Amann & Petra

From April 15th to April 18th, 2023

Day 1

• We flew in from Cairo to Amman; after a 40 minute driver we checked in at the Four Seasons Amman.

• Upon checking in we noticed a ‘Shopping Arcade' connected to the hotel and walked through the ‘mini mall’ to check out the shops. Most everything was closed due to the fact that we were there during Ramadan, but there was a collection of local shops with artisan goods, a barber shop, a beauty salon, Jordanian hand-made craft stores with rugs and lamps, etc.

• We grabbed a bite and a drink at The Foyer Lounge and had perhaps the best hummus we’ve ever had to date.

• The ladies went out to the Abdali Mall to pick up some ‘desert dresses’ (in preparation for Petra the next day) and new running shoes. This mall was recommended by the front desk concierge as the mall to shop for nicer things and it didn’t open until 9pm (because of Ramadan). The cab driver was excited to tell us that we could get some of the nicest dresses in the mall at a store called H&M. We thanked him for the insider tip.

• While the ladies shopped, the gents drank the dapper hotel bar, Sirr; and we had a late dinner also at the hotel’s La Capitale restaurant. The food and drinks were incredible.

Day 2

• We started our first full day in Jordan by slowly making our way south towards Petra. The first stop on our tour day was at Mt. Nebo, said to be where Moses was thought to have died. The site boasted a rolling stone, a serpentine cross sculpture donated by the Italian Franciscans, and a renovated Memorial Church of Moses at the top. Pope John Paul II visited the site during his pilgrimage to the Holy Land in the year 2000.

• Just outside of the Mt. Nebo monument we stopped at a Jordanian craft mosaic shop called Tree of Life to look at some local crafts made by Jordanians.

• The tour stopped in the nearby town of Madaba, where we went inside the Greek Orthodox Church of St. George. The Madaba Mosaic Map inside the church draws tourists in with it’s floor mosaic ‘map’ that shows part of the Middle East and contains the oldest surviving original ‘cartographic depiction’ of the Holy Land (specifically Jerusalem). (Stole part of that description from Wikipedia).

• About halfway through the day we stopped for lunch at a truck stop named New Jerusalem Rest House near Tafielah. The food was all prepared in a buffet line for the tourists that pass through and the food was flavorful. There was a large dish of rice and chicken cooked together, all the dips, all the salads, and the Jordanians working inside were so kind. They even brought out a fresh dessert for us to try. The hospitality at the truck stop was anything like what you would imagine, we felt like we were guests in the home of the owners and the hospitality was comforting.

• After about another hour car ride further south out of Amman, we made a stop near the Wu'ayra Castle ruined Crusader castle located in Wadi Musa. This castle is just near the entrance to the town of Petra. There were a few bedouin shops along the ride.

• After snapping a few pics, we checked into Movenpick in the town of Petra and had dinner at the hotel. From start to finish the drive from Amman to Petra took about 4 hours, but that included our lunch stop and the other tourist stops. Without all the stops it may have taken just 2 hours.

• We walked around the town of Petra after we got settled in the hotel room and picked up some Jordanian scarves from the local vendors.

Day 3

• We started our day at 8:30am by walking across the street from our hotel and into the entrance of the Petra Archaeologic Park. The Movenpick hotel is a 1 minute walk to the entrance which made it very convenient. Once we got inside the park we started our walk through making our way to the Treasury (this is the main attraction at Petra; most people just call it Petra, but it’s technical name is ‘The Treasury’). The slow and leisurely walk down into took about 45 minutes, but you could do it much quicker if you wanted. After 45 minutes of walking through the gorge, we found the Treasury, took all the photos, and even paid about 15 dollars to climb up to higher ground and take the famous photo above The Treasury. The short climb is somewhat ‘operated’ by the Bedouins, and when you’re up at the top the group asks if you’d like to drink tea while waiting to get your photo taken.

• We climbed back down after the Bedouins took our instagrammy influencey photos and continued to walk through the Petra park area slowly while taking in all the other sites. So far/discovered, Petra has more than a thousand tombs carved in its rocky terrain.

• After reaching what seemed like the end of the park, our guide let us know of a very famous hike that people do. It was hot, we were tired, but the ‘famous hike’ piqued our interest, and before we knew it we were trudging up a rocky path to reach a place called The Monastery (aka Ad Deir). After about 45 minutes, we reached the Monastery, and it ended up being the highlight of our entire trip. Bedouins were quick to offer their donkeys as transportation to the top, letting you know it would only be a 20 minute ride, but that you’d have to return via foot. We opted to go on foot and hung up at the top for about 25 minutes before returning back to the bottom. A round trip distance of 2.3 miles, a gain of 612 feet in elevation, and 400 calories burned later, we were content with the time we spent at the park and left with a sense of accomplishment.

• Upon leaving we were rushed into a truck by our guide and realized we were taking an illegal car ride to the exit of the park. it was illegal because we were supposed to have taken donkeys instead, but our guide had been to the park a time or two and knew how to maneuver.

• We had a quick lunch back at the Movenpick hotel before taking the car ride back to the Four Seasons Amman. A shower was much needed.

Day 4

• The next morning we left the hotel early to drive across the border between Jordan and Isreal. We crossed at the Yitzhak Rabin Border Terminal. The border crossing took about 45 minutes, but any other day it would have taken about 15. Turns out it was Holocaust Remembrance Day and we showed up at the border crossing at the exact time that Isreal, as a country, takes pause to remember. We were in a car, waiting to cross around 10am, and right at that time an overhead bell/alarm sounded for about 20 seconds. That bell, we later found out was to notify everyone across Isreal that it was time to pause and remember.

Next time we visit, we plan to check out:

• Wadi Rum

• Visit Petra again