"Take the donkey!" Top 5 Page for this destination Monastery Tip by TheWanderingCamel

When we asked people who live in Amman about the climb to the Monastery they had 3 words of advice - "Take the donkey."
So that's what we did - donkey up, walk down.
It was an experience, terrifying at first as the path was so narrow in places that our legs seemed to dangle in space over the ravine, but once we trusted the sure-footedness of the animal, it was quite fun - and our legs were grateful to have escaped the first 850 steps of the long climb up. There was no escaping the last part of the path, much shorter but steeper, but the spectacle of the huge facade of the Monastery was ahead of us, it was still very early in the morning and we knew there was no-one ahead of us so we would have the place absolutely to ourselves - magic.

Allow yourself plenty of time to get up to the Monastery, whether by donkey or under your own steam. It is a long way, but the path is good, a mix of steps and flat stretches. You'll encounter some very persuasive saleswomen on the way - if they can't get you going up (if you're on a donkey) be sure they'll get you coming down.

leyle

Address: Wadi ad-Deir
Directions: The path to the Monastery leads off on the right after the Restaurant and the museum. The donkey costs 5JD