Last time we concluded with the Dead Sea, so we should start this time with a very much alive sea, which brings us to Aqaba, on the Red Sea coast – better said the Aqaba Bay shared by Egypt, Israel, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
Aqaba is a nice town, I’d surely recommend as the base for exploration of Jordan, as it is a fairly small country. Also, the world famous sights of Petra, attracting over half a million tourists a year, is only some 100 kilometres away and the Wadi Rum desert only 70, so you can see most of the sights – except for the capital and Salt from Aqaba.
Aqaba has about 100.000 people, but despite its size it resembles something out of 1001 Arabian nights. The streets are narrow and full of shops and restaurants and draw you in, and a local spice seller starts talking to you preparing a right mixture for food in front of your eyes. You’ll find shops full of spices, herbs, teas, nuts, coffee and traditional trinkets, still most shops will offer clothing and plastic you can find everywhere in the world. You will not go hungry as they will take good care of your stomach as well, for there is a broad range spanning from various street stands to exclusive high-class restaurants. But filling your stomach will not revile the full sense of Aqaba just yet. The best thing about the Red Sea is its temperature, which is always above 21 degrees centigrade. When you combine this with the rich underwater world, you’ll see it’s a true heaven for divers, all year round. There are so many diving centres along the coast and everybody is licensed to give you the certification for scuba diving – and they are even prepared to take on total newbies.
With all said, I feel I should recommend you a place to sleep, so I suggest a
Youth Hostel, which is on the »Southern beach street«, you can book online at
www.hihostels.com where you can get a three bedded room with a shower and toilet for 20€, or a bit more than 6€ per person.
Wadi Rum, is part of the UNESCO world heritage and a place you simply must visit. For those who love old films, it’s important to know it’s the place where Lawrence of Arabia was filmed back in the 1962, with Peter O’Tool in the lead. You should take at least half a day to visit Wadi Rum and don’t forget to bring lots of water with you, as the temperatures can get unbearable. But no matter how hot, Wadi Rum, the Dead Sea and Petra are a must for all visitors coming to Jordan.
The cherry on top
Petra. Indiana Jones and the final crusade was filmed in Petra, one of the biggest world-wide tourist attractions, but the city was a world tourist attraction long before already.
Petra, naturally on the UNESCO heritage list, is on the elevation between 800 and 1350 meters above sea level and half way between Aqaba and the Dead Sea in the mountains of Edoma. Petra is a city carved into the bedrock, with evidence of settlement for over 10.000 years back in the past. The city itself started taking shape, when Persians were conquering Palestine, followed by the Nabetanians, who settled the region around Edoma. At first they were raising cattle, but soon realized the important strategic location of their area, as Petra is the cross point where trade routes meet. So they started controlling the trade routes, which was the beginning point of their civilization.
Thus the city of
Petra began growing five millennia ago, but since our online magazine is not a historical paper, let me just share the link, where you can read more about Petra
www.visitjordan.com.
Helpful hints: The least possible time you should take to visit Petra is 4 to 5 hours, but it’s better to plan for a longer visit, if you’re not only interested in seeing the main building – the treasury. You can buy tickets for two days, or even a three day ticket – and not without reason, for there really is a lot to discover. And the Jordan hosteling has taken good care of interested visitors, because Petra has a good
Youth Hostel, where you can get a three bedded room for the price of 23€.
And some more general tips about Jordan
True, Jordan is an Islamic country, but it’s one of the most liberal Islamic countries in the world. Most restaurants and cafes will, however, not serve alcoholic beverages, but you can find some that offer a cool beer in the desert heat – just really, never drink and drive as the hot sun will make even the more seasoned drinkers far less secure than usual.
You will need about one week for a quick tour of Jordan (if you rent a car) or at least 10 days if traveling by public transport. In case there’s a group of you (at least three) it is still less expensive to rent, as well as the fastest and most comfortable mode of transport. You should rent already at the airport as the taxi fare from the airport to the city will cost about as much as a daily rent of the car. Main roads are mostly well kept and not problematic.
With all the prices changing daily, it’s hard to recommend which air company to take, so you should keep browsing for bargains and get an early ticket for the time of your visit. But if you’re planning a trip for May, at the moment I’m writing this the price from Trieste is around 364€.
