Jordan, an Arab nation on the east bank of the Jordan River, is defined by ancient monuments, nature reserves and seaside resorts.
Our first stop in Jordan was Jerash, a city north of the capital Amman and known as “a Roman city in Jordan”! Inhabited since the Bronze Age, it’s renowned for the ruins of the walled Greco-Roman settlement of Gerasa just outside the modern city. These include the 2nd-century Hadrian’s Arch, the Corinthian columns of the Temple of Artemis and the huge Forum’s oval colonnade. The Jerash Archaeological Museum displays artifacts excavated from the site.
I got to experience camping in the desert for the first time and I absolutely LOVED it! Actually, it’s more like “glamping” (“glamorous camping”) since we had hot showers and a comfy queen size mattress inside the tent to sleep on!
The highlight for me was to see Petra, one of the “7 Wonders of the World” and also the last one on my list to see! A city built by the ancient Nabatean people, Petra is built entirely from unique rose-coloured rocks, lending it the name The Rose City. This stunning site used to be completely unknown to the Western world, but today is Jordan’s primary tourist attraction. I actually like it better than the Grand Canyon and Antelope Canyon because of the stones’ amazing craftsmanship!