From Amman there is a route East that takes you past several castles in the desert. We rented a car and instead of doing this as a day trip loop , did the trip and carried on to Jerash and based ourselves there. First castle we came across was Qasr Hraneh… built in the 8th century, about 710 they reckon… although scholars aren’t in agreement on what it was used for. The most likely scenario is that it was a khan (inn). Another 10 […]
Exploring
Amman – Jordan’s Capital
After relaxing in the Red Sea coastal town of Aqaba, enjoying the beautiful desert at Wadi Rum and then exploring the incredible ancient city of Petra, it was time to head for Jordan’s Capital Amman. The biggest impression the city left on me was the incredible amount of street art… in car parks, on the sides of huge apartment buildings, on walls, and up steps. The street art was everywhere – downtown, in the suburbs, small alleyways and main streets. Here’s just a small […]
PETRA Day 2
After a wonderful DAY 1 exploring Petra we head back in the way we did yesterday (the only entrance open to tourists). No need to get another ticket – show yesterday’s one at the entrance and walk back in through the Siq. A few minutes walk past the Treasury, you take the steps on your left (near the toilets, before the theatre) up to the High Place of Sacrifice. With our early start and most people heading down the main strip of Petra we […]
PETRA – Day 1!
Petra is one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It features on most “must see before you die” lists. The ancient city, carved into the mountains around 2000 years ago, is incredible in so many ways, so settle in and enjoy this taste of being there! For those who plan to go, hopefully my bullet-pointed suggestions for how to tackle Petra in 2 days will be helpful. Petra is overwhelmingly huge and well worth joining the […]
Wadi Rum, Jordan
Wadi Rum is a 720 square kilometre desert area which has been inhabited by various human cultures since 10,000 BCE. These days it is home to many camels, 4WDs and Bedouin people, many involved in the blossoming tourism industry. T E Lawrence spent time in Wadi Rum in 1917 -18 during the Arab Revolt and when in 1962 the film ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ came out about his wartime efforts, Jordan’s tourism industry got a kick start. The place is particularly popular with trekkers and […]
Aqaba, Jordan
Aqaba is Jordan’s popular holiday spot on the shores of the Red Sea. We had planned to spend 5 days here but extended it to a week, not because we wanted to lounge a bit longer on the beach but because we were tired of traveling. My many blog posts about Israel give you a bit of an idea about how much we experienced there. As much as we love sightseeing and experiencing new things it is actually quite exhausting – to continually be […]
Southern Israel
It’s more than two months after we left Israel and I am writing my last blog post about the country. We had so many experiences there and perhaps we saved the best for last… hard to compare of course as there were many wonderful and varied experiences. I’m not quite sure where the Negev desert or the Arava Valley starts and finishes but we enjoyed driving through this region anyway to get to Eilat, Israel’s southernmost city. The mountains just across the border in […]
Negev Desert, Israel
Leaving the city of Tel Aviv behind, our destination was Mitspe Ramon- a small town on the edge of the magnificent Makhtesh Ramon – the crater that’s not technically a crater. En route to Mitspe Ramon we stopped to explore the beautiful En Avdat National Park, located in Wadi Tsin. We had terrific views of this valley from above – where Ben Gurion has his tomb. We descended the hill, parked the car and walked into the canyon itself (where the white arrow is […]
Israeli Food & Markets
Part of the fun of traveling is eating out, discovering new dishes and buying food in the markets. The first thing we noticed in Israel was how expensive eating out was, so we tended to go for cheaper eats where we could. This may be why our experience of Israeli food was dominated by hummus and falafel! If you order ‘hummus’ on the menu it typically comes with pita bread and pickled vegetables and/or olives, sometimes with falafel and usually with small side salads. […]
Tel Aviv
Everyone will tell you that Tel Aviv has a completely different feel to Jerusalem – but it’s hard to know just how different it is until you spend time in both cities. Where Jerusalem has religion and history so in your face, Tel Aviv breathes freedom and the future. They couldn’t be more different. As much as we loved our time in Jerusalem, the vibe we got from our short stay in Tel Aviv was that this was a great place to live and […]