Jordan 2007

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Route

  • Days: 17 days
  • Period: Last 2,5 weeks of April
  • Weather: Pleasant till warm, at night sometimes cold. In Aqaba already very hot.

General information:

  • Currency: Jordan Dinar (JD)   

  • Internet: Available in many places

  • ATM's: Available everywhere

  • Safety: Jordan is a very safe country to travel in. Camping on parking areas is allowed and safe. Sometimes the police even keeps an eye on the tourist

Prices (per April 2007)

  • Value Money: €1 = 1,10 JD

  • Fuel:  0,315 JD per liter (about € 0,35)

  • Camping: Varies from 2JD till 10 JD per night

  • Entrance fees: Most entrances cost about 1 or 2 JD. Only Jerash (8 JD per person), Bethany (7 JD per person) and Petra are more expensive. The entrance fee for Petra is 21 JD per person for one day and 26 JD per person for two days.

  • Except for fuel, Jordan is definitely not cheap.

Visa & Border crossing

  • Can easily be obtained at the border. The price is 10 JD per person.

  • Roadtax = 15 JD for one month

  • Insurance = 29 JD for one month

  • Visa is valid for one month but can easily be extended to three month

Highlights or not

  • Umm Qais: Old Roman ruins. The ruins are nice but not special. The view on the Jordan Valley, Golan Heights and Sea of Galilee is spectacular.

  • Jerash: The best preserved ruins of the country. As we saw many ruins and the entrance is pretty expensive we did not visited them.

  • Bethany: Place where Jezus is baptised. We liked the spot. Not only for its meaning but also because it is something different from all the ruins.

  • Mount Nebo: From this mountain God showed Mozes the promised land. The views are spectacular and the old church on top has a special atmosphere.

  • Madaba: Here you can visit St. George church. Inside the church there is an old mozaik map of the biblical places around. Nice but a short visit will do.

  • Dead Sea: Once here you really must have the experience of floating in this very salt sea.

  • Kings Highway: Great road to drive. The surrounding area changes from farm fields to gorges and deserts, very divers.

  • Petra: Very extraordinary place, must be visited if you are in Jordan.

  • Wadi Rum: Very beautiful desert and great for off road driving and bush camping.

  • Aqaba: Nice place for snorkling. There are nice reefs close to the beach.

Tips

  • Visa etc. must be paid in Jordan Dinar. As there is no ATM on the border it is best to have enough Euro's or US Dollars that can be exchanged.

  • About 9 kilometers from Petra you can find Little Petra. Going here is for free and there are some nice places.

  • In Amman the Palace Hotel is one of the best budget hotels there is.

  • In Amman you can also obtain your visa for Sudan, but we had very bad experiences here. We had to wait for 3 days and eventually we left without our visa. If you have time enough it is worth trying because the visa is not expensive 36 JD per person.

  • In Aqaba you can easily free camp on the parking of the public beaches; there are even toilets and showers.

Important addresses

 

Nederlandse ambassade in Jordanie
22, Ibrahim Ayoub Street
Alico Building, fourth Circle
Amman
 
Postadres:
P.O. Box 941361
11194 Jordanië
 
Tel. 00-962-6-5902200/2222
Fax. 00-962-6-5930214/5930161
E-mail: amm-info@minbuza.nl
Website: www.netherlandsembassy.com.jo
 
Openingstijden:
zondag-donderdag 08.00-16.00 (kantoor)
zondag-donderdag 09.00-12.00 (visa)

 

Links

 

http://www.mfa.gov.jo/embassy_list.php?char=All - All diplomatic addresses in Jordan

 

Holidays

 

New year 1 January
Birthday of King Abdullah II 30 January
Labour day 1 May
Independence day 25 May
Birthday of King Hussein 14 November
Christmas 25 December

 

GPS-waypoints

 

Grid: Lat/Lon hddd°mm.mmm"

 

 

Umm Qays N32.39.246 E035.41.039 Bush camp   Bush camp inside the ruins next to police
Bethany N31.50.671 E035.34.779 Bush camp   Next to entrance of Baptise site
Amman N31.57.171 E035.55.973 Hotel Farah Hotel Very basic hotel in Amman, 9JD per night with shared showers
Wadi Mujib N31.26.076 E035.47.485 Camping Trajan Resthouse Basic camping but very nice view over the Wadi Mujib, price 2JD per night
Little Petra N30.22.250 E035.27.502 Camping Helali Bedouin Camp  Nice bedouin campsite 9km from Petra. Price 10JD per night, but if you bargain it can be less. We paid 5JD
Wadi Rum N29.29.902 E035.28.365 Bush camp   Bush camp in the Wadi Rum
Wadi Rum N29.28.391 E035.21.479 Bush camp   Bush camp in the Wadi Rum
Aqaba N29.25.537 E034.58.516 Camping Bedouin Garden Village Nice camping close the the beach. The camping has hot showers and pool. In front of the beach good snorkling possibilities.
Aqaba N29.25.311 E034.58.430 Bush camp Main Beach 4 Free camping including toilet and showers  close to the public beach
Aqaba N29.32.224 E034.59.916 Embassy Egypt Embassy of Egypt. Getting a visa here is quick and easy
Aqaba N29.27.729 E034..58.427 Ferry   Ferry to Egypt
Irbid N32.33.932 E035.50.821 City Center   Centrum Irbid
Jerash N32.16.502 E035.53.391 Place of interest Roman Ruins Roman Ruins of Jerash. 
Mount Nebo N31.45.990 E035.43.689 Place of interest Mount Nebo Place where Moses saw the promised land
Petra N30.19.491 E035.28.005 Place of interest Petra One of the best places of Jordan
Amman N31.57.876 E035.51.258 Embassy Sudan Embassy of Sudan in Amman
Amman N31.58.878 E035.53.663 Supermarket   Big supermarket in Amman
Umm Qays N32.39.319 E035.40.913 Place of interest Roman Ruins Roman Ruins and on top of the hill you also have a great view over the Jordan Valley, the Golan Heights and the Sea of Galilee.
Wadi Rum N29.28.405 E035.28.983 Bush camp   We had a picknick here but it is also a great bush camp spot
Wadi Rum N29.28.478 E035.29.011 Place of interest Burdah Bridge Number 5 on the map, Burdah Bridge.
Wadi Rum N29.28.302 E035.13.535 Various Back door Wadi Rum Backdoor out of the Wadi Rum. Runs through a dry river bed.
Wadi Rum N29.29.671 E035.09.891 Various Back door Wadi Rum After taken the back door this is where the road begins again.
Wadi Rum N29.38.372 E035.26.035 Place of interest Wadi Rum Visitors Center Wadi Rum
Wadi Rum N29.31.598 E035.26.825 Place of interest Wadi Rum Wadi Rum sunset point