Jordan 2017 : The Land of the Ancient Wonders

Namaste. Jordan has never been in my bucket list; like never ever. But one day, just few weeks before I flew to Iceland, suddenly I thought, what about going to Jordan for a short trip? So my friend, Sham and I quickly did a very brief research about Jordan and tadaaa..two days after that we bought a ticket to this land of prophecy :). Our trip started on the 21st April until 25th April 2017.

Jordan or known as The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is a small country, bordered by Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Syria and Palestine/Israel. It is ruled by my favourite king, King Abdullah.

So basically these are the expenses per person (JOD 100 = USD 140 = SAR 528 = MYR 611) :

- Flight ticket : SAR 1400

- Local tour guide (Issam Majouli) : JOD 490 

- Entrance fee to Petra : JOD 50

- Local Petra guide (one whole day) + mule ride : JOD 100

21/4/2017

Our flight from Riyadh departed at 6.25am and we touched down at Queen Alia International Airport, Amman at 8.30am. We met Issam, our guide at the lobby at 9.30am and we started our itinerary with the Cave of the Seven Sleepers or known as Ashab al Kahf. So Ashab al Kahf is a story about seven pious youths, accompanied by a dog who took refuge in this cave from being persecuted by Trajan for practising monotheism or believing in one God. They fell asleep for 309 years (which they thought they only slept for a day) and soon after their discovery, these people of the cave died and until now, their bones can still be seen in the burial site in the cave. 

This cave is located outside the village of al-Raqim, 10km east of Amman.

There are conflicts of the actual location of the Ashab al Kahf, either in Ephesus, Jordan, Syria or Yemen. However if you face the entrance of the cave in Jordan, the sun moves from right as it rises overhead and drops to the left as it sets towards the horizon, and it can most likely be the one mentioned in Quran.

Issam then took us to Jerash, a Roman settlement (and had been inhabited since the bronze age) but besides being so tired and sleepy, I'm kinda not really excited to go there as this place is almost (maybe) the same like the ones I've seen in Rome, Athens and Ephesus. So Issam took us to the Caravan Hotel in Amman. We slept like a baby once we checked in to the hotel.

In front of the entrance of Jerash with our Bruce Willis look alike guide

We woke up at around 6.30pm and Issam took us for a night tour in Amman. So we had dinner at a local restaurant, and he claimed it to be the most famous local restaurant in Amman (even King Abdullah of Jordan had been there!). For the first time in my life, I fall in love with fallafel. The taste is completely different with the one I ate in Saudi Arabia. After dinner, we strolled down the street and see the night view of the city, including Roman Theatre, Amman citadel and we even walked on the road that was build during the Roman empire. How awesome is that?

Eat like a local!

22/4/17

So this morning Issam picked us up from the hotel at around 8.00am. He took us to Amman citadel and we could see the morning view of Amman from there. From the citadel, he drove us to Mount Nebo. The entrance fee is 2 JOD per person. This place was mentioned in both Quran and Hebrew Bible and it has religious significance to Islam and Christian. It stands approximately 817 metres above the sea level and this is the final resting place of Prophet Musa a.s (Moses)  after leading the 'wandering children of Israel' in the desert for 40 years as a punishment after they refused to enter Jerusalem as ordered by God.

This is the same exact place where prophet Musa a.s looked over the promised land, Jerusalem after God did not allow his people (the Israelis) to enter the place after they disobeyed His order.

On clear days, Jerusalem can be seen from the top of the mountain.

St George's Mosaic Map Church, Madaba

Madaba small town

From the mountain, we drove down to the lowest point on dry land, which is the Dead Sea. The salt lake is bordering Jordan and Israel and the surface and shores of the Dead Sea are 423 metres below sea level. It is 377 metres deep and is 8.6 times saltier than the ocean. I tried to taste the water, and it feels like a combination of super salty and bitter taste in my mouth. The concentration of the salt is too high makes it a harsh environment for animals (I guess this is how it is named after). According to Issam, he paid 35 JOD per person for us for the entrance fee to the place, including lunch.

Those are salt crystals accumulate on the shore and you have to be very careful as it can be sharp and cut your sole. Kena pula luka dengan garam, perghh. 

Everyone smears the Dead Sea mud all over the body and face for health reason and they said the mud can make the skin soft. So I applied it on my face, and my face was actually pulsating and I quickly washed it off my face. I totally forgot that my skin is sensitive to the sea water, what more to the Dead Sea mud. It costs 3 JOD per person for the mud.

This city in which Prophet Lut lived and which was later destroyed is called Sodom in Old Testament. Oh and we met a Malaysian lady here :)

We wanted to stop at Wadi Mujib (entrance 25JOD) but we can't since we need to continue our journey to Petra. So Issam took us there by using a route that is definitely not for tourist. This place is called Wadi Araba and yes, for the whole few hours driving in this place, we could only see not more than 10 cars using this route. This place in unbelievably beautiful, isolated and calm. Issam was like a superstar here; every local Bedouin here knew it was him in the car. Literally from this Wadi Araba to Petra, everybody seemed to know each other. 

Freeway

Elephant Rock

I can actually roll on this road because it was only three of us here

Wild camel

Look at the ground!

When we reached Petra in the evening, I told Issam that I want to ride a mule (donkey+horse) for Petra whole day trip the next day. He introduced us to his friend, Ibrahim who owns few mules. Next, we checked in at My Home Hostel (which I'm not very happy to stay here but it's okay) and we had dinner at the nearby restaurant (I know the restaurant is definitely a tourist-trap). We had spaghetti and drink for 23 JOD but the taste is slightly better than tasteless. Hehe.

23/4/2017

After breakfast, we bought some local breads and cookies and Issam send us to the entrance of Petra at 8.00am. We paid 50 JOD per person and started walking; heading to the Siq. The Siq is the main entrance to the ancient Nabatean city of Petra. It ends at the famous Al Khazneh or known as the Treasury.

Epic exit from the Siq to the Treasury

The beauty of this Siq is beyond word, seriously. One of the most beautiful place I've ever seen.

Amazed with the Siq, we took almost 3 hours to reach the Treasury. Lol. Ibrahim already waited for us with his mules. So we rent two mules and amazingly, I feel like I rode it like a pro. Hehe. Ibrahim took us to see the tombs, the ruined temple, church, palace etc.

4 obelisks show there are 4 tombs inside this huge tomb.

We joined Ibrahim and his mother on this huge rock opposite the Monastery. She made us super nice tea and we shared our bread and cookies with them. Oh and Ibrahim let us try his shisha here.

Me, riding Jameela (beautiful in Arabic) in front of the Monastery.

One of the caves

Coco and the monastery; before Ibrahim's sister told us not to step on the grass. Lol

Indiana Jones

From top of the mountains to this unknown valley, I think Ibrahim took us to every single place here.

After a long hike up this mountain (riding the mule actually), we were surprised to find a very comfortable gazebo here. 

It was so comfortable and cold up here that I actually almost fall asleep. Just look at the view here, simply amazing

Overlooking Aaron's tomb (makam nabi Harun)

The trail here is very steep and I admitted that I was a bit scared (especially when I forgot to buy a travel insurance this time). But the whole place is subhanallah so beautiful. Ibrahim stopped Jameela here so that I could see the beauty of the stone/mountain of this area.

At one point, Ibrahim had to ask me to get down from the mule as the trail is getting steeper and it would be dangerous if I continue riding it. So yes, I had to hike and suddenly I had the urge to go to toilet when Ibrahim told me that there's no toilet around. So, hehehe. 

We were supposed to end our trip in Petra soon after this picture was taken, suddenly Ibrahim made an offer we can't refuse; he offered to cook us dinner in his cave. We said yes!

After I comforted myself, I feel like a warrior again.

Us against the world!

Before heading to his cave, Ibrahim and his friend Salami took us to the Real Tomb to watch sunset. The whole journey from here to the Real Tomb was unbelievably magical as we were riding exactly at the ruined Nabatean and Roman structures. There was this place that the ground was covered with fragments of potteries from ancient Nabatean period. Ibrahim gave me few pieces as souvenir (orang kata jangan bawa balik apa-apa dari tempat kita lawat hehe).

This is the majestic Real Tomb that was carved from the stone/mountain, just like the other ancient Nabatean structures. I had a very special moment here, watching sunset peacefully and weirdly there's no other visitor here except us and about 6 local Bedouins here.

Rasa kerdil betul berada di sini

I would say Bedouins from Petra are among the best host I've ever met. Generally the Bedouins are very nice people and they speak good English.

After watching the sunset, Ibrahim and Salami took us to their cave for dinner. That was my first time to chill inside the cave, and it was awesome. Salami and Ibrahim prepared chicken with onion, tomatoes and potatoes in the cave and since there's no electrical supply there, they prepared the food with the aid of candlelight and phone torch. How cool is that? Hehe.

Ibrahim's cave; it is so comfortable.

Salami preparing dinner for us.

When we finished eating, it was already dark outside. We were a bit scared but Subhanallah, the sky was clear and there were million stars. Sumpah cantik sampai rasa tak nak balik. So it's time to go back. The night was pitch-black and we had to ride the mule in the dark night down the mountain. Scary woh. We arrived at the Petra backgate at around 10.00pm and we had to go back to the hotel by the anti-riot police vehicle as there was riot in Petra and people were burning tyres on the road etc lol.

24/4/2017

Our destination for today is to Wadi Rum (Wadi Rum protected area), the largest wadi in Jordan. It is one of the world heritage site. We spent 2 days and 1 night here, sleeping inside the tent. We stayed in Wadi Rum Caravan Camp, not so far away from the filming location of The Martian. Entrance fee is 5 JOD per person, that includes transportation (4 wheel drive inside the wadi rum). There were not many people staying at the camp area that day, it was only both of us and a lady from Netherlands. We had nice conversation (I love to have conversation with complete strangers during travel; some has good understanding about different kinda religions, which is one of my favourite topic).

Wadi Rum Caravan Camp area

This is how we spend our day here. It was very hot inside our tent so we decided to chill under the open tent. We thought it was gonna be hot here, but it was unbelievably comfortable (maybe because it was windy). And there were many friendly cats here.

It was so quiet and comfortable that I think this is a very good place for writers or someone who wants to read. I swear, this place is super comfy and quiet.

At around 4.45pm, a young Bedouin guy came with his 4WD and we got to ride at the back carrier (or whatever it is called). It was a very fun and wild ride crossing the desert which offered so much spectacular views; I would say this is one of my favourite new spot. We stopped at few spots to see the petroglyphs from the ancient Nabateans. Well the feeling of being able to see, to touch and to be at the places that has been known as places of ancient civilization is just beyond words. Atau dalam kata lain, tak terungkap dengan kata-kata la. Haa macam tu. 

Petroglyphs from Nabateans - those are carvings of camels

Lawrence of Arabia

Sand dunes of Wadi Rum.

Perfect weather to explore the desert. It's windy here so you gotta protect your eyes from the sand.

Amazing rock formation

Coco, the sheikh and his camels hehe

This is one of my two favourite sunset watching spot other than Mykonos, Greece. The weather was perfect and there were only two of us, a couple from US and their guide. Picturesque! 

We went back to our tent after sunset and ready for our dinner prepared by the Bedouin people. Usually there will party by the campfire; visitors and local people will be dancing, drinking, chatting etc but unfortunately there were not many visitor staying there, therefore we decided to just drink tea, chill under the tent and finally we celebrated my friend's birthday with cakes bought by Issam. That night we slept in the goat hair tent and it was soooo freaking cold even with extra blankets on.

Happy birthday maganda!

25/4/2017

We woke up early this morning because our actual plan was to ride the hot air balloon (130 JOD per person). Unfortunately Issam told us that the ride had been cancelled so we decided to leave Wadi Rum early as we need to catch our flight back home. We had breakfast and left this beautiful place at around 8.00am. We bid farewell with the guy who work in the camp area and headed to Amman. On the way back, we stopped at a huge souvenir shop. Souvenir yang wajib beli is sand bottles from Petra (there are many in Amman and other places but I think there's big difference in quality. I bought 1 in in Jerash with cheaper price and the bottle was broken into pieces even after I covered it with clothes.)

The one given by Issam. Thanks brother!

I think I will come to Petra and Wadi Rum again insha Allah, and in Wadi Rum I will hire a local guide to explain every single thing here and take me to the Nabatean temple and catch the sunset again. Sesiapa yang berminat untuk bermalam di Wadi Rum, rasanya boleh tengok di link ni. Wiki travel je tapi ada contact number semua:

http://wikitravel.org/en/Wadi_Rum

Till then, ciao and thanks for reading. Please excuse my grammatical error, typing error, mixed language etc. Hehe