Jordan – Day 1

Tags

Audley travel, international travel, Jerash, Jordan travel, travel, travel with children, travel with kids

Air travel can be incredibly tedious. Flying with a 10 year old can be fun and it can be one lousy experience. Miss Cranky-pants can rear her ugly head after an 8 hour flight while having a 4 hour layover and life just has no sunshine. Most of the time my daughter is a pretty good traveller. So heading over to Jordan was more fun than not.

We got into Amman late in the evening and were met by a friendly face and welcoming person who got us through all the necessary paperwork before we even landed. One gets a visa to travel in Jordan upon landing rather than dealing with the whole business of applying through the foreign embassy for other countries. We were then handed over to the man who would help make our trip even better than we were thinking it would be – our driver! Audley Travel works with local travel agencies in the countries they work with to create wonderful packages that are geared toward the kind of experiences their clientele want. The agency in Amman gave us, at least in our humble opinions, their best.

Now, we’re people person so we can get on with just about anyone, but over the years we’ve learned from our journeys about those are there just doing what they’ve been told to do and those that really enjoy and care about what they do. Our driver is one of the later. He wanted to know about us as he drove us from airport to hotel, we wanted to know about him. This crucial few moments helped us decide how to proceed – it was like finding an immediate friend in Jordan. He was/is very experienced at what he does. Now that we’re on the other end of things reflecting back, I don’t think we went anywhere where he wasn’t known, recognised, greeted with warmth and affection by peers and managers alike – that told us heaps.

We stayed at the Intercontinental Hotel, which has a more traditional feel about it than some of the other options, at least that’s what mum said. Since she’d worked in Amman in 2009/10 we took her word for it and enjoyed. It is a lovely hotel. The staff is gracious and helpful. The room was very clean and very comfortable. The only down side was the view out the window was a cement courtyard that looked like it was used for storage of things and a cement wall. So, it wasn’t the view we might have longed for, but the other aspects of the hotel made up for the lack of view. AEB enjoyed the pool, the breakfast buffet was a nice mix of traditional foods and foods for those with more western tendencies. It was wedding season so we got to see the pool area set up for a reception, it meant the pool closed early which was a bummer, but the glamour of the set-up and the guests almost made up for it in AEB’s mind. In the evening we ate at one of the hotel restaurants, a Mexican one in fact. The food was authentic and the frozen margarita potent and delicious! Our table was outside and had a view of the pool area which was set up for that evening’s wedding reception. As the evening went on and the sun began to set the hookahs were brought out and the smell of fruity tobacco wafted through the air.

Our fist day’s excursion was out to see the ancient ruins of Jerash. Wow! We had a guide take us around and he was really very good. He took his time and really talked to AEB throughout and had her try to imagine how things were in the past. Seeing the Roman ruins reminds one just how expansive the Roman Empire really was. Having grown up with stories of the Bible I heard all this. I studied World History. I’ve taught World Literature and Theatre History. But to go and see is a different experience. To stand among the ruins puts it all in a different perspective than a book, a movie, or a map even could.

Hadrian’s Gate 129 AD

our guide

the North Theatre, nice orchestra area

bagpipes in Jordan – who knew?!

the South Theatre, “Amazing Grace” and “Yankee Doodle”!

 

I will end with an aside about tipping. In Jordan tipping is part of life – it’s expected. And that’s fine. We knew that it would be something to budget into our planning for travel. We were given a very good tipping guide to follow, at our discretion, while being guided and toured around. We also double checked with our driver who was very helpful with this and very firm about what he thought certain folk should be getting and why. His thoughts were pretty in line with the guide we had been by Audley, which was good to have confirmed. The problem with tipping comes when the expectations for a tip are based on nationality. Americans, apparently, are notorious for over tipping – not so great for a budget conscious family. Brits are known for being tight with the purse strings as are other European nations. It was a bit of a disappointment for some of our guides to realise that our tips were to be along the lines of what were were told were the “norm” for tipping rather than what they hoped to be the big tip from the Americans.

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Jordan – a teaser post

Tags

Feynan Ecolodge, international travel, Jerash, Jordan travel, Kerak Castle, Madaba, Petra, Shawbak Castle, travel, travel with children, travel with kids, Wadi Rum

We just got back in last night, so jet-lag is pressing hard upon my heels.

Wi-fi/internet was rough going so I stored up my experiences in my heart and wrote a few things down to try to jog the old grey cells upon our return.

In the meantime, here are a few pictures to tease you with while I recover my brain power enough to write coherently enough that the autocorrect on the computer doesn’t keep changing every third or fourth word I write…

 

hitting the trail – a new adventure!

Tags

Audley travel, Dana Nature Reserve, international travel, Jerash, Jordan travel, Madaba, Petra, The Quirky Traveller, travel, travel with children, travel with kids, Wadi Rum

So, Monday we’ll set off on our latest family adventure abroad. I am happy to say that we are not ever as bad as the Griswold family. However, getting everything organised and the lists of “things to no forget”, “things to take”, “things to leave for the house sitter” seem to ever grow. Somehow it will all get done, or not. Somehow we’ll leave without something, but we’ll pick something else up in our travels. Somehow we’ll make it all work and it will be a good trip.

This year we’re heading off to a locale chosen by mum. Over 5 years ago she had the joy of working in Jordan on a project that allowed her sometime to visit the wonders of the country, but she saved a few bits in hopes that she’d be abel to bring her family with her at some point. Now is the time! The nice part is that she’ll have the chance to see some of the people she worked with and see how far they have come since the fledgling days of mum’s involvement. That will be wonderful.

We decided to work with a travel agency to plan the trip since we knew we had little time and there was much we wanted to fit into the time allowed – read here, the amount of vacation time allowed by my place of employment. We worked with Audley Travel, an agency we found through a great travel blog, The Quirky Traveller. As we were planning and thinking about travelling to Jordan this summer, Zoë Dawes, the Quirky Traveller herself was exploring the wonders of Jordan. Seeing her pictures and reading her descriptions of her journey were inspiring. (I highly recommend following her if you like travel blogs.) Audley was great in helping us make the most of our time and trying to get in as much as possible as well as making the visits to the sites interesting and thoughtful. They work with local partners and are always trying to give an experience with the most local colour they can without breaking one’s budget. The person we worked with was wonderful, helpful, and did all she could to try to create a package that would do what we wanted for our time. We have 10 days and are they FULL! We’ll need a vacation from our vacation, but it will be worth it!

We get to start our time in Amman where mum will get to reconnect with former colleagues and we’ll get to go out and explore Jerash. I thought I’d share what we’re up to since I am not taking my laptop. I’m going “old school” and leaving most of the tech behind, except for the camera and the phone in case of emergency and so the girl can chat with her father if she wants. So, Jerash first!

Jerash hosts Greco-Roman ruins of an impressive quality. When you’re not in Rome and you’re not seeing temple after temple I suppose one can enjoy it a bit more. However, we’ll get to explore the temple ruins and the museum. It will be a nice way to start the combat against jet-lag!

From Amman we’ll travel to Petra. On the way we’ll get to stop off at Madaba and see the mosaics there. One of the mosaics is a map of Madaba during the 6th century. From Madaba we’ll travel to Mount Nebo where Moses, of Old Testament/Pentateuch fame, got his first glimpse of the Holy Land. The final stop before Petra will be Kerak (or Karak) Castle. Which was started in 1140 during the time of the Crusades. The location was perfect for controlling Bedouin herders as well as trade from Damascus, Egypt and Mecca.

Petra! Already you’re having visions of “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade”, aren’t you? At least those of you familiar with western action films. It’s probably where most of the West knows of the “Red City”. Apparently there’s quite a business set up around the film for tourists – you can replace Harrison Ford in pictures, etc. We’ll probably not be exploring the High Place of Sacrifice since our girl is rather sensitive, as am I come to think of it! She’s fine with battle scenes so long as they involve critters and not humans. She’s an avid fan of Brian Jacques’ Redwall series, but not keen on seeing the rest of Harry Potter past the first film since they are people, even if they are wizards and actors at that! We’ll have two days at Petra. The first day will be with a guide and then the next we’ll be free to explore on our own. Mum has visions of donkey rides up to explore some of the other tomb sites. A. has visions of a camel ride. We’ll see who wins.

Following Petra we’ll head down the road to Wadi Rum (The Valley of the Moon) – used as a major film location site for “Lawrence of Arabia” with Peter O’Toole. If you haven’t seen it – do it! On the way there we’ll stop off and visit the Shawbak Castle, also dating back to the ear of the Crusades. It was built by Baldwin I, the first Crusader ruler of Jerusalem in 1115. The crusades has never been a favourite period of history from me. Somehow stories of going to battle to force the “heathen” to surrender the Christ just doesn’t set well with me. Well, any battle in the name of God/Allah doesn’t really set well with me, so I get the idea that the Crusades isn’t seen in the same “glamorous” light as perhaps it is in the West. While we’re at Wadi Rum we’ll get a jeep tour of the area and some parts with archaeological interest. For the night we’ll get to stay in Bedouin-ish style tents. It’s as close to camping out as you will find me. Please don’t think that I’m above pitching a tent and cooking over an open fire. I’m not. I just have yet to go out on a camping trip that didn’t find me soaking wet and miserable. If you can promise me sunny skies, dry kit and a fire that’s not smoking because the wood is wet I’ll be there. Otherwise, I think I’ll pass. So, as they say in the UK, we’ll be “glamping” – glamorous camping – in large tents with en suite bathrooms. I totally approve, and having been looking at the website of the campsite, so does my girl! It’s only one night, but we’ll still have miles before we’ve done with Jordan this time around.

Next up we head off towards the Dana Nature Reserve where we’ll stay at the Feynan Lodge and enjoy a glimpse at Bedouin life. We thought the girl would particularly enjoy this part of the trip as we’ll visit a family and learn a bit about life as a Bedouin, make coffee strong enough to grown hair on your chest and make traditional bread, and to make kohl to protect our eyes from the desert sun. The reserve is run by the Jordanian government and was started to tray and help create an industry that would help financially support the Bedouin peoples of the region and to be ecologically responsible. The Feynan Lodge is made of traditional brick and solar powered. There’s no air-con, they rely on air passing through the open spaces of the lodge. At night everything is lit by oil lamp and candle lit at night. The roof top is open for star-gazing. I guess we’ll get to see just how many descendants Abraham was promised in Genesis. The star gazing is the next major highlight of the trip!

The next morning finds us head out and off to the Dead Sea, with a stop off at Lot’s Caves, where Lot and his daughters (no wife, we know what happened to her) lived after fleeing Sodom and Gomorrah, along the way. A. is especially looking forward to taking a dip in the Dead Sea to know what it’s like to be in water where you can’t sink, you can’t really swim in it either, but she’ll learn that the experiential way since she imagines she’ll be able to swim. During our time at the Dead Sea we’ll also get to have an excursion out to Bethany on the Jordan. It’s an active archeological site as well as the place that most archeologist agree is most likely the site of John the Baptist’s preaching and baptising. There’s no real way of knowing exactly where, but they think that since the water is pooled and not swift moving like it is on the Israeli side that it’s the most likely spot. Either way, I’m looking forward to seeing the site and exploring the area.

Then it’s back home. It’s gonna be a whirlwind, but what an adventure!