"Jordan" Jordan by chizz

My husband and I visited Jordan in November, 2006 and had a great time there. We began our trip by flying to Amman where we booked a serviced appartment at Crystal Suites for 3 nights. These appartments were close to the city centre, near to the Four Seasons and Sheraton hotels and were clean and comfortable at an affordable price. Our first day was spent sightseeing in Amman and we visited the Roman Amphitheatre, Citadel, Forum, the Archaelogical Museum and downtown shopping area. From there we made a half day trip north by hire car to visit the roman ruins at Jerash.
The Movenpick Resort at the Dead Sea was our next port of call where we floated in the sea (whilst reading the newspaper!) and applied the mud. The entrance fee was around £20 pp which, although not cheap, gave you the chance to use the resorts beach, sunloungers and showers.
From there we travelled to Madaba to visit the Church of St. George and see the famous mosaic. We also went to the Archeological Park to see more mosaics and wandered around the town. We saw more mosaics at one of the old churches before having a traditional meal at one of the town's restaurants.
Mt. Nebo was our next stop which is close to where Moses is buried. The views are impressive from the top of the hill and there is a small museum and church to look around too.
We then decided to visit Hammamat Ma'in thermal hot springs where you could bathe in pools of various temperatures. This was nice but changing facilities are not so good so be prepared!
Our next stop was the impressive Kerak Castle on our way to Petra. This castle offers great views and is quite interesting to walk around. We arrived at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Petra in the early evening which was nice to see the sunset over the site. This hotel is ideal for exploring Petra as it is a 5 minute walk away from the entrance, which means you can go in as soon as it opens without travelling too far.
The next day we were the first tourists in the site at 7am (winter schedule), which was great for photo opportunities without the crowds. The Siq and Treasury are impressive as well as the Monastery and Sacrificial Altar. The latter two require quite a long climb but you can go up by donkey if you so wish! Petra is definately the highlight of any visit to Jordan!
From Petra we travelled to do a jeep tour of Wadi Rum which was organised at the visitor centre there. We opted for a 4 hour tour which took in a canyon, the remains of Lawrence of Arabia's house, rock bridges to climb and sand dunes. Many people opt to do tours by camel and some stay overnight sleeping under the stars which I've been told is great fun.
Our last stop was Aqaba where we basically drove around for an hour to have a quick look before stopping to eat. We then drove back to Amman (a 4 hr journey) for a day of rest before flying back home.