First week of 2020 back to work and it was tough! But for the first time, not because of getting back to work after the holiday and the same Dilemma that should we quit 8 to 4 kind of job and go travelling full time? It has been a rough week back home in Iran, as everything escalated with the government and we literally went into the war with United states and few hours after that, our defense force, shot down an airplane left 176 people killed. That’s a short version of what happened back in Iran within 24 hours which probably won’t happen anywhere else in a century, it just drained us too much mentally that I couldn’t do anything productive rather than listening to the news. Today I decided to be more productive and get back to our Jordan diary to lift up my mood and at least feel like I’ve done something useful. So here is it, our first day in Jordan diary!
Arriving to Amman:
We had almost a full day in Beirut before flying to Amman. We left Beirut at around 8:00 pm flying with Royal Jordanian and landed in Amman around 10 pm. Plane was full with only few tourists on board. Getting off the plane, it’s obvious that Amman airport is equipped to make it straight forward for tourists. Right before the passport check, there is a booth for obtaining visa. No matter you have a Jordan Pass or just need a visa, an stop to visa booth is required. Another quick stop for passport control and then it is a luggage claim. While we were waiting to get our backpacks, there were few ATM machines and many exchange offices. It’s quite confusing flying from Lebanon to Jordan in terms of currency. 1 NZD was equal to 1000 Lebanese Pound and then in Jordan, 1 NZD was only 0.47 JD and it takes a while to get used to it. We got our money sorted, got our backpacks and then I went to buy a SIM card while Amir was sorting out our rental car. It didn’t take more than half an hour and I was impressed with the honesty of Jordanians right from the beginning. I was willing to buy a SIM card with more data in it but the seller insisted on a cheaper option and promised me that it will be enough for a week and it was!! He could easily charge us for more. The rental car staff were super nice, friendly and helpful so we were off to a great start to our Jordan adventure!
Planning for the Late Arrival in a New Country:
Well getting late to a new country can be challenging especially when driving to a destination is part of a deal. I knew that we don’t want to stay in Amman or visit Jerash roman ruins so there was no point to drive to the middle of a big city late at night to stay over night. So we decided to stay in Madaba and start from there the next morning. We found a lovely hotel called Black Iris with only 70 NZD for a night. And yes, comparing to the cost of accommodation in Jordan, that was a really good deal with plenty of parking space available outside and very basic but comfortable rooms. They were too kind and wait for us till midnight for our late check in. We had a good night sleep to hit the road in the morning. Definitely good choice to stay in Madaba.
Visiting Mount Nebo:
Driving west from Madaba toward Jordan Valley highway to reach to the dead sea, we stopped to see Mount Nebo. It’s almost half an hour drive from Madaba city center on the highest point of the road, from there, it is easy to see the whole valley all the way to the dead sea and even Jerusalem on a clear day. It’s an iconic site in Christianity. It is mentioned in the bible that god showed Moses the promise land ( Land of Kanaan ) and he is buried there.
There were few tourist buses stopping for visit but it wasn’t busy at all. A new church has been build at the location of the original church and the mosaic work has been preserved nicely inside. It worth a visit on the way to the Dead Sea. They didn’t accept Jordan Pass but the entrance fee was only few dollars.
Heading to the Dead Sea:
What an amazing day so far, couldn’t believe that we were in Beirut the day before and we flew to Jordan over night, drove to Madaba, spend a night there, visited Mount Nebo and it was already 10:00 am in the morning. Driving downhill from Mount Nebo on a windy road, Dead Sea glows in the horizon after half an hour drive. The road turns left and continues on the eastern side of the Dead Sea from the north to the south.
All the Dead Sea Resorts are stretching on the northern side of the dead sea and there are almost the only places that you can reach the water. Well there are few public beaches like O beach which you still can pay a reasonable entrance fee and soak in the dead sea., but I haven’t read nice feedback on it, and we’ve seen few people at Wadi Rum, who tried it and definitely regret it. Passing through the beach, it looked super busy as well.
We didn’t want to stay overnight in resorts to have access to the beach with the hefty cost of couple of hundreds of dollars for one night.
The only reasonable solution that I found was daily pass to one of the Dead Sea resorts. Some of the resorts offer day passes to access the beach and the pools, but it needs to be checked, because they keep changing the rules based on the season and also week days. These resorts are popular with locals on the weekends and sometimes they don’t offer day passes.
Even Day passes are expensive considering what is on offer!.
After lots of research we knew that we are heading to Ramada Resort. It’s the first resort on the north side of Dead Sea. Even this resort which sounds reasonable in terms of price, costed us 80 NZD each. But at least it gives you access to pools, shower, minibus ride to the beach from the resort, towel and buffet lunch.
We got there around 11:00 am. They let us in after checking the car for explosives!!! and passing all our stuff and ourselves through the X-ray!!! Sounded extreme for the first day but it shows how sensitive the whole situation is that close to the Israeli border.
We were only probably 5 to 6 people on the beach and it was perfect. Easy to soak in the water, cover ourselves in the mud and soak again. As soon as you get out of water, you soon realize that you need to take a shower, The mud and salt sticked to my curly hair and I really don’t know how some people suggested soaking into the dead sea out of the resorts and wash yourself with a bottle of water. It definitely doesn’t work!!! The smell of the mud and water won’t go away without a proper shower too. When we had enough of the Dead Sea we got back to the resort to cool down in the pool, take a shower, have a lunch and head back to the road again.
It sounded lots of money to swim in the dead sea but after trying it, I think there’s no other way than paying the money really. At least this resort, that we tried it was half the price of Movenpick resort for example and did the job for us. Driving south by the dead sea, it’s packed with 5 star resorts that have access to all the accessible beaches and there’s no way to enjoy it for free.
The more south we drove, the Dead Sea scenery became more interesting and less people were on the road. All the locals that we met on the road were extremely helpful and no one tried to over charge us for anything.
We passed Wadi Mujib Reserve on southern side of the dead sea but we didn’t have enough time to explore it. That’s the only site that I really wish that we could have seen on our Jordan trip and we missed it.
We had an airbnb booked in a middle of nowhere in a village on the hill tops of Kerak. There were not many photos or information available on the site but it was the only off the beaten path place available close to the dead sea and we decided to give it a go. We just knew that the son of the family who is not living in the village, rent a room in his parent’s place in a village and he told us, don’t expect the hotel quality and it will be a share space with his parents. It looked like what we were looking for and we were on our way there.
Again with Jordan’s standard, two night stay in a village middle of nowhere with minimum facilities cost us 100 NZD per night.
It took almost 45 minutes off the main road to get to Rakez house on the hill top. It happenned to be the week that his wife was not home either so it ended up to be three of us. Amir and I plus Rakez and the google translate of course.
For some reason, it was a weird airbnb stay. The location was amazing though, kind of what we were looking for.
Rakez kindly took us for a ride to watch the sunset over the Dead Sea and it worth the whole drive to his village. The view was priceless.
We got back from the sunset, bought Okra and chicken for the dinner and drove back to his place for a great dinner. We dropped dead after the dinner. What an amazing first day in Jordan!!! Couldn’t ask for more.
