Final Days in Jordan

As I mentioned yesterday, if you only have one day in Jordan, you must see the incredible ancient cave city of Petra. However, if you have a couple more days to play with, hire a Bedouin guide, visit Wadi Rum and go off-roading in the sand dunes. It's an experience you won't soon forget.

Our guide Salah was hilarious. He loves his country and it shows. I think he was slightly disappointed that Sarah and I were pregnant because it meant he couldn't go full-throttle while off-roading in the dunes. It was still plenty scary/thrilling for me, so I was very happy with the situation.

Our guide, Salah; photo by Sarah

I had never heard off this activity before we went, so I wasn't sure what to expect. It was crazy though. These dunes are huge and Salah drove very quickly up the sides of them and then hovered over the edge. Then, he pointed the wheels down and off we went! Had Sarah and I not been pregnant, there would have been no hovering...you get to the top and fly off. That's what 4-wheel drive is for, right?

Though we were in the middle of nowhere, Salah made us a great lunch in the Bedouin style. I really enjoyed the mint tea, which was flavored with around 2 pounds of sugar.

Photo by Sarah

We spent the afternoon doing some more off-roading through a dried wadi (valley). Apparently floods in Jordan are so severe that they can completely wash roads away in a matter of minutes. We saw the aftermath of these floods while attempting to navigate a canyon. Salah had to create several of his own roads in order for us to pass. Honestly, I don't think any of us (Salah included) thought we were going to make it. It was definitely an adventure!

Our "road"

We stopped at Little Petra, another ancient cave village. We made some friends along the way.

Little Petra was cool, mainly because Bedouin tribes still live on the property.

We were lucky enough to meet and have tea with some of the villagers.

Dan got to know the local kids

The next day we explored Wadi Rum, a gorgeous valley with huge red rock formations. 

It was very hot and my poor skin has adapted to British weather, i.e. no sun. Sarah and I took matters into our own hands while Salah prepared another great meal.

Hiding from the sun

After lunch we continued exploring. This huge arch was so cool, but there was no way Sarah and I could get up there. Dan and Kyle climbed the mountain though.

It was a fantastic few days in Jordan and I owe a lot of that to our wonderful guide Salah. Thanks for showing us such a great time!

And sadly, we've come to the end of my trip to Israel and Jordan. Don't worry though. We had time for one more kosher hamburger on the flight home. Thank goodness for Burger Ranch in the Tel Aviv airport :)

Read about our stops in Israel and Jordan:
Jerusalem, Israel
Tel Aviv, Israel
Northern Israel
Ein Gedi; Masada; Dead Sea, Israel
Eilat, Israel
Petra, Jordan