Jordan was undoubtedly a country that took us by surprise. Home to one of the new 7 Wonders of the
World, Petra alone is an easy bucket list entry, and for some, worth the price of admission alone.
Due to the country’s small geographical footprint,
Jordan also packs a plethora of easy to reach excursions.
For one moment you could be floating in the incredibly buoyant Dead Sea,
and then spending a night in the starry dessert. Now add numerous Biblical sites such as where
Jesus was baptised, followed by ancient Roman ruins and you have an incredibly rounded trip,
which, if you’ll allow, we’d love to take you with us.
If you’re new here, then welcome. We make travel movies from around the world,
hoping you might just find your next holiday inspiration.
This is Suitcase Monkey taking you through 7 days, in Jordan.
“A modern city, built on the sands of time.”
This is the unofficial slogan for the capital city, Amman. If you’re ever going
to visit this country, it’s almost certain your journey will begin here.
Modern Jordan was born in 1946 and is amongst the most politically and socially
liberal countries in all of the Middle East. And indeed, this 40 foot mural,
made to highlight gender equality, certainly seems to back that up.
And considering its location on the world map,
it’s remarkable how stable and safe a country Jordan continues to be for its travellers.
Our first stop was this 6,000 seater amphitheatre,
cut into the northern hillside. It’s an impressive reminder of the 2,000 year old Roman
history that echos throughout this trip. Full restoration of this playhouse began in the 50s
and the venue’s still sparingly used today, for concerts and festivals.
By far, the area that caters most towards tourism, is Rainbow Street.
For what it might lack in authenticity, it makes up for with colour, hospitality and shopping.
This trip was taking place during Ramadan, so for much of the day, all local Jordanian eateries were
closed. I’ll talk more about general tips such as getting around, entry visa info, alternative
hotel suggestions, and whether I think Ramadan is actually a good time to visit, in a follow
up separate video. But for now, Rainbow Street remained the best place to grab some sustenance.
Two places we visited were the incredibly busy Books At Cafe,
which is a mixture of restaurant, book shop, and art gallery,
and the incredibly not busy Old View. Where these panorama views speak for themselves.
For the evening, we headed back to our hotel, to meet our tour guide and group.
I’ll link all details of the trip we took in the description below,
along with some cheaper, more bespoke alternatives.
Jordan, is also unexpectedly, home to one of the largest and best preserved Roman ruins,
outside of Italy. So tomorrow, we’d be travelling 30 miles north of Amman
to visit the impressive ancient city of Jaresh.
They say “all roads lead to Rome” and this was one of them. The ancient Greco Roman city of Jaresh,
conquered in 63 BC was a wealthy, commercial and cultural hub for centuries. The landscapes seen
here are so vast and well preserved it’s often referred to as the Pompeii of the Middle East.
And it’s easy to see why when its sight lines and surrounding height
seem to disappear into every direction but there are still some major landmarks to look out for.
There’s the grand Hippodrome, once used for chariot races,
which would’ve held up to 15,000 spectators. The impressive 90 meter wide Oval Plaza,
once a lively forum and The South Theatre. Which, rather bizarrely, had this bagpipe trio. It turns
out that bagpipes are a surviving remnant of when Britain had administrative control in the 1920s.
After numerous invasions, earthquakes and modern trade routes, Jaresh slowly fell out
of favour and into disrepair. There is actually a Roman citadel inside Amman itself, but Jaresh
is well worth the hour long trip to experience these ancient sites on a much grander scale.
For the evening, we spent a few hours at a local cooking class in Amman. Run by 3 sisters, their
goal is to keep their grandmothers cooking alive which our group tried to live up to. Everyone
else seemed to do pretty well but to be honest, I think my culinary additions were about as welcome
as being at a Paul McCartney gig and hearing, “here’s one of my new ones”. But, the host we had
was superb so with a bit of expert help, we all somehow managed to pull off a decent evening meal.
Tomorrow our mini adventure would kick up a gear, as we’d be leaving Amman behind
and stepping into the Old Testament, making our way towards the Dead Sea.
Jordan is of course a Muslim country. But for Christianity, it’s a treasure trove of
biblical events that allow you to step back into the Old Testament. And even for myself,
a total atheist, I still found it fascinating to see these locations I’d read about at school,
that hold an important place for many.
And that’s how we found ourselves in Madaba,
a relatively small city, just 20 miles south of Amman.
This rather unassuming church houses the oldest known map of the Holy Land in
existence. It depicts, in incredible detail, major biblical locations,
including the baptism of Jesus, which is only 25 miles west.
Created in the 6th century, most of its detail centres around Jerusalem.
16 hundred years later, 2 buried landmarks were actually discovered,
exactly as depicted, using this map as reference. Only discovered in 1884,
it lay buried under a collapsed Byzantine church for more than a millennium.
Another short drive away, is Mount Nebo, clocking in
around 800 meters above sea level. It is this particular viewpoint to
which Moses ascended and was shown the Promised Land shortly before his death.
Even visited by 2 of the last 3 Popes, it’s an important stop on a pilgrimage to Jordan. On a
clear day, I’ve read you can see as far as Jericho City or even Jerusalem, exactly like Moses.
Or not, it could have been, much more cloudy when he was there.
The final stop today was our hotel, which had its own beach
leading into the Dead Sea. This hotel was the largest we’d be staying in Jordan
and it was lovely to wander its grounds and catch our breath.
This water line here is already 430 meters below sea level. And at its deepest,
the Dead Sea then plunges a further 300 meters, making it the lowest point on Earth. Almost 10
times more salty than the sea, not only does it give you the floaty vibes its known for,
but gets its name from no plants or animals being able to survive this concentration.
The Dead Sea is receding though and receding quicker than my own hairline,
which is alarming, given its lost 40% of its surface area in the last 90 years.
The natural minerals found here are said to have healing properties however.
There are also mud buckets scattered around which purify and smoothen the skin,
which of course now means you will be treated to this following slow mo. You’re welcome.
Feeling rejuvenated, we were now ready for what is without question,
the highlight in Jordan. Over the next 2 days, we’d be deeply exploring one of
the official New 7 Wonders of the World, the incredible red stoned city of Petra.
Petra is undoubtedly the highlight of Jordan and that’s because it’s probably in the
conversation of highlights around the world. I promise you, that no video you see here,
will really replicate what it’s like walking around this ancient city. Stretching across
100 square miles, this massive landscape was the capital for the Nabataeans
who prospered here around 2000 years ago, by way of trading myrrh, frankincense and spices.
Its main attraction is known as The Treasury. So called because
it was assumed riches must have been kept here,
when in fact it was an elaborate tomb. The idea that an important treasure lay hidden here
seems apt, given this was fictional home to the Holy Grail in Indiana Jones and the last Crusade.
The whole city prospered until the 4th century, when the combination of a devastating earthquake
hit, followed by changing trade routes, leading to it being largely abandoned. With modern eyes,
it’s hard to imagine deserting any city that looks like this and that took so much effort to build.
That effort can still be seen here today with these square holes seen in The Treasury,
for example. These ancient rivets would’ve held a scaffold high enough to then
painstakingly carve into the sandstone. Quite how this was even possible over 2000 years ago
is mind bending. You can also still see the remains of a water system
that would have harnessed rainfall for the people who lived here. It’s a remarkable
mixture of nature and craftsmanship that make up Petra. With its foundations designed by
centuries of tectonic shifts, and then shaped by skilled hands into the stone.
Again, I’ll go into more detail about visiting Petra in a follow up video
so make sure you’re subscribed for that and I’ll link it here once it’s complete.
There are a number of different areas you can explore here and all this footage covers almost
a day and a half. In intense heat, often with little shade, and a steady incline,
some of its routes are not for the faint of heart. Even Chiaki had to call it a day
after 6 hours of hiking which left me to struggle up this last 25 minute stretch,
where I clung onto the fact that the final lookout would hopefully be worth it…
The Wadi Rum desert spans across 280 square miles
and offers activities such jeep tours, camel rides and rock climbing…
Human existence has been placed to pre historic times, with numerous
rock carvings still conveying messages from a lost civilisation. You can see people,
feet, an animal and Paula. Who was this Paula and why was she loved so much?
Internationally, it was brought into the conscious with its connection to the British army officer,
Thomas Edward Lawrence, who’s better known to the world as Lawrence of Arabia…
Not only was the real Lawrence most associated with Jordan,
but these plains formed the backdrop for much of the 1960s movie.
Wadi Rum has been featured in Star Wars, Aladdin, Dune and, due to the large presence
of iron oxide here, it's often used to depict Mars, as seen in The Martian by Ridley Scott.
One of the most popular activities in Wadi Rum is spending an evening
under the stars in a luxury campsite. There was no 4G, no wifi and sometimes,
no electricity, but was the perfect way to switch off.
For our last morning, we woke early to catch the sun rise over the sand dunes. It was a remarkable
end to a remarkable trip. If you can never make it all the way to Jordan, I hope I’ve been able to
take you with us. These videos take a long time to make, so all the usual YouTube requests apply now,
and will allow me to continue making this type of travel vlog. As mentioned, I’ll link the follow up
planning video guide once it’s finished. So until the next one, Thanks for watching Suitcase Monkey.