Jordan
7/1-7/7
Leader: Cheryl kong
Jordan - a land of mesmerizing beauty suspended in the sands of time. Our tour will bring us from the ruins of bygone civilizations to the cleansing mud baths of the Dead Sea. We will camp amidst the desert grandeur of Wadi Rum and hike across the magical ancient Nabataean city of Petra.
Tuesday, July 1st
Arrive in Amman, Jordan and stay in Madaba
The citadel in Amman was the religious and political centre of the ancient city. Here are the remains of the Temple of Hercules, the rebuilt Umayyad palace. See the impressive new Jordan Museum presenting the history and cultural heritage of Jordan in a series of beautifully designed galleries.
Night in Madaba
Arrive in Amman, Jordan and stay in Madaba
The citadel in Amman was the religious and political centre of the ancient city. Here are the remains of the Temple of Hercules, the rebuilt Umayyad palace. See the impressive new Jordan Museum presenting the history and cultural heritage of Jordan in a series of beautifully designed galleries.
Night in Madaba
Wednesday, July 2nd
Visit Mt Nebo and Jerash
Drive north through red earth hills with olive groves and Aleppo pine woods. Visit the Byzantine church with remarkable mosaics on Mount Nebo, the reputed burial site of Moses. Jerash, ancient Gerasa, a leading city of the Decapolis and very prosperous in the 2nd and 3rd centuries ad, is one of the best-preserved and most beautiful of ruined Roman cities and we spend a whole day there. Among the more spectacular remains are an oval piazza, the Cardo with its flanking colonnades, triumphal arches, food market, hippodrome, theatres, magnificent temples of Zeus and Artemis and several early Christian churches.
Night in Madaba
Visit Mt Nebo and Jerash
Drive north through red earth hills with olive groves and Aleppo pine woods. Visit the Byzantine church with remarkable mosaics on Mount Nebo, the reputed burial site of Moses. Jerash, ancient Gerasa, a leading city of the Decapolis and very prosperous in the 2nd and 3rd centuries ad, is one of the best-preserved and most beautiful of ruined Roman cities and we spend a whole day there. Among the more spectacular remains are an oval piazza, the Cardo with its flanking colonnades, triumphal arches, food market, hippodrome, theatres, magnificent temples of Zeus and Artemis and several early Christian churches.
Night in Madaba
Thursday, July 3rd
Explore Madaba and visit Qusayr Amra (UNESCO world heritage site)
At Madaba visit the archaeological park, where many mosaics are preserved, and see the unique 6th-century mosaic map of the Levant in the church of St George. In the desert to the east of Madaba and Amman are remarkable survivals from the early Islamic Umayyad dynasty, 7th- and 8th-century small pleasure palaces, hunting lodges and forts. The fortress-like desert complex of Qasr Kharana; the fort of Azraq, originally Roman, rebuilt in the 13th century and used by T.E. Lawrence as his HQ for two months in 1917–18. Break for lunch at the Azraq Lodge, a former British military field Hospital, before continuing to the unesco world heritage site of Qasr Amra with the best preserved and most beautiful wall paintings of the eastern desert sites.
Night in Madaba
Explore Madaba and visit Qusayr Amra (UNESCO world heritage site)
At Madaba visit the archaeological park, where many mosaics are preserved, and see the unique 6th-century mosaic map of the Levant in the church of St George. In the desert to the east of Madaba and Amman are remarkable survivals from the early Islamic Umayyad dynasty, 7th- and 8th-century small pleasure palaces, hunting lodges and forts. The fortress-like desert complex of Qasr Kharana; the fort of Azraq, originally Roman, rebuilt in the 13th century and used by T.E. Lawrence as his HQ for two months in 1917–18. Break for lunch at the Azraq Lodge, a former British military field Hospital, before continuing to the unesco world heritage site of Qasr Amra with the best preserved and most beautiful wall paintings of the eastern desert sites.
Night in Madaba
Friday, July 4th
Relax at the Dead Sea, visit Lots Cave
The Dead Sea is a salt lake bordering Jordan to the east, and Palestine and Israel to the west. It is one of the world's saltiest bodies of water and also the lowest elevation on Earth. See Lot's cave, located on the site of the remains of an old Byzantine monastery and church above the village of Al Safi. The cave is believed to the one Lot took refuge in with his two daughters when God according to the Bible destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.
Night by Dead Sea
Relax at the Dead Sea, visit Lots Cave
The Dead Sea is a salt lake bordering Jordan to the east, and Palestine and Israel to the west. It is one of the world's saltiest bodies of water and also the lowest elevation on Earth. See Lot's cave, located on the site of the remains of an old Byzantine monastery and church above the village of Al Safi. The cave is believed to the one Lot took refuge in with his two daughters when God according to the Bible destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.
Night by Dead Sea
Saturday, July 5th
Stay overnight at a bedouin camp. Visit Kerak on the way down. Leaving the Dead Sea, drive southwards along the Biblical King’s Highway. The 12th-century Crusader castle of Karak, modified by the Mamluks in the 13th cent., is an impressive example of mediaeval military architecture with many chambers surviving.
Night in Wadi Rum
Stay overnight at a bedouin camp. Visit Kerak on the way down. Leaving the Dead Sea, drive southwards along the Biblical King’s Highway. The 12th-century Crusader castle of Karak, modified by the Mamluks in the 13th cent., is an impressive example of mediaeval military architecture with many chambers surviving.
Night in Wadi Rum
Sunday, July 6th
Visit the amazing, extensive ruins of Petra
The Siq, the narrow mile-long crevice with its Nabatean carvings and hydraulic system would itself merit a detour, but it is just the prelude to one of the most astonishing archaeological sites in the Middle East (also a unesco world heritage site). Emerging from the Siq, the visitor is confronted by the temple-like façade of the ‘Treasury’, vast in scale, classical in vocabulary, Hellenistic in inspiration but uniquely Nabatean, the first of innumerable carved façades, mainly tombs, created in the living rock. There are also impressive remains of built monuments in the heart of the city, from grand temples, public buildings and churches to houses. Not the least striking feature is the multicoloured, striated but predominantly red sandstone. After lunch, return to the hotel or climb, via the Soldier Tomb complex, up to the High Place of Sacrifice (c. 800 steps) where the sacrificial furnishings are still clearly visible.
Night in Petra
Visit the amazing, extensive ruins of Petra
The Siq, the narrow mile-long crevice with its Nabatean carvings and hydraulic system would itself merit a detour, but it is just the prelude to one of the most astonishing archaeological sites in the Middle East (also a unesco world heritage site). Emerging from the Siq, the visitor is confronted by the temple-like façade of the ‘Treasury’, vast in scale, classical in vocabulary, Hellenistic in inspiration but uniquely Nabatean, the first of innumerable carved façades, mainly tombs, created in the living rock. There are also impressive remains of built monuments in the heart of the city, from grand temples, public buildings and churches to houses. Not the least striking feature is the multicoloured, striated but predominantly red sandstone. After lunch, return to the hotel or climb, via the Soldier Tomb complex, up to the High Place of Sacrifice (c. 800 steps) where the sacrificial furnishings are still clearly visible.
Night in Petra
Monday, July 7th
Petra - Hike around ruins
For the second day in Petra walk again through the Siq and pass through the necropolis gorge, the ‘Street of Façades’ to study the more open area around the paved and colonnaded street. The remains of various structures include two mighty buildings, the ‘Great Temple’ and Qasr al Bint. Recent excavations have revealed what is almost certainly a cathedral with mosaic floors. Climb up (over 800 steps) to one of the finest rock-cut façades, Ed-Deir (the Monastery), and some staggering views of hills and valleys of contorted rock.
Tuesday, July 8th
Travel to Israel
Petra - Hike around ruins
For the second day in Petra walk again through the Siq and pass through the necropolis gorge, the ‘Street of Façades’ to study the more open area around the paved and colonnaded street. The remains of various structures include two mighty buildings, the ‘Great Temple’ and Qasr al Bint. Recent excavations have revealed what is almost certainly a cathedral with mosaic floors. Climb up (over 800 steps) to one of the finest rock-cut façades, Ed-Deir (the Monastery), and some staggering views of hills and valleys of contorted rock.
Tuesday, July 8th
Travel to Israel