From Wadi Rum we travel to the north of Jordan, along the Kings Highway to Amman. Many of highlights of Jordan are located along this Kings Highway to the capital Amman, especially because this has been an important trade route for many centuries. We visit the ruins of Petra, the Dana Nature Reserve, several forts and castles along this Kings Highway and Mount Nebo where Moses is said to have died.
By the way, we visit most sights “for free” as part of the Jordan Pass, for which you pay 75 JoD (= € 105) per person, including your visa, two days of Petra and Wadi Rum. Highly recommended for anyone who plans to visit Jordan extensively.
Our journey along the Royal Road to Amman.
More details of our trip on Sonja’s Polarsteps.
Petra and Wadi Musa
Petra
We visit the ruins of the historic city of Petra for 2 whole days. About 35 km of walking, climbing and scrambling from highlight to highlight. You can find a detailed description on Sonja’s Polarsteps.
The entrance to the Petra site leads through a long gorge. At the end of it is the Treasury, a beautiful building hewn out of the rock.
Further into the valley we walk from one surprise to another. Not only is the architecture very diverse and the buildings date from many millennia ago, but nature also presents itself with unexpected beauty.
Wadi Mussa
Petra is located in the municipality of Wadi Mussa, the Valley of Moses. In the town there is a small shrine with a rock and a spring. According to the Bible story, Moses struck a rock during the exodus from Egypt and water came out. This is said to be this rock.
Shoubak Castle
One of the many crusader castles in Jordan is the Shoubaq or Montreal castle, we visit this on the way to our next stop.
Dana Nature Reserve
We find a camping spot at Al Nawatef Camp on the edge of the Dana Nature Reserve.
We are on the edge of a dry valley, a wadi, which turns into a green oasis in winter. After a wonderfully quiet night we decide to take a walk in the valley. With the Komoot app on the phone we find our way along a “path”. That path turns out to be a little less easy to find than expected. It takes us about 5 hours to complete the circular walk with considerable scrambling of over 9 km.
We watch the sun set over the Jordan Valley and receive a freshly made cup of tea.
From our camping spot we find a narrow paved road straight through the Dana valley. We turn left from the Kings Highway about three kilometers from Al Nawatef Camp (coordinates: 30.633248, 35.642953). This small road leads us beautifully through the Dana valley to the old village of Dana. This village consists almost entirely of guesthouses and hotels. From Dana we find our way back to the Kings Highway (coordinates: 30.659362, 35.623106).
A really nice route if you want to deviate from the Kings Highway for half an hour.
Kerak
We find a “paid” parking lot near Kerak Castle. We can visit the castle with our Jordan Pass, like so much of Jordan’s cultural heritage. This Jordan Pass is highly recommended for anyone visiting Jordan.
After our visit to the castle we have lunch at the restaurant that manages the parking lot. This means we don’t have to pay parking costs.
Madaba
The Royal Road to Madaba is spectacular with deep descents into the wadis, the river valleys and beautiful views over the highlands and the Jordan Valley.
In Madaba we can spend the night in the parking lot of the Madaba Visitor Center. Saba, the Visitor Center employee who receives us, arranges this with the local police and parking lot security. We can leave our car in the parking lot after 6:30 PM and have to leave before 8:30 AM the next morning.
In the city we walk along the brown-red line on the sidewalks. We are guided to the various sights in the city from the Madaba Visitor Center. We see the Madaba Archeological Park, Church of the Martyrs, St. Georges Greek Orthodox Church and St. John the Baptist Church. With increasing amazement we admire the many mosaics that have been preserved in this city over the past millennia.
Mount Nebo, Moses’ memorial
The church of St. Lot & Procopius
On the way to Mount Nebo we visit a mosaic workshop where the young women present point out the church of St. Lot & Procopius. There is a beautiful mosaic here. Fortunately, the door of the church is open, which is by appointment, and just before us a bus with tourists arrived.
Mount Nebo
Mount Nebo is a special memorial site for Muslims, Christians and Jews. The prophet Moses ascended this mountain at the end of his life and died here with a view of the promised land of Canaan.
We walk across this memorial site and admire the buildings and memorials that have been built here over the centuries. In the distance we have a view of the Jordan and Palestine/Israel.
Amman (1)
The first time we visit the capital Amman we visit the highlights. We will come back later, but we didn’t know that when we were here for the first time. In the parking lot at the Citadel we park Milady Landy, a huge historical site in the center of Amman.
We leave the car at the citadel and walk into the old center, downtown. Here we see the enormous theater that could accommodate 6,000 visitors and the modern murals that enliven the city.
That same afternoon we drive east into the desert…