For a wonderful introduction to Jordan, be sure to
View this highly acclaimed 50-minute program, which features His Majesty King Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein and the Travel Channel's Peter Greenberg, exploring Jordan's many treasures and pleasures: Jordan: The Royal Tour. It's presented here by YouTube in five 10-minute segments.
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5
Love at First Sight
You can quickly fall in love with this place once you:
- experience terrific hotels, restaurants, shops, and nightlife in cosmopolitan and chaotic Amman
- marvel at the ancient ruins of the famous red rose rock-hewn Nabataean city of Petra and the colonnaded Greco-Roman city of Jerash
- rejuvenate in the therapeutic waters and surrender to the five-star spas along the Dead Sea
- experience legendary desert hospitality and sleep under the stars in a Bedouin tent
- visit awesome desert castles and religious sites
- scuba dive and snorkel along the unspoiled coral reefs of the Red Sea at Aqaba
- rock-climb, camel trek, and horse-back ride along beautiful canyons and desert valleys
- fly, hot-air balloon, or sky-dive over the awesome sandstone mountains and desert sands of timeless Wadi Rum and explore the massive rock-carved architecture of famed Petra
As you will quickly discover, from shoppers and resort lovers to history buffs and adventure travelers, Jordan seems to have it all!
A Trip Well Worth Taking
In many respects, Jordan is what travel is all about - discovering new and exciting people, places, and things in a relatively hassle-free and convenient environment. After a few days of adventure and reflection, you'll conclude this is not the Jordan, as well as the Middle East, you thought it would be.
This is a very special place. You'll learn a great deal here and leave knowing that this was a trip well worth taking. If you love shopping, you’ll have fun discovering some wonderful treasures to grace your home and wardrobe as well as relive memories of a terrific destination. Just make sure you allow enough time to experience Jordan's many exciting treasures and pleasures!
Size and Proximity
Occupying a total area of 93,300 square kilometers (about the size of Portugal, Hungary, or the U.S. states of Indiana and Kentucky), the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is a small country of mesmerizing beauty and friendly people. With its relatively good road system, most places can be reached within one to three hours from the capital of Amman.
Population
A center for Palestinians, Lebanese, Syrians, and Iraqis - many of whom are recent Sunni refugees from war-torn Iraq - as well as indigenous Arabs and Bedouins, Jordan has a population of nearly 6 million. Approximately 1.4 million people reside in Amman and 2.8 million live in the city's metropolitan area.
Borders With Interesting Neighbors
Standing at the crossroads of Middle East trade and politics, Jordan has a long and rich history of being occupied and/or traversed by others either from within or outside the region. The desert winds of change, along with thousands of refugees from troubled neighboring countries, often flow through Amman and other parts of Jordan. As a result, Jordan is a melting pot of many nationalities, languages, and cultures.
Jordan shares borders with a diverse mix of very interesting neighbors: Syria on the north, Palestine and Israel on the west, Iraq on the northeast, and Saudi Arabia on the south and southeast. Lebanon lies less than 50 kilometers beyond the northwest tip of Jordan. Peoples from all of these countries are well represented in the demographic and economic mix of vibrant Amman.
A Window on the Ocean
In addition to 1,619 kilometers of land-locked borders with nine border crossings, Jordan also has a tiny oceanfront "window," which consists of 26 kilometers of coastline on the Gulf of Aqaba at the southwestern tip of the country. Close to the neighboring Israeli and Egyptian resorts of Eilat and Taba, Aqaba is a popular resort area that may soon become one of the Middle East's premier resort communities.
Online Traveler Feedback
Visit this interesting collection of websites, forums, and blogs to find out what other travelers are currently saying about Jordan:
www.virtualtourist.com
www.tripadvisor.com
http://thorntree.lonelyplanet.com
www.jordanjubilee.com
www.travelblog.org
www.travelblogs.com
www.travelpod.com
http://blogs.bootsnall.com
http://blog.realtravel.com
www.travbuddy.com
www.globenotes.com
http://blog.travelpost.com
While many of these sites represent the observations or “streams of consciousness” of young and inexperienced budget travelers who are still in the “wow!” and “I don’t miss home yet” stages of their lives, nonetheless, you may find some useful tips for planning your trip to Jordan.
Photos/Videos
Yes, a picture is worth a thousand words. There's nothing like a good visual to bring a country to life. Pictures also give you a sense of place before traveling to a new and unfamiliar destination.
For dramatic visual representations of Jordan - especially its colorful peoples, cities, deserts, archeological ruins, castles, churches, wildlife, landscapes, sunsets, resorts, spas, and waters - we recommend doing the following:
- Check out our photo gallery as well as the photo galleries on the two websites presented by the Jordan Tourism Board:
www.visitjordan.com
www.seejordan.org
Survey the following sites, which represent some very interesting online photo galleries of professional and amateur photographers:www.janetaylorphotos.com
www3.nationalgeographic.com/places/countries/country_jordan.html
http://jordan.dours.com
www.jordanjubilee.com/gallery.htm
www.trekearth.com/gallery/Middle_East/Jordan
www.travel-images.com/jordan.html
www.bamjam.net/Jordan
www.atlastours.net/gallery/jordan/
www.worldisround.com
- As we already recommended at the beginning of this section, be sure to view the excellent DVD entitled "Jordan: The Royal Tour," which features His Majesty King Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein and the Travel Channel's Peter Greenberg, exploring Jordan's many highlights.
- Search for dozens of one- to 10-minute amateur and professional video clips on a variety of locations and subjects related to the Kingdom of Jordan on YouTube.com, Google Video, and other sites.
Be sure to search by country, city, and/or destination names (Kingdom Jordan, Amman, Dead Sea, Petra, Jerash, Wadi Rum, Aqaba, etc.) since “Michael Jordan” is more popular than the “Kingdom of Jordan” on these video sites:
www.YouTube.com
http://videogoogle.com
www.truveo.com
Some of the better such video clips include the following:
Jordan
Kingdom of Jordan
Welcome to Jordan
Jordan First
Jordan
Amman
Amman
Welcome to Amman
Amman From My Camera
Petra
Petra (Jordan)
Explore the Wonders of Petra
Jerash
Jerash-Jordan
Jerash Festival
Jerash, Jordan: The Northern Theatre (Ancient Roman Theatre)
Wadi Rum
Bedouins, Wadi Rum
Wadi Rum
Wadi Rum Trip
Aqaba
The Wonders of Aqaba, Jordan
Jordan's Jewel of the Red Sea: Aqaba!
Aqaba Introduction
The Dead Sea
Good Morning America - Dead Sea
DeadSea, Jordan
- View the movies "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" and "The Red Planet" for their Jordanian settings.
Also try "Lawrence of Arabia" for its Transjordan story - much of it was shot in Spain and Morocco, although many of the breathtaking desert scenes were shot in Jordan near the Saudi Arabian border (Jebel Tubayq) and in Wadi Rum (Aqaba was actually constructed in Spain after the director, David Lean, decided the real Aqaba didn't really look right!).
- Purchase a variety of videos and DVDs on Jordan by clicking here.
Click here to view our Photo Gallery.
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