I can’t believe it’s taken me almost a year to write about our Jordan trip. It is difficult to put into words how extraordinary and special this trip was. Jordan has been near the top of the list of places to visit ever since I read about Petra as a little girl. Though we’ve been living in the Gulf for 7 years, most of our holidays are back to our home countries of UK, Ghana and Trinidad and Tobago.
After the relentless skyscrapers and newness of Doha, Amman appeared as the archetypal desert city: dusty, greyish brown, higgledy-piggledy juxtaposition of old and new. The day after we landed we were off on our travels as I had packed a lot into our trip though there were vast swathes of the country we were not going to be able to see. Yet, I felt like a movie actor constantly moving from one spectacular location to the next.
The site of the Baptism of Jesus saddened me as Palestine/Israel was just across the river Jordan but we could not cross – so much still separates us. This feeling resurfaced at Mt Nebo, as we looked over to Canaan as Moses did all those centuries ago. Aqaba had the same feeling as we looked across the water to Tel Aviv. My one disappointment with this trip was the glass bottomed boats to see coral and fish which I felt was a rip off though I know the locals need to make a living.
The Dead Sea was lots of fun. Though my younger son refused to enter I’ll always treasure the picture of my older son and husband looking like they’re going to J’ouvert covered in black mud. We also visited Madaba, Kerak and Shobab Castles ruins – spectacular but the boys saw them as mostly ready-made climbing frames.
Petra with kids was a challenge as there is a lot of walking. I felt sorry for our guide as our boys didn’t really appreciate the talents of the Nabateans and we had to cut the tour short. Yes it’s crowded but yes it is worth visiting. Many have done much better descriptions than I could possibly. The engineering feats take your breath away even if some of it is recognizable as several scenes from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade were filmed there.
We sat in the shade and in awe of our ancestors’ political, economic and engineering nous while the kids clambered up and rocketed down the natural playground provided by the rocks. That night the rain prevented my husband and I from doing Petra by candlelight. The next day we visited Little Petra, more tranquil and an opportunity to engage with some Bedouin locals. .
I must return to Wadi Rum to decide whether I prefer the sunset or the sunrise there. As an island girl, the beach is my preferred holiday location but Wadi Rum enraptured me with its magnificence and beauty. Mountains were layers of raspberry ripple ice cream curving into gorges filled with rose coloured undulations of sand while hardy bushes punctuated with strokes of brown and green.
We glamped in the desert, listening to a mix of Arabic and Western popular music and feasting on sand-baked lamb. The next morning I stole away to climb a dune, the cold wind almost deterred me but I’m glad I persevered, for the reward of the sun’s greetings over the red mountains. I communed with the universe because faced with these stunning structures; I was convinced again of the Master Engineer’s existence.
Reluctantly, we headed back to the capital. Our last day was spent at the citadel in Amman which confronts you with the seeming insignificance of your existence, as its history is recorded by the remains of a Temple of Hercules, a Byzantine church, and the Umayyad Palace. This introspection and reverence was soon broken by local kids playing hide and seek among the treasures – to them it’s a vast and thrill-inducing play area. It was Easter Sunday and we’d attended mass officiated by an American priest amidst a multi-ethnic congregation. We were in traditional Ghanaian clothing and soon became part of the attractions so we’re in countless Chinese and Japanese tourists’ videos and photos.
A few special mentions are necessary:
The staff at the Jordan embassy in Qatar. I admit a Jordanian colleague called them to verify the process and accompanied me to the embassy, yet the staff were welcoming and did not act as if they were doing me a favour. I’ve been to quite a few embassies where I almost considered cancelling my trip because of how I was treated.
Secondly, the amazing customer services of Qatar Airways, who retrieved my younger son’s lost toy dog from Queen Alia airport. We have pictures of him being reunited with it at Hamad International Airport. The dog is now named Jordan and he keeps asking when we are going back there.
And to the wonderful Jordania Aventura Company and especially to our driver, Suleiman who was a very knowledgeable ambassador for his country and company.
I am tempted to find an adjective beginning with every letter of the alphabet to describe Jordan but that would hyperbolic but the country truly lives up to such overused words as astounding, surreal and xenial. You’ll just have to go see yourself!
photo of Wadi Rum – http://www.rgbstock.com/gallery/criscris1
When are you going?
