5 Days in Jordan – Part 1

 

What would you do when your kids have holidays and your dear friend asks you to visit her. Yes, that also in a country so close to you that you could literally drive there! So hell yes, I planned a short trip to Jordan, while I am residing in Saudi Arabia for now. It was easy and a getaway with my son. We could have done a road trip as well, which would have been awesome, but due to few family commitments we just couldn’t and decided to fly.

It was the end of December 2017, a couple of days before Christmas. It was not a very wise decision to go in this weather because it was really cold. But it was fun at the same time, when you have friends with you nothing else matters.

My son and I flew a day before my husband joined us. So it gave me and my dear friend to go out& about Amman, and discover few nice places during the day. It was a nice beautiful sunny morning and we decided to go and visit the Rainbow Street. Situated in Downtown, in the heart of Amman.

Amman is beautiful. People are very nice and humble, very peaceful indeed. Its just a 2 hours flight from Riyadh to Amman and we were there!

DAY 1:

RAINBOW STREET, DOWNTOWN

I got to spend the first day with my dear friend Ghazal, and we explored a bit of the city!

The Rainbow street is a cheerful street with some lovely artwork on the walls by some local artists. It is full of cool shops mostly local designers and restaurants and cafes.

DAY 2:

THE DEAD SEA AND PETRA

It was a very cold day indeed. Since having a lack of time, we took an early start and chose a longer route to Petra, because we wanted to see the Dead Sea (A Sea of Salt)! Since it has a great Islamic History with having one side to Israel and the other side to Jordan. Its the Lowest point on the earth and is highly believed that the Community of Lut (peace be upon him) was destroyed here – worst punishment of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He).

We did not make longer stops along the way as the weather was cloudy and we were running late, thus wanted to make the most of our time and visit Petra.

Finally, we made to Petra around 3 pm, we were already so late and thus had to rush to the site for which I had been dreaming of visiting since forever! Petra, known for its history and world-renowned archaeological site. Situated in the southwestern desert of Jordan, dating to around 300 B.C. It is accessed via a narrow canyon known as the Siq and contains tombs and temples which are carved into pink Sandstone Cliffs. Hence having a name as Rose City!

The majestic Facade of Petra truly excites your soul and makes you wonder how amazing the architecture is and you can’t stop thinking of how in those times, this was all achievable. Truly Remarkable!

As you go forward through here, you can hike to different parts of the Rose City, where you can see more tombs and carvings, which covers a vast area in the desert. It was already sunset and closing, thus we managed to see this amazing structure alone!

DAY 3: 

WADI RUM

The next day our stop was at Wadi Rum, a protected desert wilderness offering some spectacular views of rocky mountains and the desert. There are a lot of amazing camps to spend the night and do ultimate stargazing! But again, unfortunately, lack of time and we left it for the next trip! InshaAllah.

You will have to hire a car to take you to the mountains and into the desert, which takes around 2-3 hours. You can also extend the time of the trip depending on your schedule and explore more.

The weather was nice and sunny so we had a great time, though it was really cold we enjoyed every bit of it.

We were then taken to a spot where there were some nice sand dunes and we could enjoy some sand boarding, which I could not do for some obvious reasons! 🙂

While the family and friends enjoyed sand boarding, I just sat and soaked in some Vitamin D and enjoyed the surroundings.

KHAZALI CANYON

Just a little farther from this place is the Khazali Canyon, which has a history of its own. Its a mountain rising around 1.6 meters above sea level and has a 100-meter long crack (which is almost similar to the canyons at Petra – but a lot narrower) having some carvings on the rocks. There used to be some water pools as well.

Last but not the least, the Rock Bridge is an amazing spot to end your trip! Perhaps there are more rock bridges around that area, but we managed to climb only one. Once you climb to the top you can witness some spectacular views of the surrounding area almost a 360-degree view.

Once we climbed up, it was a narrow track on the top of the Bridge. My legs were literally shaking because it was quite high, also it was extremely windy. I was really having a hard time balancing myself. We had Muaaz sit on the side and specifically told him not to move. IT WAS EPIC!

Finally managed to take a decent picture!

Beautiful memories always stay! It was an amazing experience and we have full intentions to visit again in future for more time of course.

Hope you enjoyed.

Stay tuned for the rest of the tour.