Weekend Vacations in Jordan

By far the best part of studying abroad in Jordan has been the chance to escape the bustle of Amman and venture out the varied territory that lies outside the capital. Even when things don’t go the way we plan, my fellow American students and I always have a good time.

One of the first weekends our program was here, about 20 of us rented a bus to take us to a reputable nature reserve in the north to spend the day hiking in olive hills. Even on this short hour and a half drive outside the city I got to see the city of Jerash and the ruins of a crusader castle in Ajloun. But of course nothing in the Middle East ever turns out the way you plan; for when our group arrived at the Ajloun Nature Reserve we were informed that all the local guides had gone home for the day and we could not find the trails without a knowledgeable guide. Searching for some comparable hiking in the area lead us to what was is best called a large picnic site that the Lonely Planet described as having some “lovely unmarked trails.” (Translate “unmarked trails” into forging through small, thorny brush followed by a caravan of small children selling gum and men offering rides on their “air conditioned taxis,” i.e. horses, while we attempt to get a view of sparsely wooden, but pretty, hills).

A weekend getaway to the Jordanian town on the Red Sea was a completely different mix of sun, coral and an eccentric hostel owner. A smaller group of us took a ridiculously cheap bus to Aqaba and stayed in a kitschy hostel only a few meters from the beach and 10 km from the Saudi border. Snorkeling and diving in the Red Sea is supposed to be some of the best in the world and we got a personal tour of the reefs that begin immediately off the rocky shore. Swimming among schools of fish and floating past sea anemones filled with life that one might only see on the Discovery Channel was one of the coolest experiences of my life. To complete the day, we ate relatively inexpensive seafood at a five star restaurant with a view of the twinkling neighboring Israeli and Egyptian coastal cities. We ended up being entertained by our hostel owner’s stories of his bedouin youth at a late night bonfire-like gathering of other CIEE students on the beach. A lot of Aqaba was rather low-key due to the month of Ramadan, but we still explored downtown the next day in search of unique antiques, 1 Dinar copies of cheesy Arab music and a café serving various forms of caffeine and (my favorite) lemon mint juice.

Lastly, in search of an escape from the quick-tempered taxi drivers and the lack of “normal” life so prevalent during the month of Ramadan lead our program directors to plan a big trip to Petra and Wadi Rum. Bouncing along in the back of jeep through the desert, I observed the stark contrast of mountains rising from the sand dunes And although I firmly believe that walking through sand is only a rational act if a beach is at the end of the trek, contemplating the beautiful culmination of colors in the sunset in Wadi Rum over the uniquely eroded rock formations was another one of the best highlights of Jordan thus far. That evening we stayed in a Bedouin camp complete with tents constructed out of goat hair blankets, traditional food, live music and dancing. The next two days were a whirlwind of camel rides (the camel I rode for the first hour was one of the most unpleasant of the bunch and kept trying to sit down, buck me off and continually roared as loudly as it could…however the next two hours were great when I rode a more even-tempered camel) and travel through the famous ancient city of Petra. By some stroke of luck (or rather wasta, arab connections) we walked through the long rock corridor early in the morning which meant that we were able to see and take pictures of the Treasury, of Indiana Jones’ fame, before any other tour groups were allowed into the park. Most of the sights in Petra are ancient royal tombs of the trader civilization that lived in Petra predating Roman times. We climbed up nearly 1,000 steps to a site called the Monastery with an excellent view of the rugged terrain that lies between Petra and Israel (and quite a big selection of Bedouins selling camel bone jewelry). In some spare time I also chatted with quite a few genuinely friendly “free spirits” that are part of the Bedouin tribe that maintains the park (including a seven year old local who through American TV and movies had a perfect American accent, in addition to the knowledge of several Bob Marley songs).