I have so many trips I would love to share on this blog. I decided to start with the last one (and one of the most incredible ever made), before the advent of Covid-19. I will catch up on all the past trips in the next few months.
When it comes to travelling I've got a few people I know I can always count on. My beautiful friends from Uni are among them. Every year we usually organise a "long weekend" in October/November to escape from the Italian cold weather and last year it was the turn of exploring the wonderful Jordan.
We booked quite a few months in advanced with Ryanair (Milan to Aqaba) and payed around 150€. I am confident in saying that the trip overall was quite on a budget, since we organised everything with no guide nor agency. We tried to condense as much places and activities as possible, without making it too much of a challenge and I think we did pretty well.
I'll try to go through every day of the trip, by also linking the places we stayed at.
Day 1-2: Milan-Aqaba-Wadi Rum Desert
Our very first impact with Jordan was intense. Our driver came to pick us up at the airport and went straight to the Wadi Rum desert. We decided to spend the first night in a tent, eating around the fire with the Bedouins. The morning after at 5:00 am we took a tour with the camels at the first sunlight and in the afternoon we went touring on a jeep around the desert to see some of the most famous sights and historical landmarks (including Lawrence of Arabia's House). Incredible! We stayed at a campsite called Panorama Wadi Rum, the guys were super welcoming and willing to help us.
Tip: Be sure not to miss a camel tour at sunrise, the colours are just incredible and there is so much peace around. The campsite will have that arranged for you!
Day 2-3: Wadi Rum Desert to the magical Petra
Second not-to-be-missed stop was in the ancient city of Petra. We arrived there on the evening of the second day and witnessed the Petra by Night, an event that takes place only on some days of the week where the famous Treasury is illuminated by hundreds of candles. The day after we spent the whole day walking through the site, we were so tired at the end that our feet hurt so badly, totally worth it though. I will never forget the feeling of amazement I had when The Treasury began to glimpse from The Canyon's inlets.
What I would recommend is to take at least two whole days to visit Petra, if you can. Otherwise you end up rushing to get up to The Monastery before it gets dark, with no time left for exploring the rest.
Tip: If you like a bit more of an adventure, after The Treasury, resist the temptation to head to The Theatre and instead climb up to The High Place of Sacrifice, where you will have a breathless view from above of all the ancient city, plus you can stop sipping some tea with Beduins (source: Lonely Planet). From there, a beautiful trail will guide you back to main path and then to The Monastery, just ask the locals and they will be happy to show you the way!
We stayed at the Esperanza Petra, which was super close to Petra entrance and we enjoyed it very much.
Day 4-5: Dead Sea
After Petra, we spent two nights in the splendid Dead Sea Samarah Resort,which was probably one of the most beautiful places I've slept in my life (together with another superb Resort in Sri Lanka, but I will talk about it in another post!).
What we did here was basically just eat and relax. It turned out to be the best idea doing the tiring stuff (such as walking up and down 20 km in Petra) before and then leaving some space for chilling.
Day 5: Quick visit to Madaba and Amman
On the day of the returning flight, we took a quick tour in a ceramic factory and to the ancient part of Amman, called The Citadel. It was a super quick stop, but definitely worth it.
Tip: Probably visiting Amman in just half a day was not the best thing to do. If you have time, definitely stay there for at least a full day.
After that, we jumped into the driver's car and went straight to the airport back to Aqaba.
General tips: we got in touch with a super kind driver who took us around for almost the entire trip. If you are confident in driving in places where street rules are not to clear (such as South East Asia), then you are totally fine in renting a car and driving - some of my friends did it and they had no problems at all. However, if you are not used to crazy driver, I do recommend booking a local driver.
Here is a map of all the places we have visited, just in case it might be helpful.
Have you ever been to Jordan? Would you like to go?
Feel free to contact me if you need any information or if you would like to share your adventure.
Xx
Giulia