Monday, November 11, 2013

Jordan – The mysterious bearer of many secrets

Jordan is a city in the Middle East with about six million citizens. The currency is Dinar (1 JOD is about 1 Pound) and you speak mostly Arabic and the biggest religion is Islam and some popular travel destinations are Amman, Petra, the Dead Sea, Wadi Rum and Al Ramlah.

There, that was some short facts about Jordan, one of the musts in your travel diary. Jordan is like the calmer younger sibling next to the more loud and crazy neighbors Iraq, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. It is put right in the middle of Israel and the West Bank which doesn’t really make it top goal for charter travelers but the security has increased after the attacks in 2005.

Sunset at The Dead Sea Marriott on Jordan's side of the Dead Sea (Photo Courtesy: travelphotos.alittleadrift)

Jordan holds many attractions like many Biblical places and one of the seven Wonders and the calm and mysterious Dead Sea where the salinity is so high that you don’t even have to swim to keep floating. You will bob around on the surface like a cork. It is also famous for its charitably for hair and skin, and to strengthen the effect you can lubricate your body with the mineral-rich sludge from the bottom which doesn’t really feel good; it is disgusting, itches and stiffens in the sun but after a few minutes when you have washed it off your skin will feel baby like. Around the Dead Sea you can find specialized spas and buy products made from minerals from the Sea.

A beautiful spa and resort by the dead sea (Photo Courtesy: cntraveler)
From the Dead Sea you can drive to the dock by Aqaba by the Red Sea. This town is tax free and perfect for shopping, at least in the bazars and more traditional souvenir shops. This town is great to stay in for a couple of days since it has many nice restaurants, bars, night clubs and cafés and you will have easy access to the ocean and its activities like glass bottom boat trips and paragliding.

Aqaba, Jordan (Photo Courtesy: crazyengineers)
The food life offers almost everything from pizza to sushi but you can also eat typical Jordanian food like Meze. Meze is a kind of Tapas with things like olives, hummus, tabouleh etc. Other dishes are Mansaf - a national dish made out of lamb and yoghurt sauce called Jameed -, Hash w Nash, Zarb and Dawali. Some of the beaches are not very acceptable for women because of their religion so you should look up which beaches are more western friendly if you do not want to jump into the water wearing clothes from top ‘til toe. The best one is probably Tala Bay, about fifteen miles south from Aqaba.

Sandy Beach in Tala Bay, Jorden (Photo Courtesy: Marinaplazahotel)
Two hours from there lays one of Jordan’s biggest attractions Petra, the mysterious city. You get there by car but will have to drive through a narrow rift into the pink mountains which later on open up and give you a magnificent sight which will probably take several days to fully discover. While here you should also rent a guide – which is almost always a young local – and let them take you out on a four wheel trip into the desert. They will show you amazing nature made formations in the cliffs and sand doves and will tell you stories about forbidden cities and holy spirits.

Petra Jorden (Photo Courtesy: mytripolog)
Petra Jorden (Photo Courtesy: WikiMedia Commons)
I suggest that you come here during the spring and fall because during the winter it will rain a lot and during the summers the heat is unbearable. To fully engulf Jordan you should be here at least two weeks.

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1 comment:

  1. Jordan is well known as historical and archeology destination of the world. This city offers a variety of castles, mythical sights, museums, ancient cities and natural wonders. I visited this stunning city about a year ago before my hearst castle tours with my family. This region also boasts many desert valleys Wadi Rum is one of the most famous and most visited valleys to see there.

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