Jordan - Day 1 & 2

We arrived in Amman in the morning and after passport control, we hurried off to get a Jordanian SIM card and pick up our car rental. It took a little more time that we had anticipated and having already lost one hour due to flight delay, we started our the road to Petra later than planned.

The drive to Petra is pretty straight forward. We took a relatively new highway and although there were a lot of roadworks on the way, the highway itself is in pretty good condition, with well planned signs. Arriving in Petra, we followed Google Maps to our hotel, which may have not been the best of idea. Like Egypt, Google Maps is not so dependable in Jordan either. It chooses the fastest route, which may not be the best route. We found ourselves on a lonely road through the mountains, with steep uphills and downhills, and no one around in case of an emergency.

We eventually found our way the Mövenpick, which is perfectly located for a Petra trip, right at the entrance. We rested a while, showered and then headed off some exploring.

Since I wasn't feeling so well, we took it easy, walking through the Siq and all the way to the Treasury and Roman Theatre. It wasn't as hot as I would have expected, seeing as it was mid-July. Armed with a large bottle of water, a hat and scarf, it was definitely bearable, particularly if we stuck to the shade. ​

On the upside, there were few tourists around, allowing us to enjoy the sights and take pictures without random strangers.

The second day we started early and were at the entrance at 7 am. We walked the same route and then went off on our trek up to the High Point of Sacrifice. There are a number of treks a person can do, with varying degrees of effort. These can be found on a map at the entrance of Petra, near the ticket office, in multiple languages. We kept our pace nice and easy and stayed well hydrated. We did the trek without a guide, there are multiple signs along the way and it's fairly easy to find your way (except the one point where we did get lost and had to backtrack). ​

We finished our trek around 11 am and ended up at the Royal Tombs and the Colonnaded street. We would've loved to explore more and do two other treks, to the Monastery and actually visit the Royal Tombs, but unfortunately we had to check-out by 12. One night in Petra is definitely not enough, it is just too big to cover all the ground in such a short period. I would recommend two nights as a minimum.