11 Feb Jordan
I was lucky enough to visit the relatively untouched and tourist-free Jordan and can confidently say that it was at once of my favourite countries I’ve visited so far. At 29, I’ve now been to 48 countries so far, so to say this is near the top of the list I’d say puts this Middle Eastern destination in pretty good stead.
A destination packed with a bit of everything, in just five days we had a lot to see, so beginning in the capital city Amman, we packed the car and started our road trip.
From Amman, our first stop was Petra, one of the new Seven Wonders of the World; an ancient city carved into the mountains by the Nabatean back in the 1st century BC. Also known as the lost city due to an earthquake causing the abandonment of the city or the rose city due to the colour of the rock, Petra is now designated a World Heritage Site. During our trip we got up very early and arrived at the site by 7 am, avoiding the majority of tourists completely.
After hiking up to the monastery and viewpoint, we made our way back to the car, and set off for our next destination in the late afternoon; the Wadi Rum desert. Featuring dramatic sandstone mountains, we made it to the desert to a campsite by around 4 pm, and trekked to the nearest sandstone mountain to hike up to for sunset, bringing along some prosecco for the top!
After dinner at the campsite round the fire, we slept in tents at the campsite, and got up really early for sunrise and a jeep tour round the desert exploring various famous spots, canyons, mountains and viewpoints.
Following on from the desert we were well in need of some rest and relaxation and road-tripped around 4 hours to visit the dead sea, checking in to the Kempinski. Aside from making the use of the numerous pools and amazing facilities, we went down to swim in the dead sea to see what all the fuss is about. The banks of the dead sea are over 400m below sea level, making the temperature the hottest in that area. The hypersaline water makes it easy to float and near impossible to sink, and the famous ritual for guests is to swim in the sea for 15 minutes followed by using the mineral-rich black mud to cover your skin for another 15 minutes before washing it off in the sea again.
Our final stop was back in Amman, before our flight home, and the last drive consisted of some amazing views over the mountain. We enjoyed the last of the Arabic food as well as some wine tasting with Jordanian wines, before getting an early flight back the next day.
As one of SevenEvents’ top destinations for 2020, I couldn’t recommend it more – and I can’t wait to go back!