In April 2018, Nicole and I travelled to Jordan & Egypt. We chose Intrepid Travel as our tour agency. It’s an Australian company that offers 1,000+ itineraries in 100+ countries covering every continent. What a great choice it was! Intrepid was created in 1988 by two guys from Melbourne, Australia. The tour we chose was Jordan & Egypt Uncovered. It takes you to 13 incredible destinations across these 2 countries over 22 days. We spent 5 days in Jordan and 17 days in Egypt. The cost of the tour is 1,998 USD / 1,617 GBP / 2,628 CAD / 2,912 AUD*.
All Intrepid tour guides’ across the world are locals so you will receive the greatest knowledge about the guide’s country in which you are visiting. It’s also a nice thought to think you can give your guide an income for their family which will help them to thrive in their home country.
Here’s a summary of the Jordan & Egypt Uncovered itinerary: Amman (2 days), Petra (2 days), Wadi Rum (1 day), Red Sea (1 day), Dahab (2 days), Cairo (4 days), Aswan (2 days), The Nile River (1 day), Luxor (2 days), Abu Simbel (1 day), Hurghada (2 days) and Alexandria (2 days).
We chose to tour these two countries as I had travelled a lot of Europe and we both had a love for Egypt and its history. Nicole also wanted to visit Jordan, especially Petra. I didn’t know much at all about Jordan to begin with and I’m so glad we chose to visit these incredible places!
At the time of the beginning of the trip, I was in my second year of my Youth Mobility Visa in the United Kingdom. I was living on the surf coast and seaside town of Newquay in Cornwall. I got a National Express Coach from Newquay to London where I was to meet Nicole, my best friend from Melbourne, Australia. I hadn’t seen her for a year and a half since I left Australia. We had been best friends since we met in school at the age of 8 in Grade 3. Nicole was to arrive at Heathrow Airport 6 days before we were to head onto our adventure in Jordan & Egypt.
Nicole and I spent 6 days to catch up and explore some places in and around London. We stayed in an Airbnb in Soho in the heart of London’s entertainment! We visited Harry Potter Warner Bros Studios, Highclere Castle, Bath and The Cotswolds. It was classic cold & rainy English weather in April but we made the most of it!
DAY 1: AMMAN, Jordan’s capital
Nicole and I flew from Heathrow Airport to Queen Alia Airport in Jordan. Queen Alia is Jordan’s largest major airport and it’s 30 kilometres South of Jordan’s capital, Amman. The arrival terminal was simple and small. There was just one bag carousel and toilets opposite. We collected our luggage, got our Jordanian Single Entry Visas for 40 JOD easily and headed out to the arrivals lounge. We were met by a nice local man with an Intrepid Travel Sign. The man spoke good English and he led Nicole and me to the car to drive us to our hotel.
We planned to get an early flight to arrive in Amman at noon because we would have some time to explore Amman’s city and visit the Citadel. We arrived to our hotel and met some of our other tour group members. Most of our group was from Australia as Intrepid is a popular Australian tour company. So we all got along like a house on fire! The hotel staff offered us dates and mint tea when we arrived which was a lovely gesture. Our hotel room was nice and basic. We had two single beds, an en-suite with shower, wardrobe, mini-fridge, table & chairs. We quickly freshened up and headed out to go to the Citadel.
The walk from our hotel to the Citadel was about 30 minutes but most of it was heading uphill. Nicole and I had it up on Google Maps just in case we got lost. We had beautiful views overlooking the bustling, spider-web-like city along the way. The locals would say hello or welcome to us also! We could see Amman’s Roman Theatre which seats 6,000 and was built around 150AD. We reached the Citadel gates and paid a fee of 3 Jordanian Dinars which is inexpensive. 3JOD is equal to 4.23USD / 3.42GBP / 1.85CAD / 6.17AUD*.
At the Citadel we explored the Temple of Hercules, Umayyad Palace and the Jordan Archeological Museum. It was fortified in the Bronze Age around 1, 800BC. Today, some of the historical buildings and monuments remain standing but many have fallen and become ruins. The Citadel is located on a small mountain where you can get clear views of the large city.
We returned to our hotel for a group meeting and then we all went out for our first dinner together. There was 16 people in our group and they were great company. We walked to a falafel restaurant named Hashem Restaurant Down Town. We had so many different dishes come out from falafel, dips, babaganouche, chips, salads, tea and cold soft drinks. It only cost 2-3JOD per person which is super cheap!
Other activities to do in Amman is to visit the Roman Amphitheathre (2JOD), Jordan Museum (5JOD), King Abdullah Mosque (2JOD), Bethany Baptism Site in Madaba (12JOD) or Jerash Roman Ruins (10JOD).
DAY 2: MT NEBO, the dead sea & KERAK CASTLE
We moved on from Amman and travelled by minibus for 1.5 hours to Mt Nebo. It’s a well-known biblical site and it’s 2JOD to visit. It was at Mt Nebo where Moses could see the Promised Land. It’s believed that Moses died at the age of 120 and is buried in the area also. Mt Nebo has stunning views over the Dead Sea, Jericho, Jerusalem and the border of Jordan and Israel.
The Moses Memorial Church is situated on the summit of this mountain. 4th-century foundations and mosaics were found here many years ago and so a church was built around them to protect and preserve. So today they are one of the most well-preserved mosaics in Jordan!
Afterwards, we made a pit stop at the local Madaba Handcrafts & Arts Centre where we got to see the staff creating some of the beautiful mosaics. You can buy these crafts too! Our next stop was at The Madaba Map which was crafted in 560AD. The map shows 157 biblical sites from Egypt to Palestine in Greek. The map is made of more than 2 million pieces of mosaic and it’s found inside St George’s Church in Madaba.
Our next pit stop was the lowest point on earth, The Dead Sea! It’s 420 metres below sea level and it’s so salty that no organisms can survive in it hence the name. To visit this famous salty lake it costs 8JOD which is a little dear but it’s a must-do! First, we had a fantastic buffet lunch in the restaurant overlooking The Dead Sea. At the beach, we paid a couple of Jordanian Dinars to be covered in nutrient-rich mineral mud which is believed to have healing properties. The density of the water only allows you to float and not swim. It was my strangest experience ever. I’d be floating on my back and if I moved slightly I’d flip over and be face down in the water trying to turn back over!! Be careful of getting water in your eyes, it stings like a bitch!
Next, we visited Kerak Castle which is an hours drive from The Dead Sea. A lot of rich history is found here at Kerak. It’s an impressive seven-level crusader fortress which stands on the side of a cliff and has views over Wadi Kerak and The Dead Sea. There’s so many passageways, tunnels and areas to explore with great lookout points along the way. 12th-century battles took place here between the Crusaders and the Muslim armies. The entrance fee is 2JOD. After Kerak we drove through the evening for 4 and a half hours to Petra.
DAY 3: WADI RUM
From Petra, we embarked on a 2-hour journey to the extraordinary desert of Wadi Rum. Our tour group went on a 4-hour Jeep safari in the desert where we saw huge sandstone mountains and the orange and red sands! We made some pit stops along the way to trek through some mountains to see ancient inscriptions on these beautiful rocks. Our tour guide explained the meanings of the drawings and symbols. Our desert camp was amazing too! It was my favourite place where we stayed in Jordan and it was also the most delicious dinner too.
Nicole and I had a hut to ourselves with 2 single beds, table and extra blankets inside. The huts and the blankets were made entirely out of camel hair! There were bathrooms a minute walk from our huts and a large communal tent in the centre of the camp for where we ate. Outside of the large tent is a huge rug with cushions and chairs to soak up your surroundings and have some laughs with our guide and tour group.
Our dinner was cooked in an earthen oven (cooked underground) by the local Bedouins (‘Desert Dwellers’ in Arabic). There was a range of meats, rice, vegetables, salads and dinner rolls. I think almost everyone in our group went back for seconds, the food was so amazing! We then rugged up for a cold night in the desert and walked 5 minutes to a lookout to see the sunset over the desert. It was the perfect end to our last night with our amazing tour guide before we headed onto our next journey in Egypt.
DAY 4: AQABA
At the Wadi Rum desert camp we had a lovely breakfast and then we got ourselves ready to drive 1 hour to Aqaba. We were going to board a ferry to cross the Gulf of Aqaba to arrive in Egypt on the other side! We had lunch in Aqaba and we were guided through the city and along the water. We then arrived to the ferry terminal. From this point, we said goodbye to our tour guide as our Egyptian tour guide was to meet us on the other side. The ferry journey can take 2.5 or up to 5 hours. It can also be delayed or cancelled due to weather conditions. It’s also recommended to take seasickness tablets to prepare for rough conditions.
Our ferry was scheduled to depart at 8 pm but it was delayed till 11 pm. This was also the only place where we felt unsafe and uncomfortable. There were about 300 people in the very large terminal and only 12 of them were women. All eyes were on our tour group. We found a separate area where no one else was and our tour group can all sit down together. We ended up putting a suitcase upside down, a few of us sitting on the floor and playing multiple games of poker to kill the 3-hour delay. If any of us women in our group needed to go to the toilet at least 4 of us would go together. The toilets are also a hole in the ground!
Finally, we board the ferry. Since the ferry terminal was a horrible experience I thought this ferry would be even worse, thinking there’s going to be hundreds of men crammed onto it. However, we went up the escalators into the ferry and it was like being on an aeroplane. The seats were lovely and spacious, there’s a cafe on board, TV’s all around and it was very clean and bright! It was very important for everyone in our tour group to line up straight away on the ferry at the border security window to get your passport stamped. They will check that you already have your Jordanian Visa and they will give you your Egyptian Tourist Visa if you don’t have one yet. Now onward to Egypt!
Jordan’s temperature
The April temperature in Jordan is quite perfect. With an average of 24°C/74°F, a high of 30°C/86°F and lows of 17°C/63°F. There are 9 hours of sunshine. Sunrise is around 6 am and sunset just after 7 pm. The lowest chance of rain is in April with usually 1 rain day and only an average of 1mm will fall. The sea temperature is always great around the Middle East with an average of 21°C/70°F. Temperatures drop quite dramatically at night too especially in the desert.
What to wear
Packing for the Middle East was difficult for me. I hadn’t travelled to many highly religious countries and I hadn’t visited places where it’s recommended that women cover-up. I already had a medium-sized travel backpack which I knew would be perfect for this trip. I’ve always had a knack for packing extremely light too which is also a bonus especially if you’re going to be carrying it on your back to and from places.
I found that shopping at thrift stores was the easiest place to find lightweight pants, t-shirts and shirts. Always make sure to try on the clothes to double-check that the materials are not see-through! Comfortable closed shoes are a must and slides or sandals are great too. It will be cold at night especially out in the desert and along the beaches so a warm jumper, thermals and scarf will be a good idea.
I purchased a hijab (headscarf) online before arriving to Jordan and it arrived within a week. There’s different materials and colours to choose from and they come with pins to style the hijab. Since we were in a tour group of 15 people it was obvious we were tourists. Many tourists visit Jordan so it’s common for the locals to see visitors without headscarves. Our tour group only wore headscarves in Jordan & Egypt when we were going into a mosque. Us ladies wrapped a light weight scarf over our hair and wrapped one end around our neck. Buying a light weight scarf from a thrift store would be the best choice for a hijab!
What to bring
Travel backpack, day pack that zips up, camera, phone/camera chargers, reusable water bottle, hat, sunscreen, handheld fan (a must especially when inside tombs!), light weight & respectful clothing, hijab/head scarf, comfortable shoes, sandals/slides, swim suit (one piece recommended), small sized towel, Jordanian Dinars and USD for emergency money. Jewelry and make-up is best left at home!
An adapter. The Jordan sockets are either a 2 or 3 rounds pins = Type C, D, F and J. Most of these are used through out Europe.
Jordanian dinars
1JOD = 1.41USD / 1.14GBP / 1.85CAD / 2.05AUD*.
It’s wise to bring some USD cash in case of an emergency. It was quite hard to find some ATM’s in Amman that would let us get cash out even though we had Visa Debit, MasterCard or Travel Card etc. However the Bank of Jordan and Arab Bank ATM’s seemed to be the best. I exchanged GBP for Jordanian Dinars before this trip so I was prepared for ATM’s to not support my HSBC Debit Card. I brought 100 JOD with me to Jordan and I only used an ATM once in Amman while in Jordan for 5 days. It seemed to be an inexpensive country. Most of the entrance fees were only a couple of dinars, the local cuisines were great for the price and 1 litre bottles of water costed between 0.50-1 JOD.
TOURIST VISA
You can purchase a Jordanian Single Entry Visa when you arrive to the Airport in Jordan. This visa is valid for 1 month. It will cost 40JOD so it’s worth getting Jordanian Dinars before arriving to Jordan instead of using airport ATM’S. It was super fast and easy to go through border security at Queen Alia Airport in Amman. The tourist visa just looks like 2 stamps from a post office!
*Based on exchange rates at the time of being published.
