We left Madaba and followed the King’s Road until we arrived at a spectacular place (yes, even by Jordanian standards): the view over the Wadi Mujib canyon. It flows into the Dead Sea and is often called the “Jordanian Grand Canyon” and for good reason, don’t you agree?

To add more spice, we had to slide it down on our heavily charged tandem bicycle with worn off brakes… But well, I reserved the rent about our technical difficulties in the first article about the whole cycling expedition. 

Unfortunately, this was also the place where some kids decided to throw stones at us – a drastic contrast to all the “Welcome to Jordan”s we abundantly received on a daily basis.

Sliding down was one thing; getting back up was another story. So we didn’t have too many scruples about hitchhiking a pick-up truck – thankfully, it is one of the most common vehicles in Jordan. Our tandem got the rest it deserved too.

As soon as the driver dropped us off in Al-Mughayer, a passer-by – Abu Ahmed – insisted that we stay at his place for the night. As it turned out, it was the house of “madam number two” – his own words! Despite the very limited communication, it made for a fascinating cultural evening.

 – Dana Tower Hotel

The room in the only operating hotel (it was January, after all!) was excellent, the staff very friendly, and the local architecture unusual and sketchable. It could have been a perfect stay were it not for the hotel owner, who took his time complaining about modern women who had forgotten their place. Oh well…

By the way, cycling back to the main road through the interior of Dana Reserve was also an excellent decision – the road was empty and incredibly picturesque.

In the article about northern Jordan, I wrote about Ajloun – an Islamic fortress built to defend the region against the Crusaders. Shobak, on the other hand, is a Crusader fortress itself which used to once control important trade and pilgrimage routes linking Syria, Arabia, and Egypt – nothing unusual historically, perhaps, but somehow I still find this fact mind-blowing.  Shobak castle looks like an isolated yellow circle in the yellow surroundings – the day of our visit it was under heavy reconstruction works, which didn’t prevent us from enjoying this short visit.

A separate article about our Petra experience is coming soon.

Probably the juiciest piece of Jordan, a true miracle and one of the New Seven Wonders of the World – Petra, the capital of the long gone Nabataean Kingdom. We had been looking forward to this visit since day zero and it didn’t disappoint us at all. Actually, it was one of those rare cases when expectations are high but reality matches them (and even surpasses them), and that is not something that happens regularly.

Little Petra

A separate article about our Wadi Rum experience is coming soon.

From one highlight to another – this time the notorious desert famous for sandstone and granite mountains that has been mediatized as one of the major miracles of Jordan. Rightly so, but unlike Petra, it did not inspire the same level of awe and amazement.

Too touristy, too exploited, too… artificial and staged?

It was not a disappointment or anything like that, probably just not our preferred way of interacting with such popular places (which therefore require a great deal of care). For more information and feedback, check the separate post (coming soon!).

Kids on the Desert Highway

Wadi Rum Village

I couldn’t possibly relay how emotional it was to reach Aqaba – the final point of our Jordan itinerary. The city that had seemed endlessly far away from our starting point, yet here we were – merely one day of downhill cycling away from Wadi Rum.

Although, despite the fact that it was not physically challenging at all, this ride was not enjoyable either – heavy traffic, constant honking, bottles of urine (I took great care to describe these issues in the main article), atrocious smells – in a word, there was strictly nothing triumphant about crossing the finish line. Still, it was a big and important day.

We booked four nights in a random nothing-to-declare hotel – not exactly something lacking in Aqaba – the only Jordanian city on the sea. We needed a good rest, a proper bicycle maintenance session, repairs for our clothes, and simply some time to recover and think about whether we wanted to continue the adventure or stop where we were.

All this to say that Aqaba took on a totally different meaning – it was not a city we “visited”, but rather an important logistical stop. However, from what we saw, there was no love at first sight. Architecturally messy, busy, littered, chaotic, but not in the kind of way that makes you feel good.

– Arabic Moon

As it was the end of January – not exactly high season in Aqaba (even though I can hardly imagine being there during any hotter month) – the restaurants in the Aqaba Beach area were closed. So we went directly to the “luxury” area – Tala Bay Marina – a purpose-built resort area south of the city, – to check out the restaurants for “rich people”. Like during our Dead Sea experience, it’s not exactly the type of atmosphere we enjoy, but the contrast was funny to observe, and the food was good. Hey, that was our first wine since Amman!

On this bitter-sweet note, the story of our Jordan trip comes to an end. It took me a year and a half to write these posts, but it was not an easy trip, and the emotions it provoked were not simple either – the digestion process naturally took some time. Yet here we are.

I will also remind you that the whole series about the Jordan adventure can be found on our Jordan page – the posts are still coming! In the meantime, I will mentally prepare myself for tackling another huge chapter – crossing Saudi Arabia. Boy, if Jordan was not easy, just wait for it, my sweet summer child…

Thank you for reading, and don’t hesitate to reach out to us in any way – we would love to hear your thoughts, feedback, or experiences!