Welcome to Jordan and the start of an amazing adventure. Arrive in Amman and enjoy an included transfer to our hotel. The remainder of today is at your leisure.
This morning we have the opportunity to join our guide for a return visit to Petra along the “secret way” of al-Madras, with visits to the High Place of Sacrifice and Wadi Farasa.
At lunchtime, we stop at the Wadi Musa souk to pick up delicious shawarma sandwiches or fruit and veggie snacks from the local produce souk before making the scenic drive to Wadi Rum. A vast, silent landscape of ancient riverbeds, pastel coloured stretches of sandy desert and amazing rock formations known as jebels that rise from the desert floor, the deserts cape of Wadi Rum represents some of the most stunning countryside on our planet.
This desert is home to the once nomadic Bedouin people who would roam the desert tending to their flocks of goats. Most Bedouins now are village based although they still rely on goats to provide milk, yoghurt and cheese. Quite often Bedouins will return for a period of the year to their original nomadic lifestyle. Boarding 4 x 4 jeeps, we take a safari through the sand dunes, getting up close and personal to the surrounding scenery of Wadi Rum. We enjoy a magical evening under the brilliant stars of the desert night sky, including a scrumptious traditional Jordanian dinner. (B/D)
After breakfast at the campsite, we head north along the Desert Highway to visit Shobak Castle, which is perched dramatically on a hill top and was built by the Crusader King Baldwin I in 1115. After exploring the castle we descend some 1300 meters to the Dead Sea, the lowest point on the earth's surface. More than 400 meters below sea level, the mineral-rich Dead Sea is the world's original health and beauty spa. Drift out and bob in the waters and slap on some of the famous black Dead Sea mud to give your skin an invigorating boost.
For departures between April and October we head up the King's Highway to Wadi Mujib. Here, we embark on a moderate–paced two hour trek along the Siq Trail. Measuring 500 metres in depth and spanning 4 kilometres across, the impressive Wadi Mujib is one of Jordan's most remarkable natural features.
This dramatic canyon features sheer rocky walls and sparkling waterways that range from puddle height to depths that are perfect for swimming (chest height or deeper) depending on the rainfall. When the water level is high you should be prepared for having to climb up ladders, clamber across boulders and be happy to wade through water.
The canyon is just one feature of the Mujib Biosphere Reserve, the lowest nature reserve in the world, home to a surprising diversity of wildlife and plant species. For those not interested in taking the full hike, you can walk part of it or wait by the Visitor Centre till the group returns. After our trek we make our way to the Dead Sea. (B)
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