In the land of Dead Sea: Six magical days in Jordan
The author spent six days in Jordan as part of a women-only travellers’ group Wander Woman. She writes about her experience sleeping under the stars in the Wadi Rum valley, visiting the ancient city of Petra, shopping at souks, and much more
Ever since my friends went to Jordan and I couldn't due to visa issues, I have been wanting to visit the place. That's why when Wander Woman offered a trip to Jordan, I started contemplating the visit. The next day, one of my closest friends also called, and we immediately agreed to go on this trip.
Wander Woman organises 'women only' travel solutions for women who want to travel within Bangladesh and outside. I came to know about them randomly on Facebook and have ever since been travelling with them. I like the end-to-end support the platform provides.
Our tour lead was Sabira, who is the founder of Wander Woman. The travellers met one day and we immediately started chatting. Our visa and tickets were given to us and a checklist on essentials. The 12 of us got along immediately and decided on our roommates. The next few weeks were all about anticipation, planning for the trip, and so on. We flew with Etihad Airways and with Sabira leading the way, were promoted to Business Class!
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We arrived in the afternoon, and settled in the City Centre Hotel in Amman. Amman is one of the oldest inhabited cities in the world, dating back to 7,500 years. As we roamed around the city, it felt like a mixture of old meeting the new; people wearing modern clothes in a backdrop of old buildings and narrow alleys.
Our trip to a souk (local bazaar) in the evening was mainly an exploration - tasting local street food, like shawarma or kunafa, local ice cream, and last but not least, the coffee! Products from Palestine stood out at the bazaar; along with nuts, local sweets, spices and jewellery stores.
The Citadel
The next day, we woke up early to visit the Citadel. As the highest point in Amman, the Citadel is also the best place to take in an overall view of the entire city, which makes you realise that all the greatest civilisations like the Romans, Byzantine, Persians, and Greeks ruled here.
Within the large complex, the Temple of Hercules stands out. The massive structure was built around 162-166 AD by Geminius Marcianus, the governor of the province of Arabia during that time. It is believed that the Citadel was never completed, the tour guide explained. If it had been, it would have been larger than any structure in Rome like the Colosseum or Pantheon.
As we walked past the Citadel, the 'Hand of Hercules' caught our attention. The son of God Zeus and mortal Alcmene, Hercules has been a fascinating character even before Dwayne Johnson played him in a movie.
According to archaeologists, the tribute to Hercules as a statue in the Citadel would have stood as much as 42 feet high, which would have made it among the largest known marble statues in the world.
Admiring the variety of flowers and trees within the space, we walked into the museum. Among many old artefacts, what stood out were the tear bottles.
The bottles are from the Roman era when they were used to carry tears from loved ones. Legend has it that if someone's husband passed away and she did not want to remarry, her relatives would check the bottle to see whether she was actually grieving her dead husband, and let her be.
Our next stop was Mount Nebo. According to the Old Testament, this is where Moses lived his last days and was buried. At around 1,000 metres tall, Mount Nebo sits 10 km northwest from the city of Madaba. On a very clear day, Jerusalem can be spotted from here.
Wadi Rum Valley
After a quick stop for food and some shopping, we set out for Wadi Rum. It was a five hour drive and when we reached, it was already 9pm. All of a sudden our phones were dead and it became freezing cold. Thankfully, a young boy drove us through the dark desert to our hotel.
When dinner was over, as we walked towards our capsules in the middle of hills, we looked up at the sky and were mesmerised by millions of stars staring back at us. Wadi Rum, also known as 'the valley of the moon', did not disappoint with its vast reddish sand dunes, gigantic rock hills, and bedouins walking by with camels. I felt I was in the film Lawrence of Arabia.
Settlements dating back to as early as 4,500 BC have been found in Wadi Rum. Currently, its inhabitants are mainly bedouin. Several hundred of them live in goat-skin tents and concrete houses.
As we moved through the sand dunes on four wheelers, we quietly absorbed the beauty of the desert. The only sound we heard was the wind blowing through the valleys.
Petra
After saying goodbye to Wadi Rum, we headed to Petra, our most anticipated historical sight. However, the cold became constant and the temperature dropped to five degree Celsius with strong winds and occasional rains.
Petra took my breath away. Famous for its architecture carved out of pink rock, it is an important archaeological site and Jordan's biggest tourist attraction. It was founded in the year 312 BC as the capital of the Nabataean Empire.
The Nabatean trading empire was the real power in the ancient world, keeping evidence of their civilisation after centuries through intricate carving of stones and labyrinthine passageways.
Declared a Unesco World Heritage Site in 1985, it is often referred to as the 'Rose City' because of the stones' pinkish hue. The 2,300 year old city is one of the oldest in the world.
The tour started from the heart of Petra. Our guide arranged for golf carts to take us towards the treasury, thinking about the cold weather. However, after a while, some of us realised walking would be the best way to explore this mysterious place.
The road to the treasury was fascinating with zigzagged alleys. I looked up to see the blue sky and wondered if Harrison Ford felt very lucky to shoot Indiana Jones here.
The treasury, also known as Al-Khazneh, is the most elaborate temple in Petra. It is about 80 feet tall. Petra is full of intricately sculpted tombs, such as the iconic Urn Tomb and many of them are carved into the mountains that overlook the rest of the city.
In fact, Petra has more tombs than the Valley of the Kings in Luxor, Egypt, with more than 1,000 tombs discovered till now. Small local shops selling kajal, essential oils, mint tea and tapestry tell the old stories of the ancient civilisation.
Dead Sea
We arrived at the Dead Sea on a relatively sunny day. All of us were wearing our 'Wander Woman' T-shirts to take a group photo.
As I tried getting into the water, I realised it was not easy as the rocks were hurting my feet. But when I let myself go, I remained floating on the water. One can't drown in the Dead Sea due to the extreme salinity. For the same reason, there are no fish or plants.
Apparently Cleopetra used to come here for beauty treatment! As fascinating as it is to float, it is not possible to stay in the water for long as the salt causes itching on the skin and eyes.
It felt like a slow day in Jordan as we packed our bags, ready to leave for Bangladesh. But it was much needed, considering how much we had seen and absorbed in the last few days.
