I've just spent the last week in Jordan which was too long really. I mean, there's obviously a hell of a lot of history here, including a lot of references in the bible but it's not the most exciting of places. If I were to do it again I would just swoop in for a couple of days, see the main sites and swoop out. (I've also spent an absolute fortune here and I'm not exactly sure on what, especially since hardly anywhere sells alcohol!!).

There were 6 of us in my tour group - me and 5 Ozzies. My roommate was a 46 year old of Greek descent, there was a couple in their 60s (who were seemingly well-travelled but you'd think they'd just stepped off the boat!) and 2 girls in their 30s who were very rude, very exclusive with their private jokes etc and only went to compound my recent opinion that I don't like the younger generation of Australians (part from my friends of course!!).

Anyway, after a night in the capital Amman we headed all the way down to Aqaba in the south which is on the Red Sea and the gateway to Dahab in Egypt, Eilat in Israel and somewhere in Saudi - all of which we could see. The following day we visited Wadi Rum (wadi means valley and rum has no specific meaning). It's also known as The Valley of the Moon and is a valley cut into the sandstone and granite rock and is pretty impressive - a bit Grand Canyon-ish with red/pink/orange sand - depending on the light. One of the best rock formations is the Seven Pillars of Wisdom. Lawrence of Arabia spent a lot of time here and the film was shot on location, along with other films like Transformers.

Our next stop was Petra - the highlight of the trip and somewhere I had wanted to visit for a long time (well at least since Indiana Jones anyway!!). It was established sometime around the 6th century BC and is a symbol of Jordan and of course, the reason most people come here. It became a World Heritage Site in 1985 (and you know what I think about those but this time it deserves it!!) and UNESCO describes it as "one of the most precious cultural properties of man's cultural heritage". It's also one of the 40 places you have to see before you die. Check!

A lot of earthquakes have damaged to site over the years but the vast majority is still intact. A 2-mile long narrow carved passageway (the Siq) leads the way to the Treasury which is the picture you would all recognise and the city itself is packed full of buildings, Roman tombs, amphitheatres etc. We must have easily walked at least 8 miles that day, including 1,000 steps up to see the monastery and back down again and were exhausted. Well worth it though. And early to bed!

On our way back to Amman we drove along the ancient Kings Highway, a road that dates back to the Old Testament and beyond. We stopped at Dana, an ancient village about 500 years old and one of the best-preserved. It's on the edge of an impressive gorge and it's also home to Jordan's biggest nature reserve - not that there is much nature to be seen in the desert! We then continued to Shobak Castle, a 12th century crusader fortification perched on the edge of a cliff. Further on, we visited Madaba where we went to the Greek Orthodox church of St. George which is home to a 6th century AD mosaic map depicting the whole Middle Eastern region with the Holy City of Jerusalem at its centre.

On our last day it was pouring down - and cold! We traipsed around Jerash which should have been fascinating as it's one of the best-preserved Roman cities in the world with a huge collection of archways, theatres, baths and colonnaded streets. It's often referred to as the 'Pompeii of the Middle East'. Excavations show that Jerash was already inhabited during the Bronze Age but was mainly occupied after the Roman conquest in 63BC.

On the last afternoon, I hired a driver with the Ozzie couple and we headed off in the direction of the Dead Sea. Our first stop was meant to be the site of Jesus' baptism by John. It's considered to be one of the three holiest Christian sites in the world (along with Bethlehem and Jerusalem). To be honest, we decided against it as it was so expensive to get in and involved a further bus journey and an hour-long walk - to see what exactly?! So, we continued up to Mount Nebo which, according to the Bible, is where Moses went to see the promised land, just before he died ("And Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, the top of Pisgah which is opposite Jericho." Deuteronomy 34:1). The view from the summit was great ad you can see a panorama of the Holy Land including Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Hebron and Jericho.

And then, the piece de le resistance, the Dead Sea which is basically a salt lake 423m below sea level and therefore the lowest elevation on the earth's surface. With 33.7% salinity and 8.6 times saltier than the ocean, it's one of the world's saltiest bodies of water. The salt and minerals from here are famous for beauty treatments and products including mud masks etc. It was a very weird experience going in. Unfortunately it was bloody cold out of the water so freezing within but I forced myself to stay in for about 10 minutes until the salt got into all my nooks and crannies and became too uncomfortable! It's not as viscous as I expected and just looks and feels like normal water (not really sure what I was expecting to be honest!), except you automatically float without concentrating. It left a kind of greasy film on my skin when I came out (which then flaked and made me look like I had a serious skin complaint!) but even after 10 minutes my skin felt so much softer. So, glad I did it, would have preferred it if it had been sunny and warm but don't think I would want to go again!!

So, that was Jordan and my next and final stop is Lebanon where I head this afternoon. Jordan pics on picasa, as usual.