Jordan is a safe haven in a region of conflict and one of the most accessible countries in the Middle East. Bordered by Syria, Israel, Iraq and Saudi Arabia, the Hashimite Kingdom delights visitors with its World Heritage Sites, while dodging the turmoil that has engulfed its neighbors in all directions.

Jordan has always been a welcoming country. The tolerant nation entices tourists with its ancient marvels, hosts a diverse array of religions and cultures within its borders, and shelters refugees with open arms.

Throughout history, those who passed through Jordan often left relics of their respective cultures. These relics—from Roman ruins, to Crusader castles, to Christian mosaics, to remote desert castles—have withstood the test of time and remain a tribute to the country’s layered past.

 

TOP PLACES TO VISIT ON A TRIP TO JORDAN

For a country of its size, Jordan has been blessed with a plethora of things to see. These remarkable places to visit in Jordan include UNESCO World Heritage Sites, ancient world wonders and natural marvels.

I spent six months traveling around Jordan during my semester of studying Arabic at the University of Jordan in Amman. During those six months, I became intimately familiar with the country and took every opportunity possible to discover its historical treasures and awe-inspiring landscapes.

 

THE NABETEAN CITY OF PETRA

If you have limited time to explore Jordan, make sure the rose-hued Nabetean city of Petra is at the top of your list. Petra is the top place to visit in Jordan and the country’s undeniable crown jewel. One of the most incredible relics of human development, Petra’s splendor joins the ranks of Angkor Wat and the Pyramids of Giza.

During our semester in Jordan, my friends and I visited Petra twice. The first time, we saw the city’s treasury at night, illuminated in candlelight. The second time, we returned to the sprawling rose-colored city, for an entire day of hiking, scrambling and sightseeing amid some of the world’s most awe-inspiring ruins.

At night, Petra can only be visited as part of a group tour. I had to book tickets with my hotel and there were about 150 people that made the pilgrimage with me.

The road to Petra follows a narrow canyon called the Siq. During the night visit, lanterns line the Siq and illuminate the treasury. Other than the millions of stars overhead, the small candle-lit lanterns were the only light sources during our visit. Despite the crowds, visiting Petra at night was magical and serene.

The site is no less magical during the day, when sunlight paints the rocks with various shades of orange, yellow and pink. My friends and I scrambled around the site for the entire day, taking in the views and climbing into the ancient dwellings.

We explored the various areas of the World Heritage site and walked up the mountain to Petra’s impressive monastery. All around us, red and black rock canyons provided us with stunning views of the surrounding landscape.

Visiting Petra costs roughly $70 per day. As residents of Jordan, my friends and I had access to the entire area for less than one dollar. I would have been happy to pay full price regardless. There is simply no price too high for a visit to the rose-hued Nabetean ruins.

 

THE WINDSWEPT WADI RUM DESERT

Wadi Rum is truly spectacular. The area is characterized by reddish rock formations and low-lying dunes. The spellbinding desertscape is among the most beautiful natural attractions in Jordan and an easy side trip from Petra.

During my trip to Wadi Rum, I felt as though I were staring at a painting. The rocks were a blend of oranges, pinks, purples and reds that changed hues depending on the lighting. The valley floor is home to orange sand and surrounded by narrow canyons that cut deep into the rocky mountains. From every angle, the views were mesmerizing.

I traveled to Wadi Rum for two days with my study abroad program, CIEE. Our two day Wadi Rum itinerary included dune climbing, camel riding and an overnight stay in a bedouin camp.

Though Wadi Rum can easily be visited as a day tour from Petra, spending the night in a desert Bedouin camp is a magical must-have experience.

On our first day in the desert, we rode 4x4s to our Beduin camp. It was a rickety ride, as my 4×4 ended up being a pretty battered pickup truck but, nonetheless, it was great fun and the ride offered spectacular panoramas.

In the evening, we stopped for a bit to watch the sunset, which drenched the surrounding hills in even more dramatic colors. To my delight, the clouds cleared up at nightfall to reveal a ceiling of stars that are among the brightest on Earth.

Visiting Wadi Rum’s dunes and rock formations is like stepping foot in a movie set. With its dramatic and colorful scenery, the windswept Wadi Rum Desert represents the pinnacle of Jordan’s natural beauty.

 

THE KERAK CASTLE

The Kerak Castle is one of the most famous crusader castles in the Middle East. The castle is one of a long chain of similar fortifications that stretch from Jordan to Turkey. An ancient Crusader stronghold, Karak sits 900m above sea level and lies inside the walls a city that bears its same name.

The castle dominates the city of Kerak. It sits on a hill with spectacular views of the Jordanian countryside.

The Kerak Castle is a legendary icon from the battles between the Crusaders and the Muslim armies led by Salah al Din in the 12th Century.

The castle lies two hours South of Amman and can be easily combined with a day trip to the Dead Sea.

I could have spent hours wandering down its many passageways and underground rooms, but since we were visiting the castle as part of a larger tour of the area, we only had about half an hour for a quick whirlwind tour of the complex.

 

THE DEAD SEA

After visiting the Kerak Castle,  my group and I headed out to the Dead Sea—easily one of the top places to visit in Jordan.

The Dead Sea is the lowest point on Earth, at about 1000 ft below sea level. It sits in the middle of an arid landscape and marks part of the border between Jordan and Israel. It is one of the top places to visit in both Jordan and Israel and a popular day trip from Amman, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

The Dead Sea has been evaporating rapidly in recent history, and, thus the water is extremely salty. The salt made bathing slightly painful and revealed what seemed to be hundreds of minor cuts all over my body. The edges of the Dead Sea are lined with formations of salt crystals that are beautiful to the eye and painful to the feet.

Beneath the crust of salt, was slick, oozy mud that we sloshed around in and plastered all over our bodies.

The lake’s 24% salt content is second only to Lake Assal in Djibouti and will keep even the most helpless swimmer afloat with absolutely no effort.

In fact, sinking is impossible.  As much as I tried, I was unable to touch my feet to the bottom.

 

THE RED SEA AT AQABA

Aqaba is one of Jordan’s most popular beach resort towns. The waterfront city lies at the intersection of four different countries—Jordan, Israel, Egypt and Saudi Arabia—making it an ideal stopover place for travelers coming from Israel or Egypt.

The Red Sea at Aqaba has one of the most beautiful coral reefs in the world and is an incredible place to snorkel and scuba dive. Snorkeling in the Red Sea provided me with the chance to swim amongst rainbow-hued coral gardens and thousands of colorful fish.

 

THE JERASH RUINS

Marked by the imposing Hadrian’s Arch, Jerash was once a Roman city of great wealth. Along with Baalbek in Lebanon and Palmyra in Syria, it is one of the most impressive examples of Roman architecture in the Middle East.

Jerash’s well-preserved ruins make for a popular day trip from Amman.

In contrast to the stringent rules that accompany visiting such sites in Europe, we were allowed to explore the ruins of Jerash as we pleased. The atmosphere was quite relaxed. Families spent the afternoon picnicking on the grassy areas between temples and farmers herded sheep in the area.

 

THE MOSAICS OF MADABA

Madaba is a town about 45 minutes outside Amman and is famous for its old churches with mosaic art. The churches are a striking reminder that, despite the obvious presence of Islam in Jordan, Christianity also has a significant historical presence, too.

Madaba contains a large concentration of churches and Jordan’s most impressive collection of mosaics.

Today, about 30% of Madaba remains Christian, and it is one of the largest Christian strongholds in the country.

 

HAMMAMET MA’IN

Near Madaba, the Ma’in Hot Springs (Hammamet Ma’In) make for an off-the-beaten-path getaway from Amman. The landscape surrounding the springs is spectacular and rugged, featuring barren mountains that overlook the Dead Sea in the distance.

To reach the springs, we took a winding road that was so beautiful, that we spent about half an hour with the windows rolled down and our eyes glued to the scenery.

When we arrived at the hot springs, I was amazed. I had expected pools of warm water, but what I saw instead were waterfalls that proved to be the first warm showers with adequate water pressure that I have experienced in Jordan. The waterfalls cascaded into pools that were painted creamy blue by the minerals.

 

THE DESERT CASTLES OF EASTERN JORDAN

Most itineraries to Jordan include Petra, Wadi Rum and Jerash. And understandably so. With limited time, the triangle of ancient wonders and natural beauty reveals the best that Jordan has to offer.

Yet those with more than a week in Jordan, have the opportunity of visiting some of the country’s off-the-beaten-path marvels.

The post Incredible Places to Visit in Jordan appeared first on Erika's Travels .

The eastern desert of Jordan is flat, desolate and barren. In this large swath of land near the Iraqi border, towns and villages are few and far between, trees are nonexistent and distinguishing features are difficult to come by. Yet, scattered throughout the endless fields of dust and rocks are impressive ancient structures that have been collectively deemed as the Desert Castles of Jordan.

In reality, the castles are primarily a collection of caravan inns and fortified palaces that were constructed during the Umayyad Dynasty and still remain relatively intact today.

On one of my first weekends in Amman, I had the opportunity to visit the desert castles of Jordan’s Eastern Desert and delve into the history of the country’s most desolate and far-flung corner.

Eastern Jordan’s Desert Castles

The magnificent castles of eastern Jordan date back to the 7th and 8th centuries, when the Umayyad Dynasty ruled Damascus. The caliphs of the Umayyad Dynasty built a network of fortification that speckle the arid plains of eastern Jordan. And though they are commonly and unanimously referred to as  ‘desert castles’, the fortifications actually served as caravanserais, hunting lodges, farmhouses and rural retreats.

Qasr Al-Hallabat

The first castle we stopped at was Qasr Al-Hallabat. It was originally built by the Romans, but rebuilt during the Umayyad period. The site contains a small ruined mosque and adjacent structure with an abundance of Greek inscriptions and seemingly fragile stone arches.

After a bit of time at Qasr Hallabat, we made our way to the Oasis town of Azraq for lunch.

Azraq Castle and Wetlands

In ancient times, Azraq was a crossroads. Its abundant water attracted camel caravans carrying spices and herbs between the Levant and Mesopotamia. Yet, in the 1960s, water from the Azraq Wetlands was extracted from the lake and sent to Amman to support the city’s booming population. The water source quickly dried up and the thriving wildlife that once came to the area for its abundance of freshwater, migrated elsewhere.

Today, Azraq is considered an ecological disaster and the wetlands cover less than ten percent of their original size.

The wetlands are a perfect illustration of Jordan’s severe water crisis. It was disheartening to think that merely twenty years ago, the nearly dried up swamp bed contained water that rose well above our heads.

Following our brief visit to the wetlands, we stopped at the Azraq Fort, which was crucial because of its location on the route between the Arabian Peninsula and Syria. The structure’s claim to fame is that it housed Lawrence of Arabia during the Arab Revolt, though the room he had lived in was destroyed by an earthquake a few decades ago.

Qasr Karaneh in Jordan’s Eastern Desert

From Qasr Amra, we made our way to Qasr Karaneh–a rectangular fort surrounded by miles and miles of barren desert. Of all the castles we visited, Qasr Karaneh looks most like a traditional fortress, with its circular towers, thin windows and high vantage points. However, there is no evidence that the fortress was ever actually a castle. Rather, theories suggest that the imposing structure was actually a resting place for traders.

We climbed up on its roof and looked out over the surrounding desert. All around, the landscape was barren, brown and dusty as far as the eye could see.

Besides the castles, it reminded me  lot of Eastern Oregon.

The post The Desert Castles of Eastern Jordan appeared first on Erika's Travels .

Jacqueline Novogratz is one of my biggest inspirations and her book “The Blue Sweater” remains one of my favorites. Novogratz is the co-founder of Acumen Fund–a nonprofit that invests in entrepreneurs and fledgling companies worldwide.

As a young girl, Novogratz had dreams of “saving the world from poverty” and ended up with a fulfilling life that no doubt improved the conditions of thousands worldwide. After college, she landed a high-paying job with Chase Manhattan Bank, but realized that what she was doing had little impact on the lives of the world’s poorest people.

As a result, she left her high-profile job and entered the non-profit world, working for various organizations  and eventually spearheading the founding of Rwanda’s first micro-finance organization.

The book delves into Novogratz’ journey from her first interview with Chase Manhattan Bank, to the launching of a nonprofit that brought microfinance to the forefront of international development. It is an inspiring and impressive journey to say the least–a journey in many ways inspired by a blue sweater from Novogratz’ childhood.

When Novogratz was a young girl, her uncle gave her a blue sweater as a gift. It was her favorite article of clothing and one of her most prized possessions. After a few years, Novogratz donated the sweater to Goodwill, not knowing that one day, years later, she would reconnect with it thousands of miles away from home.

In the following years, while Novogratz began her journey into adulthood, her sweater began a voyage of its own–from her hometown to the port of Nairobi, Kenya and then inland to one of the many second-hand clothing stores in the markets of Kigali, Rwanda.

While she was working with an organization in Kigali, Novogratz set out on a run one morning and spotted a boy wearing the very same sweater. After a double take, she went up to the boy and asked to examine the shirt tag. Sure enough, her name was scrawled on the tag.

The discovery of her beloved blue sweater in Rwanda had a great impact on the ways in which Novogratz began to understand the interconnectivity of the world and the butterfly effect that one person can have on the life on another person thousands of miles away.

I imagine that by this point in my post you may be asking yourself why I have included this bit of information in my blog about studying in Jordan, but promise you that it is not totally irrelevant.

I found myself thinking a lot about Novogratz’s story this weekend on my trip to Madaba when I  saw a boy wearing a purple and white t-shirt with the words “South Eugene Axemen.”. While I do not claim to have witnessed something of the same proportions as Novogratz, I was nevertheless presented with quite a surreal situation. Why would a young Jordanian boy be wearing a t-shirt of my very high school?

I went up to the boy and asked where his shirt was from. He shrugged and looked confused. My conclusion is the same as that of Novogratz. The shirt was likely donated to a Goodwill in Eugene and redistributed to the town of Madaba, Jordan.

Though it was not my sweater and I do not know whose it was, the fact that I encountered a t-shirt from my high school over 9,000 miles away, propelled me to think about the same questions that raced through Novogratz’s mind when she saw her own sweater in Rwanda. It is a perfect example of how our lives are no longer isolated. The web of connections between people in this world is increasing daily, and seeing an SEHS t-shirt in Jordan illustrates the effects of globalization better than any lecture I have ever had to sit through in college.

The post The Purple T-Shirt appeared first on Erika's Travels .

I arrived in Jordan in the middle of the Arab Spring, during a time filled with uncertainty for the future of the region.

All the reports I was reading on the news were predicting that Jordan would be next after Tunisia to erupt in chaos and, while I didn’t think too much of the headlines before leaving, I couldn’t quite shake the unsettling feeling in the pit of my stomach during my flight from the United States.

As soon as I arrived in Amman, however, I started to feel differently. The people on my program were all interesting and friendly and the city, though architecturally a bit underwhelming, immediately felt like home. And though I was filled with apprehension and nerves as I touched down in Amman, an overwhelming feeling of excitement and anticipation washed over me as I walked the streets of my new city.

Amman has about 2.5 million inhabitants and the city’s limits stretch out over a number of rolling hills. All the buildings are cream colored and four to five stories high.

Until recently, there was a rule in Amman that the buildings could not be too tall because they wanted the city to spread horizontally rather than vertically. As a result, Amman is a prime example of Middle Eastern urban sprawl.

Amman is really like any other large, modern metropolitan area replete with American food chains and very stylish people. It is city where tradition and modernity lay side by side. From the trendy coffeehouses of Rainbow Street to hole-in-the-wall falafel joints and from modern shopping malls to ancient ruins, the city of Amman has it all.

The crown jewel of Amman is the citadel, which sits atop one of the city’s many hills and gives a pretty view over the vast expanse of cream colored houses. The citadel was fortified in 1800 BC and contains Roman and early Islamic ruins.

It is the perfect place to bring a picnic and enjoy the sunset.

             

The post First Impressions of Amman appeared first on Erika's Travels .