Kilims

There is no other way to call my journey through Jordan than a DREAM. First of all a dream coming true, because I have been dreaming of visiting Petra for such a longtime that I can’t even count the years; but it was also a dream itself, a place where I completely disconnected from the world and finally deeply connected with myself. I am not the same person who arrived in Jordan more than a month ago as this trip has changed me in a way that I didn’t expect: everything was suddenly finding its place in my life while new chaos emerged but it was a good chaos, a creative one, lifeblood for my thoughts and dreams.

It will be hard for me to give you tips and telling you the story of this trip without connecting it to the emotions that I felt.

For this reason I decided to split the journey in four posts, the main stops of this trip: Madaba and the Dead Sea, Petra, Wadi Rum desert and Amman.

Let’s start from day one: Madaba and the Dead Sea.

Once landed in Amman, we rented a car at the airport and started our trip towards the Southern Jordan starting from a quick stop in Madaba to visit the famous mosaic map of Saint Georges church and to buy kilims, the typical Jordanian rugs handmade here, another reason why this city is very famous. Situated at just 30 minutes by car from Amman I really suggest a visit to this lovely town as it gives you a delicate first approach to Jordan with its beautiful churches and mosques before getting to the “real” Jordanian adventure. We stopped here only a few hours in the morning (just the time to visit the oldest Palestine mosaic map in the world and buy a red keffiyeh and a kilim!). Madaba is hospital, peaceful and full of history, it was great to hang around visiting churches (they are all very close to each other) and to meet locals, who are very proud of their city and willing to give you all type of information! Artisan Street is perfect for your first shopping in Jordan and definitely cheaper compared to Petra.

But it was when we left Madaba and started the Kings Road heading to the Dead Sea that we started understanding what to expect from Jordan. The most beautiful views were in front of us and they didn’t leave us until we arrived in Wadi Musa that night. I cannot describe the beauty of this road with canyons and valleys on one side and the beautiful view of the Dead Sea with its turquoise water and white salt on the other side. We stopped hundreds of times to take pictures or make videos or just stay there and admire the incredible work of the nature in silence. The first day in Jordan was already leaving us speechless.

We joined the Dead Sea, the lowest point on Earth, around 400m under the sea level around two o’clock: as it is difficult to find a place to access directly to the sea we stopped at one of the many resorts along the sea, the Amman beach. We went for this one because it was less crowded with tourists and many Jordanians use to go there to enjoy a couple of hours at the beach. Floating on this sea was one of my dreams since I was a kid and studied it at school: the experience is incredible because the high concentration of salt in the sea not only doesn’t allow life in the sea but also won’t let you swim because you are constantly floating! Right on the other side you can admire Israel and if you are lucky enough (we were!) you can try for few JODs the famous Dead Sea muds on your skin. I suggest you try this because between the salt and the mud you will have the softest skin ever (I also had Turkish Baths, scrub and massages in Amman and Wadi Musa…I had the best skin I ever had in my life in just 5 days!).

After a quick late lunch and a last “bath” in the sea we took back the Kings Road to Wadi Musa: hours of silence and meditation along the most amazing road I have ever gone down. Jordan was already revealing its secrets and was starting to change my molecules…

We arrived in Wadi Musa just in time for dinner at the Red Cave: we ate mensaf, the typical Jordanian dish made with lamb, rice, yoghurt and pine nuts, Jordanian sweets and had a lot of Bedouin tea (I didn’t know yet that I was going to drink liters of Bedouin tea for the next three days!). Petra was waiting for us on the next day!