Jordan

Mario and I spent 9 days exploring Jordan. We started in Amman  and ended in Aqaba. Jordan makes country #42 for me.

Things to know:

• Currency:  Jordanian Dinar (JOD) which is 1 JOD to $1.41 USD. 
• Visa: Yes, visa on arrival for 40 JOD, so $56 USD - fee waived if purchase the Jordan Pass and staying at least 4 days 
• Holiday: Ramadan, which during the day limited traffic and people, but at sunset traffic increase.
• Charging outlets: 2 pong European and/or 3 pongs UK
• Driving: Right side of the road. Just needed our drivers license to rent a car. Be very aware while driving, often common driving law weren't followed like staying in one lane. Their highway had random speed bumps and were very bumpy.
• SIM: We used our Google Sim which at times we lost signal or our GPS had us in a random place. There were many SIM places at the airport. At the end of the trip, I tried out the app Airalo e SIM, which lets you download a SIM from different places around the world.  We learned this from Mike & Ashley, You-tubers we follow. We will definitely use this as a Plan B in the future.

Day: 1
We took an early morning flight from Stuttgart with a layover in Vienna, Austria before arriving into Queen Ali International Airport (QAIA) late afternoon. We exchanged money on arrival. Many places did take credit cards but many smaller places didn't. Make sure to have small bills on hand.

A visa is required and you can get it on arrival. If you’re planning on staying 4 days or more you can waive this fee by purchasing the Jordan Pass. This pass gives your free entry into over 40 attractions, including Petra. When purchasing the Jordan pass there are three different levels. We got the Jordan Expert level which gave us 3 days to Petra. I added on the visit to the baptism site, which I would later learn was a waste. This pass wasn’t cheap but super convenient. At attractions, I gave them our printed passes and  they scanned the QR code and we entered.

We got our visa and then waited to get our stamp which was slow since one person was working. Then we were told to go to the passport desk. The whole process took longer than it should have, since the airport was like dead. We finally got our bags and went to get our rental car. We rented from Enterprise but you had many choices in rental car companies. We got a mid size compact car.

We hit some traffic leaving the airport so the drive took us about an hour. We stayed at Hilton Amman for one night. Upon check in, we learned we were upgrade to a king deluxe one bedroom suite due to Mario’s status. We had dinner at Nasma, a Lebanese restaurant, in the hotel. We tried a few different things, which was yummy! 

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Day 2:
We had a buffet breakfast at the hotel, which was huge and yummy! We checked out and headed toward our first stop which was the Amman Citadel, which was included in our Jordan Pass. With it being Ramadan it was a ghost town in the morning which made it nice for driving and exploring. The informational board were very helpful since we didn't have a guide. Definitely would recommend going to this one. 

Next, we drove towards our next stop which was Jerash. It took us about a hour to get here. We learned we needed to park at the Jerash Visitor free car parking and not at the visitor center. Since it was close to lunch time we decided to eat lunch. We ate at Old Roman Restaurant which was in the parking lot. We were the only guest but the food was good. I forgot to take pictures but Mario got a kebab sandwich and I got a falafel sandwich. The waiter was super friendly and even gave us some free bottled water! 

Most of the signs were in both Arabic and English.

After lunch we toured Jerash, which was part of our Jordan Pass. The ruins of a Greco- Roman settlement was a must see. There were information boards all over the complex and I would recommend seeing this one if you enjoy ruins and history.

Our next stop was The Ajloun Castle which is a 12th century fortress. This was included in our Jordan Pass. I wasn't too impressed by this one, but it was a close distance from Jerash, and Mario wanted to see if,  so we stopped. 

Then we headed towards Hilton Dead Sea where we spent the next 2 nights. We were upgraded to a king junior suite which a huge balcony overlooking the sea. We were given a food voucher for the restaurant 1312 which included a drink and appetizer because the executive lounge was closed. The hotel had a few pools but only one was heated. Since it was still "winter" a lot was still closed around the hotels we stayed at. We had dinner at 1312 and enjoyed the yummy food.

Day 3:
The next day we planned on seeing the Baptism site of Jesus Christ and Mount Nebo. We headed to the Baptism site, which was a quick 25 minutes from the hotel. We arrived right after opening to find it a ghost town. After tracking down an employee we were told we would have to wait for the shuttle and then take part in the 1 hour 15 minute tour. Since we were the only people there, who knows how long we would have to wait for the shuttle. I figured coming early would beat the rush of tour bus, maybe we needed to arrive later in the day. I was disappointed because I had paid extra to add this attraction to my Jordan pass, but I wasn’t waiting all day for something to happen.

From there we drove about 30 minutes to Mount Nebo. This attraction isn’t part of the Jordan Pass so we had to paid. It was only 6 JOD or $9 for the both of us. We walked around the area which was pretty small. 

From there we went back to the hotel and enjoyed the sunny and 72 degree weather. We did a quick float in the Dead Sea which was cold and dirty. Then swam in the heated pool, which is the family pool during the day so it was packed with families. For dinner, we used our food voucher again while enjoying the views of the sea.

Day 4:
We said our goodbyes to the Dead Sea and drove a little over 3 hours towards Petra. The views reminded me of driving from California to Las Vegas. ​

We spent 2 nights at the Movenpick Petra in the superior room which came with a huge balcony. We choose this hotel because it is across the street from the entrance to Petra. We grab a quick sandwich from a local restaurant right next to the hotel. Then we headed to Petra. With the Jordan Pass level we had 3 days to explore Petra. So we got tickets which activate our time. In the winter, it closes at 5pm, so when we arrive we had plenty of time to walk to the treasury. The walk through the canyon was breathtaking. It took us about 45 minutes to get to the Treasury. It was as magnificent as the pictures show! We took a few pictures while taking in the view. Tomorrow we would explore more of it!

Day 5:
Today we did the back door entrance into Petra. Keep in mind you have to get your tickets before you can do the back door route. We got up at 6am and enjoyed breakfast before meeting our taxi at 7 which we arranged the day prior with a taxi driver who was waiting outside the entrance. The taxi driver took us to Little Petra, a quick 10 minute drive. Since we were the only ones there, we took in the views. You can also get a shuttle from the visitor center but with it being the winter schedule it left later than we wanted to wait. 

You can walk from Little Petra to the Monastery, which takes about 3 hours. We waited until 7:30 for a 4x4 truck which took us a little closer in. Then we follow a local woman who was heading into her shop which was near the Monastery. There were some sign along the way but was way easier to follow someone. The views were amazing as we climbed up and down the canyon. It took us about 1.5 hours  to arrive at the Monastery. As we read up on the back door path, the reason is you can arrive at the monastery before the people who came from the front entrance. When we arrived there were probably about 6 people. 

*Disclaimer: The path from the entrance to base of the stairs up to the monastery is pretty flat gravel paths with some hills. We feel that by doing the back door way, we climb just as many steps as if we would have just have went the normal way. If we would have entered Petra at 6:30 and walked straight to the Monastery, we could have arrived pretty earlier. So we feel the back door entrance wasn't  our best choice and costed us additional money, but lesson learned. But the views and the emptiest the back door route provided was incredible. 
All along the paths in Petra are shop selling food and souvenirs. There were bathroom along the way and pretty nice, which surprised me. ​

We spent the next few hours taking in the sites and making our way back to the main entrance. We couldn't have asked for better weather. The morning started off chilly at around mid 40's and then warmed up to mid 50's, perfect hiking weather.

Before heading back to our hotel, we stopped at the Petra museum which is located at the main entrance. I highly recommend visiting it, it was very informative and a nicely done.  We had lunch at one of the hotel restaurants.

Day 6:
Today was our final day in Petra, so we decided to explore a little bit more.  We put our bags in the car and checked out and spent the rest of morning exploring more of Petra.

We had lunch at the hotel's bar restaurant. Then set off towards Wadi Rum. It was about 1hr and 45 minutes. 

We did hit a road closure which caused us to back track and take a side street which eventually connected us to the main road. We arrived at the meeting place for our night in the desert. We would be spending on night at the Bubble Luxotel hotel and staying in the King Suite. We soon learned there was no WiFi in the tent, only in the main building. Our tent was suppose to be covered to block out the heat but was uncovered when we arrived making our room super hot. Breakfast and dinner was included with the room. Dinner was a buffet and was really good. We realized after the point you needed to put our room key in the slot to make things work. Our room could have used some updating and to note hot water is only offered a specific times.  From our bed you can see the stars and moon. With the bright full moon and dogs barking all night, we didn’t get much sleep. The bubble did cold at night, but it added to the experience. ​

Day 7:
The breakfast buffet was ok. We had time before we needed to check out so we explored the area. We checked out and waited for the shuttle to take us back to our car. It leaves every hour. Even though we were there early, a whole group got in front of us. Since they had tons of suitcases there was no where for us to sit. So we had to wait for the driver to return. Mario wanted to spend the night in the desert, so we did it. But, I wouldn’t return or recommended. 

It was around 10:30 when we finally get back to the car. We headed to Aqaba where we would spent the next 2 days. The drive was about 1 hour 10 minutes. We weren’t sure if they would let us check in so early but we figured we would try. We stayed at the Al Manara, a Luxury Collection Hotel, a Marriott brand. Upon arrival, we were able to checked in early like 11:30 am and received a room upgrade to a suite with lagoon views. We were also able to get late check to accommodate our early morning flight.  Thank goodness for Mario’s status. We had a quick lunch at the pool bar. As we walked around we noticed the hotel had a dog beach. We spent the rest of the day relaxing around the hotel.

Day 8:
​Today was our last full day in Aqaba. After our breakfast buffet, we drove to explore the Aqaba castle fort, which was a 5 minute drive from the hotel. From there we headed back to the hotel and spend most of the afternoon relaxing by the pool. The pool wasn't heated and was freezing, since it was upper 80's it is still winter season here. 

Day 9:
We had our breakfast enjoying the options the buffet offered. Since our flight home didn't leave until 3am the next morning, we opted for a later afternoon check out. We decided to leave around lunch time, because we weren't sure what the traffic or weather would like on our 3.5 hour drive back to Amman airport.

We dropped off the rental car. After going thought the initial security, we learned at the check in desk, it was way to early to check in our bags. If we would have just had our backpacks we could have check in and spent the time around the airport in the lounge. The check in desk, which I think felt sorry for us,  gave us a voucher for the hotel down the street, which included meals. So we figure out how to get back through security which wasn't easy and figure out where to pick up the hotel shuttle bus. The hotel was a few minutes form the airport. It wasn't the best or cleanest hotel, but grateful for it.  we took part in the lunch and dinner buffet and tried to sleep for a few hours before we headed back to the airport at 11pm. When we arrived at the airport, we had to wait for the check in desk to open. This airport has flight coming and going 24 hours. The check in desk opened 2 hours before boarding. There were no lines at passport control or security. We would have slept longer but you never know when flying. We did spend some time in the lounge before boarding. 

Our flight left early at 2:50am, instead of 3:30am which is crazy to me, a flight leaving early! We arrived in Frankfurt at 5:30am and had to wait till 12:20pm to board our 28 minute flight back to Stuttgart. It was a very long day of travel, but we were glad when we finally got home and had access to lounge! Another great trip in the books!​