My Trip Souvenirs
Jordan - with so much of history, religion, unique natural wonders and heritage sites is a must visit for a traveller. The public transport system is not so great, and hence hiring rented car would be the best way to explore the country within 4-5 days. We arrived late afternoon in Amman and spent the rest of the evening at leisure, tried the local Mansaf dish, mutton cooked in Yogurt at Jerusalem restaurant and slept well to get energised . History lies in abundance along with religious sites all around Jordan, and it is definitely interesting to see the places we had learnt in the history books, or heard about, live in front of our eyes. In search of all these, we rented out a car and drove to Madaba a Mosaic city which is pretty old and laid back, with many archaeological sites of mosaic arts and masterpieces from centuries ago. We also collected our share of souvenir frames in mosaic and then drove to Mt. Nebo, the promised land. Olive orchards can be seen in plenty along the road sides. The Great Rift Valley can be viewed from Jordan and is indeed gigantic. From Mt Nebo, we left to one of the most interesting leg of the trip, The Dead Sea. The mineral and salt content is so high that anything would float in it due to the very high density of water. The dead sea salt and mud is therapeutic and can be bought as souvenir also. The floating experience is one of its kind, but with the kids accidentally letting the water into eyes or mouth can make the situation slightly bad. After a light shower, we collected few Dead Sea soaps and salts at a local shop and then headed to the Baptism site of Jesus Christ. The area is very sensitive and is under army surveillance as it shares the border with Israel, which is just a small stream away. The Jordan River, described in Bible is right there at the site. To our disappointment, the site was closed by the time we reached, so it may be a next time visit for us. We were also able to spot Jerusalem temple on our way back at a distant on our way back to Amman. On a clear day, one can catch glimpse of Palestine and Israel from Jordan.
On our last day we started very early on the Desert Highway towards Petra, one of the wonders of the world. We thoroughly enjoyed the smooth drive to Petra. Upon arrival, we walked through the narrow Siq to explore this old, once rich and prosperous city of Petra. The first view of the Al-Khazneh, the Treasury from within the narrow walls of the Siq is a mesmerising view and indeed worth a thousand clicks of your camera. There is a lot to explore in Petra, by foot or on a mule. The red sandstone structures and the history makes you travel back in a time machine and let you get lost in thoughts. We bought a few replicas of Petra as souvenir and headed towards the next stop, the Wadi Rum, where the movie Lawrence of Arabia was shot. Wadi Rum is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and boasts a unique geography. One can see huge canyons, red sandy desert and huge rocks on the sands. An off road drive through the dunes is a life time memorable experience. It would definitely be worth to make a stay at this place to experience it to the fullest, if lucky catch the glimpse of the Milky Way. We packed our bags back to Amman to leave this unique destination, with lots of good memories, back to Dubai.
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