Amman has so much to offer visitors! It’s a mix of old world and new world with its modern cafes, art galleries, ancient ruins, hip bars and bustling souks. I would recommend spending atleast two days exploring the city during your time in Jordan. It’s also a great jumping off point for a lot of days trips. Check out my 2-week itinerary for visiting Jordan which includes day trips from Amman, as well as other tips.

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26 In Jordan/ Middle East/ Photo Inspiration

20 Photos to Inspire You to Visit Jordan

Bedouin Man

“I have always loved the desert. One sits down on a desert sand dune, sees nothing, hears nothing. Yet through the silence something throbs, and gleams.” Antoine De Saint-Exupery, The Little Prince

‘Ahlan wa sahlan’ – Welcome to Jordan!

The area that is now the Kingdom of Jordan has a strong tradition of welcoming people, from caravans and traders passing through the desert, to crusaders, the Romans, writers inspired by the desert landscape and even the famous T.E. Lawrence.

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0 In Jordan/ Middle East/ Trip Guide

Jordan: Camping in Dana Nature Reserve

There are so many beautiful spots in Jordan – from spending the night in the other worldly red desert of Wadi Rum, to exploring ancient and impressive Petra, to floating in the Dead Sea, or hiking in the many Wadis (canyons) around the country. BUT my absolute favorite spot and thing to do in Jordan is to hike in Dana Nature Reserve and spend the night at the beautiful Rummana Campsite.

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0 In Jordan/ Middle East/ Trip Guide

Petra

Little Petra

After a few days in the desert, we caught a cheap bus to Wadi Musa (Petra) from Wadi Rum. The bus travels down the picturesque King’s Highway. Once in Wadi Musa we went for a coffee where we found someone to drive us out to Little Petra and then to Banda. Little Petra was deserted and there wasn’t an entry fee so we wandered around and then had the usual, tea.

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0 In Jordan/ Middle East/ Trip Guide

Sleeping in Wadi Rum at a Bedouin camp

Passing through a military style checkpoint, our cab driver pointed ahead and to the left, I gave him 30 JD, we took our bags from the trunk and took our first breath of cool, dry desert air. Cool, as it would later be discovered is a bit of an understatement as temps hovered around 50 with no wind and below freezing at night. With inadequate clothing, we hopped into the jeep with our 20-year-old guide Muhammad and into the desert we went.

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0 In Jordan/ Middle East/ Stories and Reflections

Across the border to Jordan we go!

The bus system in Israel is efficient, relatively cheap, and they even have free wifi (which is a hot commodity in Uzbekistan and you better believe I used every minute of it). After a few relaxing days in Tel-Aviv we boarded the Egged bus for the southern resort town of Eilat.

We took the bus on a Sunday so it was nearly filled with soldiers going back from their weekend leave. I’d recommend keeping this in mind when planning your trip. The landscape going south was dry and arid. As we reached closer to the border with Jordan, it looked like some sort of lunar landscape. Although we had boarded a bus to the Israeli town of Eilat, we had our sites set on the small town of Aqaba on the Jordanian side of the Red Sea.

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0 In Israel/ Jordan/ Middle East/ Palestine/ Stories and Reflections

Away we go: from Central Asia to the Middle East

A year ago I fell prey to one of those silly internet bucket lists. You know, the ones titled “10 Things Every 25 year-old Should Know” or “96238347 Places to Visit Before 30”. At first you feel inspired and then you just feel like a couch potato doing nothing while everyone else figures out all the bullet points to being a real adult. I hate those. Around the same time I read an article about how writing down goals makes you more likely to accomplish them. Feeling both inspired, agitated, and in a bit of a standstill with life I decided to write down 25 things I’d like to do while I’m 25. I’m stubborn, so as I wrote down numbers one, two and twenty-one I knew I’d do them even if friends thought it was a bit overly ambitious. Now folding 1000 paper cranes, I don’t know how I ever thought I could actually do that.

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