Jordan 2007
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:
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Currency: Jordan Dinar (JD)
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Internet: Available in many places
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ATM's: Available everywhere
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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)
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Value Money: €1 = 1,10 JD
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Fuel: 0,315 JD per liter (about € 0,35)
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Camping: Varies from 2JD till 10 JD per night
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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.
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Except for fuel, Jordan is definitely not cheap.
Visa & Border crossing
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Can easily be obtained at the border. The price is 10 JD per person.
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Roadtax = 15 JD for one month
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Insurance = 29 JD for one month
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Visa is valid for one month but can easily be extended to three month
Highlights or not
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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.
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Jerash: The best preserved ruins of the country. As we saw many ruins and the entrance is pretty expensive we did not visited them.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Dead Sea: Once here you really must have the experience of floating in this very salt sea.
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Kings Highway: Great road to drive. The surrounding area changes from farm fields to gorges and deserts, very divers.
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Petra: Very extraordinary place, must be visited if you are in Jordan.
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Wadi Rum: Very beautiful desert and great for off road driving and bush camping.
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Aqaba: Nice place for snorkling. There are nice reefs close to the beach.
Tips
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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.
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About 9 kilometers from Petra you can find Little Petra. Going here is for free and there are some nice places.
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In Amman the Palace Hotel is one of the best budget hotels there is.
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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.
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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 |