Planning a trip to Jordan

[John*&*his*GG 2]

Ok so I'm going to see my fiance in April in Amman, Jordan. I will be there for 9 days. I have a few ideas of what I would like to do and see. I have searched web sites and will continue searching. However I'm having trouble filling my whole trip. I just don't know what things are going to cost, what's free, and what to do. For those of you that know me know that my fiance is Filipina and hasn't lived there long so she isn't a lot of help planning the trip either. Please help me fill in time and if anyone knows cost of things please include them. Some of the Jordan sites are either not very clear on pricing or do not list pricing at all and some times response times for emails are very slow so please help me if you can with pricing and suggestions. List of things we would like to do and have planned so far are below and please help with the cost of each if you can. Thanks in advance.

1. Petra 1 day

2. Wadi Rum

3. Mecca Mall Bowling, movie, raceway karting, ??? 2 days

4. Roman Amp.

What will these cost me and what else can I do for free or low cost?

Also what will be the safest and least expensive way to go to Petra?

I'm also interested in seeing museums with paintings. I like a lot of entertainment, shopping, art, sports.....

[Nasturtium 500]

Ok so I'm going to see my fiance in April in Amman, Jordan. I will be there for 9 days. I have a few ideas of what I would like to do and see. I have searched web sites and will continue searching. However I'm having trouble filling my whole trip. I just don't know what things are going to cost, what's free, and what to do. For those of you that know me know that my fiance is Filipina and hasn't lived there long so she isn't a lot of help planning the trip either. Please help me fill in time and if anyone knows cost of things please include them. Some of the Jordan sites are either not very clear on pricing or do not list pricing at all and some times response times for emails are very slow so please help me if you can with pricing and suggestions. List of things we would like to do and have planned so far are below and please help with the cost of each if you can. Thanks in advance.

1. Petra 1 day

2. Wadi Rum

3. Mecca Mall Bowling, movie, raceway karting, ??? 2 days

4. Roman Amp.

What will these cost me and what else can I do for free or low cost?

Also what will be the safest and least expensive way to go to Petra?

I'm also interested in seeing museums with paintings. I like a lot of entertainment, shopping, art, sports.....

I had passes from the Minister of Antiquities so I went everywhere for free because of my working with Yarmouk University.. but... off the top of my head I can give a bit of estimating of costs. Petra is $$. It's like $40-50 per person per day pass. Petra is huge though and it has really nice things to see-- all the tombs you already are familiar with plus then the additional infrastructure such as a theater, temples, churches, etc. Then if you're really up for it there is an 8-9 hour hike to go see Aaron's tomb. Bring your own water to Petra no matter what. It is too $$ there and all the good stuff is surrounded by annoying people and expensive stands. There are some decent jewelry deals though.

Wadi Rum-- I never went but I have a friend who went. She loved it and just did it as a day trip from Aqaba. You can actually sleep there in a fake bedouin experience but they will seperate you and your fiancee. I don't think she paid to visit but then again she didn't use any facilities of any kind.

Roman Ampitheater was free for me again but I think it was like 10JD at the time. You can actually just see it from the gates for free too if you want

Mecca Mall-- I can't help with this much... I know I got in there but I don't think I paid anything as it's just free to walk in-- and I didn't do any of that. Someone else may know.

If you're going to go all the way to Wadi Rum why not go to Aqaba?

[Nasturtium 500]

Oh and you may just consider renting a car. It will be about what public transport would be. Just get accident insurance for sure, you know, the obvious. Jordan has the highest rate of vehicular fatalities per capita in the ME (or did last time I looked) but that's more a function of having the 40 people crammed into a car and no seatbelts coupled with crazy driving. You can just drive like normal more or less and function fine. Driving laws are basically the same. You'll just need an international DL. I did it and it was easy enough.

[John*&*his*GG 2]

Oh and you may just consider renting a car. It will be about what public transport would be. Just get accident insurance for sure, you know, the obvious. Jordan has the highest rate of vehicular fatalities per capita in the ME (or did last time I looked) but that's more a function of having the 40 people crammed into a car and no seatbelts coupled with crazy driving. You can just drive like normal more or less and function fine. Driving laws are basically the same. You'll just need an international DL. I did it and it was easy enough.

Hmmm I've been told I might want to stay clear of renting a car because they drive crazy there and if I miss a turn it would be 30 mins before I could turn around.

"If you're going to go all the way to Wadi Rum why not go to Aqaba?"

Probably because I have no idea what that is

[Nasturtium 500]

Hmmm I've been told I might want to stay clear of renting a car because they drive crazy there and if I miss a turn it would be 30 mins before I could turn around.

"If you're going to go all the way to Wadi Rum why not go to Aqaba?"

Probably because I have no idea what that is

Aqaba is the city on the Red Sea. It's the Jordanian equivilent of Taba or Eliat. You can go swimming, snorkeling on the reefs, take a death-trap glass-bottom boat which may leak, etc. It's all good fun though. You can stay in one of the hotels on the beach and thus get access to their private beach. Same goes for if you went to the Dead Sea which is about an hour or so from Petra where you could see the DS, Baptism site (this one I do know its admission-- 10JD last time I checked), Mt Nebo, etc. Aqaba is like an hour and a half or two hours from Petra, so about an hour or 45 min. from Wadi Rum. Jordan is only 4.5 hours from North tippy top to Aqaba. If you get lost in Aqaba you will just accidentally go to KSA. Then you turn around and go back. I did that too, no big deal. Takes 15 minutes. The idea of being in the wrong direction for 30 minutes isn't a big deal to me. If it were, I'd likely not drive anywhere new.

There are also Crusader castles on the way inbetween Amman and Petra--Shoback and Kerak. They have no idea what OSHA standards are so you'll need your own flashlights if you wish to explore the mines and other dark areas... and be careful. I accidentally went down a short shaft once. It's OK. But if you fall down the wrong shaft such as the shaft into a dungeon, you may have more problems. So bring a flashlight. I think admission is 10JD or less. I'm a total wash when trying to figure out that information. All I can do is google it.

It depends on how frightened of a driver you are in the US. I have never been particularly scared of going into cities I do not know. I also don't get stressed out about being lost. I just have a map and go forth. Other people do it, it will be OK. In Amman the driving will be scarier but likely you wouldn't need to drive there-- take a taxi. Going to these locations you listed is highway driving. If you can drive on an interstate here, that is exactly how it will be there along with the same sparsity of other drivers. I couldn't really tell I wasn't in NV half the time until I saw some overly-burdened crazy bus. Signs are dually in English and Arabic. There is a rest stop inbetween Amman and Petra. Use it, it is the only one. You'll need to bring your own toilet paper to be sure you have some.

[John*&*his*GG 2]

Aqaba is the city on the Red Sea. It's the Jordanian equivilent of Taba or Eliat. You can go swimming, snorkeling on the reefs, take a death-trap glass-bottom boat which may leak, etc. It's all good fun though. You can stay in one of the hotels on the beach and thus get access to their private beach. Same goes for if you went to the Dead Sea which is about an hour or so from Petra where you could see the DS, Baptism site (this one I do know its admission-- 10JD last time I checked), Mt Nebo, etc. Aqaba is like an hour and a half or two hours from Petra, so about an hour or 45 min. from Wadi Rum. Jordan is only 4.5 hours from North tippy top to Aqaba. If you get lost in Aqaba you will just accidentally go to KSA. Then you turn around and go back. I did that too, no big deal. Takes 15 minutes. The idea of being in the wrong direction for 30 minutes isn't a big deal to me. If it were, I'd likely not drive anywhere new.

There are also Crusader castles on the way inbetween Amman and Petra--Shoback and Kerak. They have no idea what OSHA standards are so you'll need your own flashlights if you wish to explore the mines and other dark areas... and be careful. I accidentally went down a short shaft once. It's OK. But if you fall down the wrong shaft such as the shaft into a dungeon, you may have more problems. So bring a flashlight. I think admission is 10JD or less. I'm a total wash when trying to figure out that information. All I can do is google it.

It depends on how frightened of a driver you are in the US. I have never been particularly scared of going into cities I do not know. I also don't get stressed out about being lost. I just have a map and go forth. Other people do it, it will be OK. In Amman the driving will be scarier but likely you wouldn't need to drive there-- take a taxi. Going to these locations you listed is highway driving. If you can drive on an interstate here, that is exactly how it will be there along with the same sparsity of other drivers. I couldn't really tell I wasn't in NV half the time until I saw some overly-burdened crazy bus. Signs are dually in English and Arabic. There is a rest stop inbetween Amman and Petra. Use it, it is the only one. You'll need to bring your own toilet paper to be sure you have some.

I thought about renting a car just to go to Petra and Wadi Rum only to cut down on cost. However my fiance also mentioned tours.

Also I have no plans of going in any dark areas or in water a trip to my backyard in the dark is dangerous enough for me.

[Nasturtium 500]

I thought about renting a car just to go to Petra and Wadi Rum only to cut down on cost. However my fiance also mentioned tours.

Also I have no plans of going in any dark areas or in water a trip to my backyard in the dark is dangerous enough for me.

You do know there are desert lions and hyenas and such there, right? So you need to be accustomed to a certain amount of risk just like one would be if they were wandering around hiking in our desert west here. It's not like Europe where they have erradicated all/most wild animal threats.

So as far as galleries, those are not present in the form we're used to here. There is an antiquities museum in Amman though, and some of the universities have museums as well. Sites themselves usually house a small museum.

As far as tours, I don't know how they work other than they are more expensive than doing it yourself. They do stop at the same rest stop I mentioned though and you'll still need to bring tp and change to get into the bathroom. Everyone I know usually does it themselves, so I don't think it's complicated either way you choose.

Good luck!

[John*&*his*GG 2]

You do know there are desert lions and hyenas and such there, right? So you need to be accustomed to a certain amount of risk just like one would be if they were wandering around hiking in our desert west here. It's not like Europe where they have erradicated all/most wild animal threats.

I understand the risks of wildlife there but you were talking about mines and dark areas. I just wouldn't intentional go into those.

[Nasturtium 500]

I understand the risks of wildlife there but you were talking about mines and dark areas. I just wouldn't intentional go into those.

Yeah, a castle mine-- you know the passages in from the village/out to the village? Also dark areas in an unlit castle is any place not next to an arrow slit/doorway/window/on the roof. So it's about like as scary as wandering into any other building. Not scary to me at least. I'd be more cautious of desert lions. Also seeing a hyena up close or hearing the wild boar at dusk in the field next door is not very good for ease of feelings... Not had those feelings walking around in the castles. Nothing down there but other tourists also wandering around with flashlights. To each their own I suppose though.

[John*&*his*GG 2]

Any other suggestions of what to do and costs? I don't know very much to fill a 9 day trip. Also once I pay for Petra, room, and food I'm not going to have tons of money left so some things that will be inexpensive would be good.

[MGoBlue 0]

Do some searching about Jordan. The internet is full and I was able to pull many websites in <5 minutes. Read the reviews from other tourists.

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?threadID=2012618

A day trip to Jerash is a good idea. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerash Pack a picnic and blanket and walk around. They have a nice museaum there as well. I think it is reasonably priced. http://www.jerashchariots.com/ http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Middle_East/Jordan/Amman-1800107/Things_To_Do-Amman-day_trip_Jerash-BR-1.html

Mecca Mall is not all that. Shopping and food are way overpriced.

Petra is big bucks now.....50JD per person. http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g318895-d319461-r92264053-Petra-Petra_Wadi_Musa.html

Umm_Qais: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umm_Qais

Also read: JordanTimes.com....along the left click on What's On. Most things are free/cheap.

The King Hussein Park in Amman is nice to visit. It has an museum containing the late king's automobile collection.

http://www.royalautomuseum.jo/main.asp

The following tour site will list many of the places, Google them to learn more about them:

http://www.atlastours.net/jordan/petra.html

Edited March 14, 2011 by MGoBlue

[John*&*his*GG 2]

Do some searching about Jordan. The internet is full and I was able to pull many websites in <5 minutes. Read the reviews from other tourists.

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?threadID=2012618

A day trip to Jerash is a good idea. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerash Pack a picnic and blanket and walk around. They have a nice museaum there as well. I think it is reasonably priced. http://www.jerashchariots.com/ http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Middle_East/Jordan/Amman-1800107/Things_To_Do-Amman-day_trip_Jerash-BR-1.html

Mecca Mall is not all that. Shopping and food are way overpriced.

Petra is big bucks now.....50JD per person. http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g318895-d319461-r92264053-Petra-Petra_Wadi_Musa.html

Umm_Qais: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umm_Qais

Also read: JordanTimes.com....along the left click on What's On. Most things are free/cheap.

The King Hussein Park in Amman is nice to visit. It has an museum containing the late king's automobile collection.

http://www.royalautomuseum.jo/main.asp

The following tour site will list many of the places, Google them to learn more about them:

http://www.atlastours.net/jordan/petra.html

Thanks this has been a big help. I've seen a couple of these sites. However, I never saw anything about the show in Jerash which I'm very interested in seeing. Also the auto museum looks quite interesting as well.

[John*&*his*GG 2]

Does anyone know about jeep or camel rides in wadi rum? Prices?

I found a price for jeep rides $142 per person from an unofficial source. Is that right? What about camels?

[MGoBlue 0]

The Wadi Rum prices are steep...we paid 100JD for a jeep tour and a guide to take us up a mountian. It is really in the middle of nowhere and once you get there you are at the mercy and whatever price they charge there. It is basically driving through the dessert...you can get that on teh way to to Aqaba. i would recommend taking a bus down to Aqaba. Then walking around beach area. I would try to find a cheap hotel there. what does your other half do in Jordan? Can she ask her co-workers for help finding cheap hotel rooms. I got a nice room at the Tulip for around $100 on expedia.com. There is a small marine museum in Aqaba that is < 5JD per person. Also the public beach is ok. The hotel beaches are expensive ~ 20JD+ per person per day.

[Nasturtium 500]

The Wadi Rum prices are steep...we paid 100JD for a jeep tour and a guide to take us up a mountian. It is really in the middle of nowhere and once you get there you are at the mercy and whatever price they charge there. It is basically driving through the dessert...you can get that on teh way to to Aqaba. i would recommend taking a bus down to Aqaba. Then walking around beach area. I would try to find a cheap hotel there. what does your other half do in Jordan? Can she ask her co-workers for help finding cheap hotel rooms. I got a nice room at the Tulip for around $100 on expedia.com. There is a small marine museum in Aqaba that is < 5JD per person. Also the public beach is ok. The hotel beaches are expensive ~ 20JD+ per person per day.

My friend stayed at the Tulip-- she said it was really nice. We rented an apartment there for cheaper, but I think hotel would be easier.