9 days in Jordan [Fall | November 9-17]
Aqaba, Wadi Rum, Petra, Dead Sea, Dana, Karak, Amman
Jordan, officially called the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, conjures up exotic fairy tales with its glamorous Queen, majestic Petra, vast desert and magical dead sea.
And as we drove from Aqaba to Amman, it was just that. Where else in the world can you walk through magnificent rock cut temples, hike 6 hours into the deep of the desert to get to your candlelit hotel, and then simply lift your feet and find yourself magically floating in the sea?
The middle east is truly unlike any other place in the world. It is exotic, mysterious, it's landscapes raw and real. It is all too easy for us travelers to see only the beauty, the "highlights", as we are often shielded from what is the everyday- the hardships and the inequality endured in these beautiful places. But now, we have been made conscious of what is beyond the fairytale. The Arab Spring- the term used to coin the 2010-11 Middle East and North Africa protests- has shed real light on what it means to live as an Arab, Muslim, Middle Easterner. And while Jordan has not experienced the revolution of its neighbor Egypt or the civil uprising of it's other neighbor Syria, it too, is playing host to its own protests that began in January 2011, just two months after our visit, demanding governmental changes and a stop to food inflation and low salaries.
It is painful to see the casualties of the Arab Spring, but as you flip through the photos of this beautiful land, perhaps we should also be inspired by their courage to truly transform their country into the exotic fairytale we often paint it to be. They are turning thoughts to things on a grand scale, far beyond what many could have ever imagined.
The fizz is just better in the glass bottle
We spent day 1 climbing to this peak
sunset at the dead sea. kick up your legs and you simply float.
The road to the candlelit hotel- no electricity, just stars as far as you can see
