**Our Trip & Itinerary**

Jordan was a destination that had always been high on our travel ‘bucket list’, but when the war began in Gaza last year we had to spend a lot of time re-evaluating our travel plans for the region. Ultimately, we decided to still make the journey with necessary precautions. We do understand the hesitation that many tourists are experiencing right now when it comes to this part of the world, but from our experience it remains an incredibly safe and welcoming place to visit. While we were nervous during our flight over, due to the threat of an Iranian missile attack on Israel, we felt completely safe once on the ground. We spent 12 days in Jordan exploring its capital Amman, several ancient archeological sites including Jerash & Petra, and the incredible natural beauty in Wadi Rum. There was just so much to see and do in Jordan, it has been tough to condense it all here, so strap in folks, it’s going to be a long one…

Amman & Jerash

We arrived in Amman in the middle of the night, not an ideal time to be flying near an active warzone, but we made it to the ground in one piece. Upon disembarking we were immediately re-introduced to Middle Eastern hospitality as the border agent spontaneously gave Sarah a carton of Apple Juice to help her recover from our long flight. To this day we don’t know where the juice came from or why he decided to just give Sarah one instead of me or any of the other tourists coming through. All I know is that the juice was delicious and refreshing – a great welcome from the get-go!

After checking into our hotel, then sleeping for only a few hours, we began our first full Jordanian day in earnest. We had scheduled a driver to pick us up early in the morning (to avoid the baking sun) and take us to Umm Qais, Ajloun, and Jerash to discover some of the country’s most impressive ruins. As if seeing ancient Roman sites wasn’t fun enough, we got together with some friends from Ireland who happened to be in Amman at the same time to really turn up the excitement for our first day. Bright and early, we all loaded into our driver’s van and took off for Umm Qais. To get to this ancient ruin, we had to drive for over three hours, but the time absolutely flew by, as it often does when you're chatting with old friends. The Greek and Roman site sits almost directly on the border with Israel, the disputed Israeli-Syrian Golan Heights, and the Sea of Galilee, offering an impressive view into several countries at once. The oldest archeological evidence dates back to the later half of the 3rd century when it was built as a military fortress by Alexander the Great’s army. It was also once the home of many iconic poets and philosophers, like Theodorus, who referred to the city as “New Athens”. Once in the depths of the complex, we saw that Umm Qais really does have it all – from Christian churches, to old Roman theaters, to the enduring stone columns. One of our highlights was the sprawling colonnaded Roman street that invites the imagination to dream up images of the grand chariots and lively people that once traveled along it.

Trying our best to keep on schedule, we returned to our van for our drive to our next archeological site, Ajloun Castle. The castle is perched on the ‘Auf hilltop at 1250 meters above sea level with stunning views of the Jordan Valley and surrounding desert lands. It was built as a military fortress in the 12th century for the famed military leader, Saladin. While the once grand rooms now stand empty or in ruins, it’s easy to feel the grandeur of the place by its high ceilings, many passageways, and sturdy structure. Fascinatingly, the fortress once housed many pigeons used to transport messages to army outposts. Not wanting to spend too much time here and admittedly most excited for our last stop, we hustled back to our can and made the longer drive down to Jerash! Jerash has maintained its importance in an unbroken chain of human occupation for over 6,500 years, since Neolithic times. While the city is now known to be one of the most well-preserved antiquities in the world, it was once buried deep in the sand before excavations began. Now gloriously back in the daylight, Jerash boasts an impressive map of cathedrals, a nymphaeum, theaters, colonnaded streets, hippodromes, and grand arches. Despite the heat, we took our time wandering the once bustling city, oo-ing and aww-ing over the shockingly pristine details in the carvings and excavated statues.

After such a jam-packed first day it would have made sense for us to return to our hotel, have an easy dinner, and retire for the night. But we’re exploring the world! We can’t just go back and turn in early every night, there are good restaurants to taste and good people to meet! We leaned on our few remaining energy reserves, dragged ourselves out of our hotel, and walked up to Rainbow Street – a popular nightlife area for locals and foreigners alike in Amman. Based on a friend’s recommendation, we walked to Sufra, an upscale Jordanian restaurant set in a beautiful courtyard, surrounded by old olive trees and boguevilla bushes. Our dinner spread included mutabal, hummus, grilled chicken, olives, beetroot salad, and freshly baked shrak. And for dessert? A mind-blowing pistachio ice cream with rosewater cotton candy!

Wanting to stay closer to the hotel so we could easily escape the heat during our second day in Jordan, we decided to explore the historic sites that sit right in the heart of Amman. Still feeling full from our terrific dinner the night before we shared a light, traditional breakfast at Astrolabe in downtown Amman. I think we must have slightly surprised the staff when we arrived at 7 am as it’s possible we were some of the only people awake in all of Amman. With coffee in hand we took a car up to the Amman Citadel, another one of the oldest continuously inhabited places in the world, tracing its roots all the way back to the neolithic period as well. Walking around the citadel you can find evidence of eight great civilizations with the biggest remaining structures from the Roman, Byzantine, and Umayyad periods. We were once again exploring these grounds mainly on our own, as tourism in Jordan has fallen dramatically since the beginning of the war in Gaza, which made the experience even more enjoyable. Each terrace we walked along offered amazing views over all of Amman, including over the ancient Roman Theater near downtown Amman in the valley below. Before we left the Amman Citadel we made a brief stop into the Jordan Archeological Museum, home to thousands of artifacts dating from the Paleothic period through to the Crusades. While this museum is quite small by modern standards, it’s arranged to follow the story of Jordan, who the first people were that lived here, and how that evolved and changed through history. Upon leaving the museum and the citadel as a whole, we started to walk down from the mountaintop into town, weaving through side streets and alleyways into the beating heart of the city. Returning to the area we had breakfast this morning, we found the city transformed with busy shops and crowded sidewalks all around us. In desperate need of a shower after several hours of exploring the city in the midday heat, we wove our way through all of this lively activity back in the general direction of our hotel.

After only a brief recuperation at our hotel we rejoined our friends to embark on a food and Palestinian history tour. We all met at 12:12 The Mid Coffeehouse, a quiet little cafe just off of Rainbow Street, owned by a sweet couple whose seemingly only care was to make sure we were happy. We all got to know each other while sipping on Karak Chai, the Arab Gulf’s take on Indian Masala Chai, restoring our declining caffeine levels. Hopped up and raring to go we made the short walk around the corner to AlQuds Falafel for fresh, fried in front of our eyes, falafel wraps. Our guide, Omar, declared these the best falafel in all of Amman and without even trying the rest we think he might just be right. Turning the tour’s attention to Palestine and the diversity of backgrounds in Jordan our guide took us to Souk Jara, a once weekly crafts market just off of Rainbow Street. Here he took us to several different artists and explained how their backgrounds from Iraq, Syria, Iran, or Palestine had influenced their art and how similar settings were changed by the artists to reflect their heritage. The Syrian artist had added flowers, plants, and colors to reflect his experience in Damascus, while the Palestinian artist had added more vertical layers to the city reflecting his life in East Jerusalem. Zig-zagging through the market back to food we made our next stop at the food market near the Grand Husseini Mosque, Souq Al-Sukar. Our guide explained that in these markets sampling is expected, even encouraged, without any requirement to buy anything from a shop. With that in mind we cheekily sampled the wares of many different vendors, trying olives, roasted nuts, seasoning spices, fruits, and more. Winding our way out of the market we soon found ourselves at our last dining stop, a very local spot with an ingenious method of keeping everything clean. Everything came served onto plastic sheets over the table, then at the end of each meal the plastic was wrapped up and taken away, replaced for the next group before they sat down. Full from our feast of falafel, babaganoush, mutabal, chicken shawarma, and more dips I can’t even remember the name of, we found our way to the Jadal for Knowledge and Culture, a newly created workshop area and safe space for all people in the center of Amman. Here, our tour finally focused exclusively on Palestine and the struggle of the Palestinian people. As a small group we spent the next three hours engaged in a lively debate and exchange of opinions about the west’s perception of the Palestinian struggle, Israeli occupation, and the history of the region. This fascinating conversation stayed civil even though the topic comes with many high emotions for most people, especially for Omar whose family has experienced more loss than most can imagine. As the night slipped into early morning our host at the Jadal excused himself to bed and the rest of us took that as a signal to get going back to our hotels. Almost 24 hours after we woke up, we got back to bed and had another short sleep before leaving Amman the next day.

Dead Sea

Leaving Amman in the rearview mirror, we sped off towards the Dead Sea, weaving our way through the beige landscape. Just before arriving at the much-awaited sea, we climbed and climbed until we reached a barren crest that overlooked the road down. After a quick photo-op, we began our descent on the rollercoaster road, speeding around corners, over blind hills, and through bedouin camps. Arriving at the bottom, the temperature had climbed an extra six degrees, marking our arrival in the Jordan Rift Valley. We drove parallel to the sea for a ways until we encountered the security stop leading to all the resorts. Given our very recognizable complexion and sheepish tourist expression, the guards barely glanced at our documents and waved us through. Not long after, we pulled into the Mövenpick Resort & Spa and immediately realized we had picked a chaotic day to arrive – dozens of massive Arab families were stationed in the lobby, checking out after the Islamic weekend (Friday and Saturday). The reception was overflowing with bags, children wearing goggles, and sweating bellboys. Despite the unruliness at the entrance to the hotel, the vibes in our room were very much the opposite! Nestled among the bougainvillea, we overlooked the Dead Sea from the balcony of our arabian-inspired room. We savored the views for a while, then decided it was time to brave the heat and take a dip in the saline water below. Drenched in sweat by the time we arrived on the mini beach only a few hundreds meters away, we showered off, lathered ourselves in Dead Sea clay, and baked in the sun for a few minutes. Once marinated, we took our first steps into the sea and immediately felt resistance on our feet! The deeper we went, the more our limbs began to float, refusing to make contact with the floor. At around waist level, we were swept off of our feet and bobbed to the surface like an apple! It was the most surreal feeling to be completely weightless, just meters from the shore. The water was bathtub-warm and offensively salty. Underestimating its strength, we accidentally touched our eyes or grazed our lips with the water, instantly feeling the burn and tasting the chemically brackish water of the sea. Apparently, it’s recommended that you don’t spend more than twenty minutes in the water to avoid dehydration, so beware and make sure you set that timer! Not long after submerging ourselves, we felt the salt seeping into our pores, finding hidden cuts and scrapes to set fire to. At the same time, our skin became coated in a slimy, grease-like film, caused by its 33.7% salinity. It was only later, long after we had gotten out, did we feel reborn – our skin baby-soft and slightly dazed from the heat.

That night, after a cool shower, we headed out in search of a local meal, instead of the bland and uninspired resort food. Through a simple search of the area, we found Beit Sweimeh, a quiet and unsuspecting restaurant nestled in the village of Swemeh. This restaurant earned our affection not only with its delicious food, but through its dedication to boosting female participation in a region that has attracted tourist attention in recent years. The space is owned by Sireen Al Shareef, a powerhouse mother of four, who has found a unique way to empower the local community by pairing the joy of traditional food with sustainable practices. Uniquelly, the restaurant is powered by organic methane produced by leftover food and cooking ingredients are grown hydroponically on the property. Most notably, Al Shareef has involved over forty different households in the supply of products, like pickles, tahini, or olives, that are used and sold at the restaurant. While the low season is a tough time for these ladies, we felt honored to have the rooftop, the sunset, and the incredible experience for ourselves.

Wadi Musa & Petra

After another dip in the Dead Sea the next morning, we packed up and ditched the below sea-level heat and beaches for very different scenery. Though the drive from Swemeh to Wadi Musa was only three hours, the landscape rapidly turned from blistered hills to dotted pines and strong winds. On the road, we climbed over mountains once again (although we were still barely above sea level) and took a breather at a coffee shop perched at the cliffs of At-Tafilah. While the set-up is rather rudimentary, the Sunset Cafe has sprawling views of the Jordan Rift Valley and serves a delightful cup of Turkish coffee. Onwards from our coffee roost, we drove into Wadi Musa, the hilly city that borders Petra’s rocky structures. Given the timing of our arrival at the Nomads Hotel, we relaxed indoors to avoid the heat and later watched the sunset over the Rose City.

Petra has been inhabited since 7000 BC and was built by the Nabatean people in the 4th century BC. As it became a center of commerce and trade due to its proximity to the incense trade routes, Petra became the bustling center of the Nabataean Empire. Evidence of the massive kingdom can be seen in the endless stretch of caves, skillfully carved tombs, and remotely-built temples that extend over 263 kilometers. Given their nomadic lifestyle, Nabateans were not only suprisingly incredibly talented carvers, but also showed evidence of strong rainwater harvesting systems and thus, agricultural practices.

The morning after our arrival, we awoke very early, hoping to beat the expected hours of tourists at the gates of Petra. Instead, we found ourselves nearly alone in the auburn terrain with unobstructed views of one of the New 7 Wonders of the World. Upon entering through the long, naturally carved Al Siq canyon into Petra, you’ll notice that many tourists simply take a buggy to the infamous Treasury, take their share of photos, and head back out. This is a huge mistake because an entire kingdom of winding passages, sandy trails, sophisticated water conduit systems, and pink sandstone temples and tombs exists beyond it.

Al-Kazneh, also known as The Treasury, was carved as a mausoleum by Nabatean rock dwellers in the beginning of the first century AD and has survived in near-pristine condition since. Before excavations began, Bedouin people of the area believed that the decorative stone urn at the center of the carving contained ancient pharaonic treasures and made various attempts to unearth it by shooting at it. Today, it serves as the most iconic visual of Petra, but hides the treasures that lie beyond it. As soon as you leave the Treasury behind, the canyon opens up to the Street of Facades. These tombs were carved on a second level and require some scrambling up the rocks to reach them. As soon as we began our climb, we were greeted by an orange tabby cat who followed us all the way to the caverns above. Of course, we crowned him with a name, Charles, and bribed him to follow us with sympathetic ‘meows’. The tombs overlook the Outer Siq and have stunning high ceilings, along with perfectly stacked nefesh, or freestanding stone pillars. Instead of continuing on to the Theater, we opted for a different route that led us to the Royal Tombs – Aneisho, Urn, Silk, Corinthian, Palace, and Florentius. Likely due to some rockfall, these tombs were more difficult to reach or closed, but their detailed facades stood impressively in the rock landscape. Turning around at the currently closed entrance to the Urn Tomb, we were greeted by two other desert cats that were wandering the bottom of the canyon below. Adding to our growing feline gang, we dubbed them Pharaoh and Cleo(patra). We braved the rising heat to the Byzantine Church, which was built in the later half of the 5th century AD and is one of Petra’s most stunning examples of ancient life in Jordan. The church was first excavated in the 90s, when archeologists unearthed the incredible mosaic floor that can still be viewed in all of its glory today. The mosaics depict daily scenes of people, pottery, plants, and animals, similar to Roman and Hellenistic iconography. Archaeologists also discovered 140 papyri in the church complex that provided them with valuable insights on the life of Byzantine people in Petra. Complementary to the massive Byzantine Church, the area also features the Ridge Church (mostly ruins) and the Blue Church where only the stunning blue Egyptian marble columns remain today. Following the trail, we headed back down the hill, where the locals have built a small area with cafes that also serves as a donkey parking lot. We fueled up on a refreshing drink and continued our loop through Petra by sneaking past Qsar Al-Bint. Without much of a plan from there, we walked higher into the hills, beyond the Unfinished Tomb and into areas rarely visited by tourists. We began to see the ruins change and observed how Bedouin people have now occupied the ancient tombs, making them their temporary homes. We were welcomed to this hidden spot by a very smiley dog who guided us past an Arabian stallion, tied up in an old tomb, and towards her owners who waved at us and shouted “welcome” from a distance. Leaving our new friends behind, we hiked on as the rocks moved in closer and the ground became sandier as we ventured into Wadi Farasa. Eventually, the trail became steeper and we came upon the Tomb of the Roman Soldier, one of the best-preserved tombs, featuring a brick-colored triclinium, or formal dining room. Just around the corner, we stumbled upon the stunning Garden Temple and Pool Complex. Now inhabited by a Bedouin couple, the temple provides beautiful views of the Wadi beyond its looming stone columns. In front of the temple lies the pool, once filled by way of an intricate retaining wall that creates a natural water reservoir. It's easy to imagine it in ancient times, filled with emerald water and feeding the draping plants above the temple. We kept up our quick pace, all the way to the High Place of Sacrifice, which once served as a massive stone altar. Here, Nabateans once sacrificed children (yikes) and later animals to the God Dushara. Despite its grotesque past, the platform offers amazing views of the valley below, Petra’s endless monuments, and Wadi Musa.

Given the vastness of Petra, we had booked a two-day pass and split up our time accordingly. Day two in the ancient city was rather chaotic and showed us how challenging the barren landscape could be. Determined to take the path less traveled by, we decided to go to Little Petra, or Siq Al-Barid, first and make our way over the mountains to The Monastery, yet another impressive facade in a far corner of Petra. We took the free shuttle directly from the Petra Museum that morning and were dropped off directly at the entrance after a windy 25-minute drive through Umm Sayhoun and Al-Baydha. Once at the mouth of the “cold canyon”, our view opened up the small and silent beauty that is Little Petra. The area is believed to have been a suburb of Petra and to have primarily been used as short-term homes for traders on the Silk Road. In 2010, archaeologists discovered a 2,000 year-old painted ceiling depicting wine cultivation and scenes of winged cherubs in the Biclinium, or formal dining room, of one of the carved Nabatean buildings. We continued up the path of the sandy canyon, climbing over occasional boulders. Coming to the end of the canyon, we arrived at a small coffee shop among the sandstone where we met six curious puppies and their mom. They nervously sniffed the air around us and yelped to get our attention – it would have been so easy to steal one of them! Sadly, we left them behind and walked the steep stairs into the Albayda Forest. The trail began to fade from there, so we spent some time wandering to the right, then to the left, and finally turned back when we realized there was an insurmountable drop in the other direction. After about an hour and a half of bouncing around different boulders, hills, canyons, and viewpoints, we established that maybe, just maybe, we had underestimated the intensity of this hike. Not knowing the terrain or true path to the Monastery and worried about the rising heat, we admitted defeat and decided to turn back. Feeling rather frustrated, we decided to take a quick shuttle over the hills to the long-awaited far entrance of the Monastery. To get there, we were thrown into the bed of a built-out pick-up and bounced at full speed over the rocky hills alongside a Bedouin equestrian escort. We arrived in what felt like the middle of nowhere and were pointed in the direction of a trail that seemed to go one direction: up. Fighting the strenuous heat, we climbed the steep trail around the cliffs, occasionally encountering Bedouin souvenirs and brave tribal donkeys. Approaching the highest point, we took a breather to have our packed lunch with incredible views of charcoal valley below. There, we met a little boy named Mohammad, who happily greeted us with his dog, Whiskey, and his loaded mule. Waving goodbye, we continued around the bend and were welcomed by a stunning sight: Ed-Deir, or The Monastery. The facade is etched into the burnt orange rock and commands the open space in front of it, towering above visitors below. It is believed that the building was constructed on the model of The Treasury in the first century and served as a religious space for the Nabateans. Later, it possibly became a Byzantine church and it is clear to see why Petra’s inhabitants over the centuries considered its high-ceilinged rooms sacred. After scanning the impressive carvings, we settled into the little cafe on the opposite side, surrounded by desert dogs and cats. While the site is the second most-visited monument in Petra, tourists clearly shy away from feeding the strays, as Jackson was brutally ambushed by a very hungry cat as soon as he got out his sandwich. The audacity! Feeling the afternoon heat roll in, we decided to head down the main path back to the center of Petra. The advantage of coming via the back-door trail is that you can walk the 800 steps down, rather than up! Chuffed with our clever decision, we wound our way down the mountain, passed the Lion Triclinium, and back to Qsar Al-Bint. At that point we felt pretty exhausted from our day of 28,500 steps and felt we could save ourselves some trouble on the way to the park entrance by leveraging one of the free horse rides. Unfortunately, while Jackson’s horse sped off majestically, Sarah’s trudged along the path at snail speed, making the heat even worse! By the time we were back at the hotel, we were sweaty, sleepy, and in dire need of an ice cold Coca-Cola. We showered, rested, and watched the sunset over the Rose City’s jagged cliffs once more.

Pro Tip: Don’t miss the Petra Museum! While the ancient city is the main attraction, the museum does a fantastic job of telling the story of the Nabateans and how Petra evolved with the changing times. It also features stunningly preserved statues and carvings that trace back to each civilization.

Wadi Rum

There’s a reason Wadi Rum has been used as the primary filming location for films including The Martian and Dune Parts 1 and 2. Stepping out of your car into Wadi Rum really is like stepping out of your car onto Mars, only hotter this time of year. Upon entering the Wadi Rum Protected area we were stopped by the tourist police to inspect our passes and to instruct us on how to register our arrival at the visitor center. These police stops are quite frequent in Jordan, but the officer who stopped us here was very welcoming, taking the time to wish me “good love with my wife, tonight” which we hope was a misinterpreted attempt on his part to wish us a good time in the area. Foolishly, we had left Wadi Musa in the mid-morning, meaning we arrived at Wadi Rum around 1 in the afternoon, nearing the hottest point of the day. Stepping out of our car to register our arrival, we realized why no one else was outside in the sun, it’s just too hot for human activity. Moving quickly to avoid getting baked alive by the plentiful UV rays, we hastily registered our arrival and returned to our car to finish our drive to our overnight camp in the desert. Unfortunately for Sarah, along the way we spotted a seemingly abandoned train station and an ancient steam train resting on sand-covered tracks. Slamming on the brakes, we sent our car careening around a bend into the station’s empty parking lot, settling right at the front of the old beast. Taking the unsupervised chance to explore this desert queen, we discovered that it was the actual movie train from Lawrence of Arabia, sitting out in the open under constant attack from the sun. To our disbelief it also quickly became evident that the train was not abandoned as we first suspected, as posters in the station advertised its twice weekly journeys, recreating Lawrence’s attack on the Ottoman train in the film. We took as much time in the heat to explore the train as humanly possible, but after about 20 minutes I, a native desert dweller from Arizona, had had enough, I can’t even imagine how Sarah was feeling. Scrambling back to the parking area, we finished our drive to the Hasan Zawaideh Desert Camp in our beautifully air-conditioned rental car.

Arriving at our camp we were initially disappointed by its proximity to the main road above Wadi Rum and the large size of the camp, with dozens of bedouin tents and several bubble “Martian” tents. Things did not immediately improve after our check-in either, as the temperature inside our bubble tent was over 40º degrees (105º Farenheit) even with the small air-conditioning unit on full blast. This reality resigned us to spend the first four hours of our time in Wadi Rum inside the main dining tent, sitting as close to the swamp cooler as possible, struggling to pass the time. Just as we were starting to go delirious, the day’s heat started to break, bringing with it a world of possibilities that had seemed so far away while we were twiddling our thumbs two hours previously. Returning to our tent we were able to sit outside and marvel at the huge rock formations that lay in front of us, each separated by an endless sea of sand dunes. While we most probably could have sat there all evening watching the sun change the colors of the rocks, there were more exciting things to do. To really get the full “Bedouin experience” we had arranged for a guide to take us on camels up to a sunset viewing spot on a nearby dune. As we arrived at the front gate of our camp, our bedouin camel guide meandered into view with his pack of four large creatures. Even though we had both ridden camels before, nothing quite prepares you for the speed and angle a rider is propelled at when their camel stands up to ride. As the adrenaline began to wear off, our camel guide began slowly shepherding our group towards the distant dunes. Although camels are a fun way to get around, and save the rider’s energy while avoiding walking, they’re not particularly quick animals. Our journey of about 1.5 kilometers, therefore, took about 30 minutes to complete, a pace we could have probably outrun on foot had we been so inclined. Standing upon the dune, watching the sun recede behind the sand, any thought of the camel’s lack of speed immediately left our brains. Watching the sunset here is probably the closest we’ll ever get to experiencing life on another world. Without any plants or people in sight, we stood silently as the sun cascaded evolving colors over the red sand and rocks, growing faint as it fell into the dust-filled horizon. Moments like this are why we’ve come on this trip, and we highly recommend anyone visit Wadi Rum to experience it for themselves. After our camel’s relaxed stroll through the desert back to our tent, it was time for a feast. Our camp was now filled with tourists, and our Bedouin hosts had cooked a dinner for all of us the old-fashioned way, by cooking it in earth ovens below the sand - this method is known as ‘zarb’. With the food out of the sand and onto long tables, the mad tourist dash for food began. As if they couldn’t see that enough food had been cooked for the entire Roman army, every person in the camp shoved and jockeyed for position at the front of the line, seemingly at risk of starvation if they’re plate wasn’t filled in the next 30 seconds. To avoid some of this chaos we decided to eat our dinner outside, underneath the sky as it filled with stars. Suddenly we were alone again, away from the mass of tourists eating in the air-conditioned tent, listening to a local Bedouin man play his music and watching the fire dance into the night.

We awoke the next morning for an early breakfast for two reasons. First, we were hoping to avoid a repeat of last night’s mad rush to the food hall and second because we had an important adventure to get started on. To finish our martian immersion, we had booked a four-hour 4x4 tour of Wadi Rum to explore as many of the highlights as possible and spend a couple of hours just driving through the insane landscape that makes up the protected area. After quickly stopping at the primary filming location for The Martian we arrived at our first real activity of the day, trying sandboarding for the first time down a dune about the size of our New York apartment building. Dragging the board to the top of the dune proved to be a challenge just on its own, with the sand constantly shifting beneath our feet, only rising a few centimeters with each step. Once atop the top of the dune we were rewarded with a panoramic view over much of Wadi Rum, and after a quick break, I started my run down the dune on the sandboard. Not to toot my own horn, but I thought I did pretty well for a beginner, maybe I had been wrong to avoid snowboarding for all these years! Revived with a cup of Bedouin tea at the bottom of the dune, we continued our drive into the desert. As our Bedouin guide expertly wove through the sandy terrain, we approached Lawrence’s House, the ruins of a residence built by T.E. Lawrence while campaigning against the Ottomans in the early 1900’s. Now just a pair of crumbling stone walls beside a massive boulder, the area in front of the house is littered with small karen's travelers have built as tribute to those involved in the Arab revolt. Not spending too much time at this stop we continued exploring the endless sand valleys and near-vertical sandstone mountains. Much of the rest of our tour was simply driving from area to area, taking in as many unique views as we could. We made quick stops at a natural arch for a quick climb, a mushroom shaped rock, and a slot canyon that transforms into a seasonal watering hole for the local bedouin herders in the winter. Repeating what we saw on our drive here would make it seem quite repetitive, one giant rock mountain followed by another and another with some sand thrown in the middle, but I can promise it was not. Writing words down on paper just doesn’t do this special place justice, it’s one of those unique places you have to visit on your own to understand how amazing it is. At the end of our long 4x4 expedition we loaded all of our bags back into our tiny rental car and got ready to trade sand for waves at the Red Sea.

Aqaba

Our time in Aqaba was far more relaxed than it had been anywhere else in Jordan, so much so that both of us debated whether it was even a necessary stop. We had come down to Jordan’s only seaside town to go snorkeling in the Red Sea, but found only a small coastline of damaged reefs when we arrived. While this limits the appeal of snorkeling, diving is still a very popular activity in Aqaba, with several man made reefs formed from old tanks or airplanes acting as the main draw. Unfortunately for us, neither of us are scuba-certified, blocking us from enjoying the remaining sea life around. Instead, we visited the Aqaba Fort and Sharif Hussein’s House Museum to learn about the Arab Revolution and the role that Jordan’s founding family had played in it. Although King Faisal is immortalized for the fighting across the Arab world, including Jordan, in Lawrence of Arabia, he was never the ruler of this part of the world, only Iraq and briefly Syria. Instead his brother Abdullah was the first Hashemite King of Jordan, a direct 38th generation descendant of the Prophet Mohammed. Learning about the Hashemite family and their role in the fall of Ottoman rule was interesting, but the museum was not that big, so we were quickly back to looking for something to do. In the end, we couldn’t find very interesting ways to pass our time and resigned ourselves to crossing off to-do list items and calling friends and family back home instead.

Madaba

Our final stop in Jordan was a quick overnight stay in the city of Mosaics, Madaba. The city gets its nickname from the hundreds of mosaic floors that litter the city, built mainly during antiquity beginning in the year 700 CE. We made our first stop to see these ancient remnants before even arriving in Madaba, in the small settlement of Umm Ar-Rasas. What is left of the ancient town here mainly consists of crumbling walls and almost completely buried residences, but it’s completely worth a visit. This is thanks to the dozen churches they’ve found so far, all crammed into one square kilometer. Each of these Byzantine churches has a unique mosaic floor, which gets progressively more impressive the later they were built. The site's piece de resistance is the Church of Saint Stephen, a group of four churches built adjacent to each other over the course of two hundred years. Three of these small churches each have incredible, almost perfectly maintained floors depicting ancient cities, the names and portraits of the church’s benefactors, and animal life in ancient Palestine. The best part of all is that almost no one goes here, it’s not nearly as well known as nearby Madaba and not convenient for any typical driving route. When we were there in the mid-afternoon, we were totally alone, and it looked like that had been the case for the rest of the day too judging by the lack of activity in the lone gift shop near the entrance to the park.

We were brutally re-introduced to the chaos of driving in Jordanian cities as we arrived into Madaba and searched for our hotel through a maze of one-way streets and pedestrian obstacle course. Arriving without running anyone over, and aiming to quickly continue our mosaic day before any of our destinations shut, we made a beeline from our hotel to the Madaba Visitor Center, the start of the Madaba Heritage Trail. There are 9 important stops along the trail to see the region’s history and the incredible mosaic floors. Going through them one by one would be a blog post on its own but our highlights included the Madaba Archeological Park, the Church of the Martyrs, and St. George’s Church which houses the incredible remains of an ancient mosaic map of the holy land. I want to take some time to mention our most memorable stop along the heritage route though, the Madaba Archeological Museum. This hidden, out of the way space is home to several of the most complete, interesting mosaic floors in all of Madaba, with its own tiny version of the Jordan Archeological Museum tucked away in a side room but still home to dozens of fascinating ancient artifacts. What made this place special for us though was the local guide who we didn’t ask for but who got up and showed us around the whole place, even taking us into the small locked church. He took the time to spray down each mosaic before we entered each room, bringing out the vibrant colors that time has hidden behind a thin layer of dust and bleaching. Sadly for him, it was our last day in Jordan so when the inevitable request came for a tip at the end of the tour we had nothing to give him. Unexpectedly, he was fine with that, he didn’t yell or get angry, he just wished us a nice rest of our trip and sent us on our way with a smile. We left him behind and started to walk down the hill towards the end of the Heritage Trail, but couldn’t shake his kindness from our mind. Racked with guilt over not being able to tip him, we double backed to a small coffee shop we had been at earlier in the day and managed to negotiate some cash back with the purchase of a tea. Returning to the museum just as they were about to shut their doors we made right with our guide, who couldn’t understand why we had come back, but his smile and heartfelt thank you was the best way we could have ended our time in Jordan.