Tim tell us, "I explored Jordan on a 9-day tour of the country, which took me from Amman in the North to Aqaba in the South, tasting three of KE's adventure holidays."

Day 1 - Vibrant impressions of Amman

Amman - I encountered surprisingly great coffee and spectacular Roman ruins, which you can walk around and still touch. The area is still deserted apart from a handful of tourists. I had a good Italian for lunch in bustling downtown with no hassle, went shopping for desert scarves, and had a fantastic evening meal of a dozen different mezzes in a buzzing restaurant full of locals. Walking back to the downtown hotel at midnight, there were friendly shopkeepers pointing the way and a pet shop still open. Easy, diverse, vibrant and attractive - I needed more time to explore this compact city, which reminded me of Rawalpindi in the 80s - just friendly faces around every corner. 

Day 2 - Cycle Dana to Little Petra

The infrastructure is really modern and leaving the city we were soon on the main highway, which links Aqaba and the Red Sea in only 4-5 hours. In 3 hours we were in Dana Village looking across the Great Rift Valley - Jordan's Grand Canyon - and the views were breathtaking. We were now mountain biking to a wild campsite placed at the start of the back door to Petra. This is the rim tour, a classic section of our “Dead 2 Red” bike trip, packed full of crusader castles, jeep tracks, dust, heat, tumbles, fresh water springs, goats, tea with the shepherd, the setting sun as we arrived late into our desert camp, shooting stars then full moon... we met just 4 other tourists all day!

Day 3 - Petra

Last time in Petra I queued at the main gate for an hour before trying to beat thousands to the Indiana Jones entrance, through a narrow gorge which ends with the iconic Treasury. Now we were coming in from the back, Little Petra, and no one was at the gate house. We just walked by to be greeted by the ranger 1/2 hour in along a dramatic shelf way walk. We shared the trail with only 6 French trekkers, and arrived at Petra via the Monastery, which is as far as the most adventurous tourist normally reaches! Although I’ve visited before, Petra, like Machu Picchu never disappoints.  

The immensity of the site is not well known – we walked 25km today. This is the last day of our popular “Dana to Petra trek” which has just been described as the show piece section of The Jordan Trail in the Wanderlust magazine. Yes, there were tourists in the main section, but I doubt more than 500 entered that day; it used to have 6-7000 daily, so this is the time to explore this world heritage site. The trinket sellers are having a hard time but still smiling, taxi drivers are grateful for any business, the newly opened visitor centre is empty and the beer in the “Cave Bar” is still ridiculously expensive... sightseeing in Petra is much harder than cycling. 

Day 4 - Cycle to Wadi Rum

A short transfer along the historic Kings Highway, takes us past deserted 5 star hotels, built just before the latest Syria conflict to the high point at Rajif (1565m), and then it's back on the bikes. A fast tarmac blast ends and we are now crossing the arid desert lands, jeep tracks and slick rock, tea at a Bedouin tent that could have been there since the Middle Ages. Finally we end at the camel racing track just outside Rum, although nowadays jockeys have been replaced by robots, a scene from Star Wars, or is it The Martian?

Wadi Rum village is the end of the road, but the real desert experience is way past this. We transfer to a 4-wheel drive, milk a goat on the way, arrive at a secret desert camp, devour a meal of goat meat that melts in the mouth, then have tea and stories around the fire. The full moon is now much later and the shooting stars last longer, so why bother with a tent. We met just 2 other tourists plus one loan backpacker, on the final leg of the Jordan Trail. 

 
Day 5 - A real desert experience

Lawrence of Arabia fell in love with this place and you have to be here to understand why. We trek across Jebel al Hasch, guided by the local Bedouin, with little sections of easy scrambling on friction hugging easy angled slabs, welcoming rests in the cool of a cave, narrow canyons that you have to squeeze through with your rucksack above your head, crashing out in the shade at lunchtime, mild heatstroke for some, water that tastes like nectar, sand in your boots and finally a campsite to die for. All this is part of our classic “Wadi Rum and Petra” trip. Finishing off with a long night around the camp fire. Other tourists on the trail “nil”. 

Day 6 - Climb Jebel Um Adaami, Jordan’s highest Peak

Early 4.30 am start to beat the heat and ascend Jebel Um Adaami, Jordan’s highest peak (1832m), situated on the border with Saudi Arabia. A relatively easy climb with the most spectacular of views from the summit and a “welcome to Saudi Arabia” beep on the mobile. Soon back in Rum Village for an early lunch and then on the bus for our journey via Aqaba to our Dead Sea Resort Hotel.

On the journey Nader, our outstanding local guide asked us if we had any question on Jordan and Islam, and was very open in his answers - the story about his brothers’ modern arranged marriage was a real insight, even after 33 years of travelling through Muslim countries. As we drove along the border with Israel and then on the shores of the Dead Sea, we started to bump into lots of other tourists. 

Day 7-9 The Dead Sea

The Dead Sea also known by other names, is a salt lake bordered by Jordan to the east and Israel and the West Bank to the west, and is an incredible 400 metres below sea level! This is the lowest point on Earth. Because of its high content of salt in the water it is nearly impossible to actually swim in the Dead Sea, so most just float on the surface. 

Every night we watched the sun go down over the Dead Sea and then the lights of Jerusalem sparkle up in the hill on the distant shore. I am always happy to travel to Jordan and the local people are as friendly as you will find. Jordan is an amazing country, full of beautiful people.