Prologue – This tour was supposed to be of Socotra, an island owned by Yemen but located off the shore of Somalia. Unfortunately Yemen decided to start a civil war with one side backed by Saudi Arabia and the other by the UAE… This led to the trip being canceled by the tour operators because even though Socotra is entirely removed from the fighting the flights to and from the island were being canceled for political reasons. This led to some last second rescheduling and shuffling of flights which led to an impromptu tour of Jordan.
Day 1 – Arriving in Abu Dhabi. Since the flights to Abu Dhabi from the states were always part of the plan two nights in Abu Dhabi were going to be had either way. I am not much of a city person but as far as cities go it was clean, the buildings were impressive, and the food was excellent. The Andaz hotel was quite nice and had the hottest steam room I have ever experienced requiring showering off with the cold water hose every 3 minutes for me to be able to last. #soft
Day 2 – The Grand Mosque of Abu Dhabi – Truly a modern architectural masterpiece. The massive chandeliers were very impressive (supposedly the main chandelier is the largest in the world). Also found it interesting that one of the more recent popes had even been to the masque and that was advertised in the mosque. Too bad we do not seem to know how to make modern churches like this instead we just get the monolithic Crystal Cathedral….
Day 3 – Amman, Jordan. Spent the day exploring Amman. Walking around the citadel area and Roman theater was a highlight. Had one of the best meals of the trip at this restaurant near the “rainbow street”. The hummus here is probably the best I have ever had.
Day 4 – Mount Nebo. Visited the mountain where Moses died and Elijah was taken up to heaven. Pretty surreal experience but extremely windy. Got my first peek of Jerusalem from the top of the mountain (which is more of a hill).
Day 5 – Petra. Entirely lived up to the hype. Really wild how an ancient civilization was able to build something like this with mostly basic tools. The whole valley is quite impressive and feels like you are in Indiana Jones. The monastery at the end of the trail was also a very cool building/structure that really rivals the treasury (what most people think of when they hear about Petra) and was much less crowded due to it being up a quite steep path about 3 miles away from the treasury.
Day 6 – Wadi Rum. This was an unexpected highlight. The desert may be brutal but I think I secretly love it because of the desolation and the peacefulness. Fun fact: most movies that feature Mars are/were filmed here. Totally understandable as it feels/looks like what I imagine Mars looking like. Also met a couple cool new fellow travelers Jack and Renn. Jack is an English session drummer with one of the biggest personalities of anyone I have met in a while and his travel companion Renn is a New Zealander who has been everywhere. The remainder of our Jordan tour would be spent doing activities with them as their driver and ours were good friends.
Day 7 – Red Sea & Dead Sea. Seeing/touching the Red Sea was cool because of its Biblical significance but other than that it was not anything crazy. The Dead Sea, however, was majestic. While we were not allowed to swim in it the hotel we ate lunch at had a pool with the same salinity and we were able to swim in that. I cannot normally float on my back and it was amazing how easy it was in there. I could even easily float on my stomach without swallowing water. The effect of the salt was much more pronounced than I expected. Also got to experience a steam room at the same hotel where the attendant put a large number of menthol crystals into the heating element and holy cow that cleared out my sinuses.
Day 8 – Jerash. As far as ancient Roman cities/ruins go this was pretty cool/impressive. Amazing to think what it would have looked like in its heyday. The road leading up to the town square look very similar to the opening scene from Hercules where he knocks down all the pillars.
Day 9 – Jordan River/Jesus baptism site. This is going to make me sound like a bad Christian but after how epic Petra and Wadi Rum were this was a bit of a let down… #sorryJesus. It was cool visiting such a historic site but the most interesting part was being about 20 feet away from Israel (on the other side of the river) and seeing the soldiers on both banks with assault rifles. Thanks to my good old fashioned American upbringing, this did not bother me in the slightest, but I suspect it worries some people.
Recap – Jordan was an unexpectedly cool country. Helps that it was/is very cheap. Petra and Wadi Rum were truly world-class, and I would enjoy going back to both of those sites someday.
Wanderblog 
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