Good afternoon Ryan,
The vacation was fabulous from start to finish. We were met at Amman Airport and whisked through customs before being driven to the Hotel, which was first class. As you know the first part of our trip was spent touring and our guide, Moutisim, was fantastic. His English was impeccable and knowledge of all things Jordanian inexhaustible!
He and the driver were obviously old friends which made the whole tour very relaxing, even if the days were crammed from dawn til dusk! The schedule was full but not overwhelming and it was good to have a conclusive itinerary as there was so much to see and do. In fact we departed with great reluctance and were almost sad to leave our driver and guide behind as we headed to Aqaba.
The scenery is breathtaking and not entirely as we expected, very arrid and barren, but also incredibly dramatic with deep valleys and high ranges most evident in the journey from Amman to Petra. It was definitely a sensible idea to have a guide and driver, as road signs are somewhat limited and outside Amman predominantly in Arabic and outside the established towns settlements were scarce. Organising your own transport and a guide would probably be more hassle than it is worth, and I doubt we would have covered a quarter of what we did.
Petra and Wadi Rum were indeed amazing. Again our guide had covered most of the surrounding area and new most of the routes backwards, so we ended up scrabbling around tombs and caverns well off the beaten track, somethig we would certainly not have been able to do on our own.
The camp at Wadi Rum was clean and the owner friendly, the food from an underground pot was great but the stars at night were the real attraction. In fact it was if someone had turned up the wattage, we saw four shooting stars and could even se the milky way!!
The endearing memories will be one of historical awe, in fact so much to see you almost become blasse: another 5thBC Church/Temple etc etc. The people are incredibly friendly and welcoming, most speak good English and are more than happy to assist in whatever way possible. The food is fresh, plentiful, if not particularly varied, inexpensive and well cooked. The fact that alcohol was expensive and sometimes difficult to buy was not an issue, and to be honest when the ambient temperature is 45oC you only really want to drink H2O!
Tourism in general is still in it's infancy which gave it a quant rural feel though trying to locate western branded products was easier said than done. On the whole we craved nothing, the weather was fantastic, if incredibly hot, the accommodation was first rate, the trip itinerary spot on and everyone we met helpful and well mannered.
Thanks again for all your assistance in making this a fantastic vacation and I hope we will be in touch next year, Syria maybe on the cards!!
