QUICK TRAVEL GUIDE: VISTING JORDAN
WELCOME TO JORDAN
Jordan is one of the most beautiful tourist destinations in the middle east. It is famous for its seaside resort, nature reserves, and amazing architecture. This ancient Arab land stands with exciting scenery and momentous relics. Find out about it here.
ENTRY
Foreigners need to have a valid visa and a passport before they arrive in Jordan. You can apply for a visa at a Jordanian Embassy, or you can book a tour with a travel agency in Jordan. The organization will do everything to make sure your visa is in order.
BORED? CHECK OUT THESE PLACES
From Museums to stores, malls to hotels to conference places, Jordan holds interesting destinations. There is somewhere for the old and young to visit. Places that elicit fascination and places for them to relax.
MUSEUMS
The Jordan Museum is a national Museum focused on Jordan’s archaeological and cultural heritage. Other museums abounding with cultural history include The Jordan Folklore Museum, The Jordan National Gallery of fine arts, and The Royal Tank Museum. The Royal Tank Museum houses over 120 tanks with its focus primarily on Jordan’s military history. Come and learn about ancient Jordanian history.
BUY! BUY! BUY!
Street shopping is quite popular in Jordan. If you love street shopping, Al Balad is where you should be heading to. It is the heart of the city as its streets are always busy and bubbling with activities. You will always hear loud music playing here for entertainment and you can get souvenirs for your trip here. Perfumes, trinkets, scarves, anything at all! Buy into culture & rich traditions.
The Mecca Mall is another wonderful place to shop. You can get anything here from grocery to books to clothes (please note that Jordan is a Muslim country and tourists should dress decently). It derives its name from the street upon which it stands — Mecca Street. It is one of the biggest shopping malls in Jordan and it also has a food court should you get tired or hungry after shopping. You can grab a bite of juicy Jordanian food.
Souk Jara is a market in Amman, beside Rainbow street. It is a place to find some great art, food, streetwear, antiques, and handicrafts.
TASTE THE FOOD
Jordan — because of its location on the world map — has culinary influences from the Middle East, North Africa, Persia, and the Mediterranean. Mansaf is a dish of tender meat layered with paper-thin bread and rice. Toasted nuts garnish the meal and it is eaten with more flatbread and bowls of jameed. Jameed is a tangy yogurt sauce. It is Jordan’s national dish and it is served on a large platter for communal eating.
Falafel can go for breakfast or as a late-night snack. The crisp balls are a combination of ground chickpeas with a variety of spices. It is then deep-fried into a mini patty-like shape. It is one of the most common street snacks in Jordan.
Fattet hummus is another popular meal. It is a combination of bread (soaked in broth to make it completely dissolvable), hummus, tahini, and lemon juice. You can make it with regular or pita type of bread. The texture of fattet hummus is different from hummus.
Maqluba means upside-down. Maqluba is prepared in various ways depending on the skill of the cook. The result is a tiny cake of turned out rice that hides lumps of meat. These foods may not originate from Jordan, but they are popular dishes in Jordan. When in Jordan, eat like a Jordanian.
COME, SEE THE CITIES
From Amman, the capital of Jordan, to Petra (one of the new seven wonders of the world), to the Dead Sea, Jordan is bursting with sights for sore eyes.
Amman is the capital of Jordan, and like most capital cities, it is replete with hotels and shopping centers. Amman posits its ruins for the world to see. Amman has a lot of ruins dating to as far back as 7250 BC. One of them is The Temple of Hercules. It a Roman religious site with remains of giant marble fingers. Scientists claim that it is the remains of the statue of Hercules crumbled from an earthquake.
Petra is one of the oldest cities in the world, and it is also one of the new seven wonders of the world. To enter Petra, you need to go through a narrow gorge called the Siq. It is bound by cliffs 8 meters high and the drive from Amman to Petra is 2 hours. Be on the lookout for the Treasury at Petra seen in Indiana Jones and the last crusade.
Wadi Rum is south of Jordan. It is a 2-hour journey to Wadi Rum from Petra and it is referred to as the Valley of the Moon. It is also known for its vibrant shades of red-orange cliffs. In this desert full of mountains, it is important to wear a hat and have a bottle of water with you at all times because of the climate. Rock climbing and rope jumping are popular sports here. Look out for scenes from iconic pictures like Lawrence of Arabia, Red Planet, and The Martian. At night, bubble tents are provided for tourists. These tents have transparent panels designed for stargazing, while others go the extra mile with transparent roofs.
The Dead Sea, known for its mud and rich mineral water, is the lowest point on the earth with water 20 times saltier than seawater. It is a natural spa! All the minerals in the water help with joint pains and skin reactions like psoriasis. Oh! And you cannot sink so fear not. Tourists come from all over the world to slather themselves in the thick clay found at the bank of the river. They bake under the warm sunlight and soak it all off in the water. The journey to the Dead Sea from Wadi Rum takes 4 hours. You can spend the night there at a resort to relax after a hot day.
Another interesting place is Wadi Mujib. It has a nature reserve with over 300 species of plants and 10 species of carnivores. It also has good hiking trails. The Mujib river flows into the Dead sea. It takes 30 minutes to get to Wadi Mujib from the Dead sea and only 2 hours to go back to the capital, Amman.
WHY VISIT?
Because Jordan has beautiful and exciting tourist attractions. The people are kind and hospitable. It is a healthy place to visit when you need to unwind and relax.
