arabianjedi

I'll keep this brief, although I'm disappointed that there aren't more posts about Jordan, so if anyone wants more information please post in response.

We are a family of four (two boys aged 9 and 6) living in the UAE. We took advantage of the Eid holiday at the end of Ramadan to take a trip to Jordan for five days. We had it well planned, and eventually ended up doing everything we planned but not quite in the order we had planned it.

Day 1: Arrived night before in Amman, stayed at Le Meridien, very nice and good price, although some distance out of the centre of town so limited dining options nearby. On Day 1 we hired a taxi and spent the morning at the Citadel exploring the ruins (Uumyaad era). Kids had a great time climbing, jumping, poking around etc. Only down side was that the museum on site was closed due to Eid. On the whole the site is not well signed, and a little scruffy. We then wanted to visit the Roman Theatre and the art museum that includes as part of it's complex the house where TE Lawrence wrote The Seven Pillars of Wisdom, but both were closed, so we opted to have our taxi driver take us to Madaba to see some of the mosaics. Again, some of the mosaic places were closed but we saw the mosaic map of the Holy Land at the Greek Orthodox Church (fantastic) and ate a good and reasonably priced restaurant right across the street.

Then travelled onto Mt Nebo, where Moses looked out across the Promised Land. This was a really simple and lovely site, with some fantastic mosaics and great views although the sky was a little hazy.

Day 2: Went by taxi back to the Airport and collected a rental car then drove to Bethany-beyond-the-Jordan to see the site along the Jordan River where Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist. Again, this was a simple and lovely site, although the whole excursion took well over an hour by the time we parked at the visitors centre, took an open air truck down to the river through several military checkpoints (the River is effectively a militarised zone because it marks the Israeli border), walked along a gravel path (1-2kms in length I would say) and saw the excavated baptism pool and then the River itself (now a mere 4-5m wide and very murky: only 10% of the flow now reaches the Dead Sea) and went by truck back to the starting point. The biggest disappointment on this excursion was the visitors plaza. The toilets were located some distance away from the souvenir shops and were amongst the most disgusting public toilets I have ever encountered. I could not believe that at such an important tourist attraction they had been allowed to get into such a state. Unfortunately this experience turned out to be a common one in Jordan and it's something they need to address.

Anyway, we really enjoyed experiencing the site. We then drove onto the Dead Sea resort area and checked into the Mariott, had lunch and then set off up the new road the Dead Sea Panoramic Complex (amazing views but again, a little hazy) and on down the King's Highway to Machaerus, a small village in the middle of nowhere. When the road runs out, you drive down a track to a parking area and then climb a magnificent conical shaped hill and behold ... the ruins of Herod's Palace, where Salome danced and demanded the head of John the Baptist. This was in fact one of the real highlights of the trip: it was completely deserted and silent, and we got there about an hour before sunset so we stayed and had the most fantastic view.

The day was later marred by a flat tire on the road back to the Dead Sea (very dark, tire changed by the light of my cellphone with anxious children looking on) but all in all a very memorable day.

Day 3: floating in the Dead Sea and chariot races at Jerash ....Stay tuned.

Femi

Thanks for the post. How did you book your trip? Online on your own? Travel agent?

sunshine007

Sorry things were closed. It's that way in Egypt, too. I guess the moral is to avoid countries with a dominent Isamic population on the Feasts.

arabianjedi

Femi: I booked everything online, including flights with Royal Jordanian, all three hotels and the rental car (Europcar). Other than that the best resource was the Lonely Planet Jordan book, which was very up to date and in retrospect had better information on some of the ancient sites (Jerash and Petra in particular) than we received from guides at those sites

Day 3: Up early (7.00am) to have a morning float in the Dead Sea before going back up north to Jerash (explanation shortly). The Dead Sea swim was a slightly strange but not unpleasant experience, although the boys weren't keen and only stayed in long enough for DH to take pictures: they had scratches that were stinging in the salty water. Again, it was very quiet and still, no wind, and we were the only ones out that early.

We set off for Jerash about 9.15. I had intended to visit Jerash from Amman on Day 1, but an email exchange with the chariot race people ([email protected]) revealed that they would not be doing a show on Friday, Saturday or Monday due to the Eid holiday. Sunday was the only option, and I was very keen for the boys to see some "living history" as well as the magnificent Roman ruins. The drive took just over 90 minutes, with many detours due to road works, but we arrived just before 11.00 and spent a very entertaining hour in the Hippodrome watching a Roman legion in full kit demonstrating their fighting techniques and battle formations, then some "gladiators" fighting and finally a great chariot race. It was so good to get even a small sense of what happened at the site in ancient times. The show cost about 10JD, equivalent to 10Euro, per person, less I think for the boys, but worth it. Entrance fees to Jerash itself were much less, and the children were free.

We spent a good couple of hours wandering around Jerash (it's huge). Not much in the way of signage, but the Lonely Planet was very useful. We had a good Middle Eastern buffet lunch outdoors at a well run cafe within the site for 7JD per adult.

By 2.30 we were heading south down towards Petra, and stopped only to see a magnificent Crusader's castle at Shobak: isolated, on a high knoll, not as well excavated or restored as Karak or some of the others, but very impressive from a distance. We arrived at the Marriot on the Taybeh Road overlooking the Petra area around 7.00pm.

Day 4: Caught the hotel shuttle to the Petra visitor's centre at 9.00 and arranged a guide for what we were told would be 4 hours (30JD, the official rate quoted at the visitor centre) but in fact ended up being much less than that by the time we got to where we wanted to go. (We spent a fortune on Day 4 and got overcharged at every turn, I'm sure, but to be honest it grew tiring to argue with people about money, and we knew it would probably be our only visit. After seeing the poverty in Jordan we ended up just forking out on most occasions, although our bargaining skills are well honed from our time here in the UAE.)

So, Petra. The walk through the siq in the morning air was just lovely. Not too many people at that time, just the odd horse and carriage combo hurtling past (looked very uncomfortable but a good service for older or disabled people). Boys climbed rocks along the way etc. The Treasury was magical, although there were quite a few people there, and after taking a few pictures we pressed on. Further up, just before the Royal Tombs, we decided to hire camels, which the boys adored, and we went the rest of the way up to the Great Temple by that means, which gave a great view. Sunny, still, clear day, reasonably quiet but for the murmer of people, and very memorable. After the odd detour to explore, we had a light lunch and drink at one of the restaurants by the museum, and then made our way back at a leisurely pace, reaching the visitors centre around 3.00 I think.

Lonely Planet says that Petra can't be done justice in one day and recommends at least two. Obviously they don't travel with children, but I can honestly say that we were well satisfied with the 5 hours we spent. We didn't go all the way up to the High Place of Sacrifice, and we didn't go into all the tombs, but the boys did really well, not one complaint, and so in my view we didn't push the envelope too much. We were all tired by the end, and repaired to the pool at the Marriot for a few hours then watched the sunset.

Day 5 to come: Wadi Rum and more camel riding ...

Elizabeth_S

arabjanjedi - thanks for this trip report - it's very timely as we're going to Jordan in January. We're booked at the Kempinski at the Dead Sea - did you happen to visit that hotel? It's more than the Marriott but looks very nice - I still might switch to the Marriott.

Any specific restaurant names would be appreciated - also I'm going to buy the Lonely Planet book you mention.

Elainee

Thank you for your posts. Going to Jordan with grandkids ages 8 and 11 in March for 10 days. You have shared valuable info. I wondered about how kids like Dead Sea.