Jordan trip report / potep po Jordaniji

This post here isn’t written by me. Two weeks ago I received greetings from my oldest son and his girlfriend, who were travelling around Jordan.

Tale objava pa ni moja. Pred dvema tednoma sem dobila pozdravčke od mojega sina in njegove punce, ki sta potovala po Jordaniji.

Firstly, as it was already said, I’m the oldest son of the author of this blog. Me and my girl decided to go to Jordan for about ten days, we organised the trip mostly by ourselves, spontaneously. If you decide to visit Jordan, I suggest you buy a Jordan pass, since it includes the Visa fee, visit to Petra and a lot of other sights.

Najprej, kot že rečeno, sem najstarejši sin avtorice tega bloga. Skupaj s punco sva deset dni potovala po Jordaniji. Potovanje sva načrtovala sama, večinoma spontano in sproti. Če se odločite za obisk Jordanije, je priporočljivo kupiti Jordan pass, saj vključuje vizo in vstopnine za obisk znamenitosti.

We began our trip in Amman where our hotel was right opposite of the famous Roman amphitheatre. We started the day with traditional breakfast with a friend living in Jordan. We ate hummus, foul and some other appetizers. A Syrian guy told us later that Arab (Middle east) cuisine is quite similar, you can find the same dishes in Syria and other Arab countries as well. They do have a ton of different ways to eat chickpeas.

Potovanje sva začela v Ammanu, kjer se je nahajal najin prvi hotel in sicer točno nasproti rimskega amfiteatra. Dan smo začeli s tradicionalnim zajtrkom s prijateljico iz Jordanije. Jedli smo humus, foul (jedi iz boba oz. vrste fižola) in druge predjedi. Kasneje so nam pojasnili, da je sirijska kuhinja podobna arabski in da se v obeh deželah prehranjujejo s podobnimi jedmi. Poznajo na tone načinov, kako jesti čičeriko.

Time in Amman was spent mostly walking the bustling streets and chilling while enjoying some black tea with mint, sometimes coffee. Public transportation is not so orderly in Jordan so generally you have two options to travel around the country, you can either rent a car and drive around by yourself or you can go on trips organised by the hotels and other entities. Taxis will also take you longer distances, don’t forget to negotiate every single thing you pay for. Driving yourself means you will have to get used to driving in chaos and using taxis and buses means you will pay a bit more.

V Ammanu sva se sprehajala po živahnih ulicah, in se hladila s črnim čajem z meto, včasih pa s kavo. Ker javni transport v Jordaniji ni ravno urejen, lahko izberete med dvema možnostima za premikanje po državi in sicer lahko bi najeli avto ali koristili izlete, ki so jih organizirali razni hoteli ali drugi ponudniki. Možno je prevažanje s taxiji, kjer je pogajanje za višino plačila močno priporočeno. Pravzaprav se je potrebno pogajati vedno, ko kaj kupite. V primeru, da ste najeli avto, je potrebno upoštevati, da bo vožnja precej kaotična. Če pa potujete s taxijem/busem, bo verjetno malo dražja.

We took two trips organised by the hotel, the first one included Jerash, a city where you can find a lot of well- preserved Greek artifacts. We continued to castle Ajloun and Umm Qais. Even though we were in the north of the country, looking at ruins in the burning sun was quite exhausting and we found it hard to pay attention to all the history around us.

Naslednje dni sva šla na dva izleta, ki ju je organiziral hotel in sicer do mesta Jerash, kjer je veliko dobro ohranjenih artefaktov iz časov Starih Grkov. Obiskali smo tudi grad Ajloun and Umm Qais. Čeprav smo bili na severu države je bilo ogledovanje ruševin pod zgočim soncem precej naporno in le težko smo opazovali spomenike iz preteklosti.

Next day, we personalized our trip a bit and went to Wadi Mujib and Dead Sea. Wadi Mujib is a canyon

where you can hike inside until you eventually reach a waterfall. Be wary you will have to swim as well, however it should not be difficult, if you have some basic experience hiking/climbing. We didn’t have a camera on this hike, but it’s an amazing place to be, so do yourself a favour and google this one for pictures! 

Naslednji dan sva rezerviran izlet prikrojila po svoje in šla do Wadi Mujib in do Mrtvega morja. Wadi Mujib je soteska, po kateri sva po rečni strugi hodila vse do slapa. Malo je treba biti previden, včasih je potrebno plavati. V kolikor imate le malo izkušenj, pot ni preveč zahtevna. Tokrat nisva imela s sabo fotoaparata. Kraj je neverjeten in čudovit in se ga splača videti ali pa vsaj poiskati slike na netu.

Dead sea is a must try, the high concentration of salt causes a bunch of physical phenomenons. It’s hard to swim, you just kind of float at the surface, scars you did not know you had will hurt and be careful  not to get water in your eyes because it burns like hell (it managed to do that in the first 30 seconds of swimming, so congrats to me). It’s only safe to swim during the day, though.

Tudi Mrtvo morje je treba obiskati, saj tu visoka koncentracija soli povzroča kup zanimivih pojavov. Zelo težko je plavati, lahko le nekako lebdiš na gladini. Če imate na koži kakšno ranico, boste začutili pekočo bolečino. Isto se zgodi tudi, če vam voda zaide v oči. To se je meni pripetilo v prvih tridesetih sekundah. Ja pa tam varno plavati le podnevi.

We continued the next day to Wadi Musa (a village located next to Petra) and just relaxed due to my stomach issues. We realised Petra is a huge complex, therefore we took a taxi to the back entrance, where we can see little Petra. There we took a shuttle and an additional hour of walking to get to the monastery. From the monastery we walked to the start (the start is considered to be the visitor’s centre), passing all the sights, including the famous Al Khazneh (treasury). For Petra you’ll need at least one whole day, walking one direction (from end to start) took us around 5 hours. Being there and seeing all Nabatean relics is overwhelming and you realise why this place is considered one of the 7 wonders.

Naslednji dan sva nadaljevala do Wadi Musa (vas v bližini Petre) in zaradi mojega bolečega želodca malo počivala. Petra je ogromen kompleks, zato sva se s taxijem odpeljala do zadnjega vhoda, do male Petre. Z dodatnim prevozom in kar nekaj hoje sva prišla do samostana, od koder sva potem hodila v obratni smeri (torej proti začeku - centru za obiskovalce). Med potjo sva si ogledala znamenitosti, tudi znan Al Khazneh. Da bi si Petro lahko dobro ogledali, je potreben vsaj en celoten dan. Videti nabatejsko zapuščino kar precej prevzame vsakogar in kmalu ti postane jasno, zakaj ta kraj spada med sedem svetovnih čudes.

After Petra we continued to Wadi Rum, the desert. Desert is run by a single large family of Bedouins, people who lived here centuries ago. It’s easy to find and book a camp, where you can stay, and Bedouins will take you on a jeep tour, you can try sandboarding, camel riding and other things. They traditionally make their food underground, covered below sand. When you have some time away from other people, the only sound you will hear is the whooshing of wind.

Po Petri sva nadaljevala v puščavo Wadi Rum, kjer že stoletja živi ena sama velika družina beduinov. Kamp je lahko najti in rezervirati. Z beduini sva šla na ogled z džipom, tu se lahko preizkusite v boardanju po pesku, jahanju kamel in še čim. Tu imajo tradicijo pripravljanja hrane pod zemljo, pod peskom.  Če ti uspe, da nekaj časa ostaneš čisto sam, lahko slišiš edino šumenje vetra.

From Wadi Rum, we continued to our last location, Aqaba. The city is a tourist resort, with little sights, compared to all we’ve seen before. Since the heat was unbearable, we often resorted to playing cards in the hotel - at least during the hottest parts of the day. Best thing to do in Aqaba is scuba diving and trying sea food. Otherwise, I would not recommend staying here more than a day.

Iz Wadi Rum-a sva šla še na zadnjo destinacijo, Aqaba. To je turistično mesto, ki pa ima v primerjavi z že obiskanimi kraji malo znamenitosti. Ker je bila vročina neznosna, sva med najbolj vročim delom dneva v hotelu igrala karte. Najboljša stvar v Aqabi je potapljanje in preizkušanje morske hrane. Če pa tega ne marate, bi bilo tu škoda porabiti več kot en dan.

After Aqaba we returned to Amman and took our flight home. We were amazed by how hospitable and kind Jordanians are, despite occasional tourists luring into buying something. If you need advice or help, they will not hesitate to assist you. It was a vacation well spent, and now we have a couple of new

memories to be fond of.

Po Aqabi sva se vrnila v Amman, od koder sva imela polet domov. Presenečena sva bila nad gostoljubnostjo in prijaznostjo Jordancev. Turiste včasih pregovarjajo v kakšen nakup, če pa potrebuješ nasvet ali pomoč, bodo pomagali brez obotavljanja. Moram reči, da bom imel veliko lepih spominov na te počitnice.