The land of Bedouins
Jordan is home to world famous Petra and many more lesser known attractions. We spent 4 days covering Amman and around, Wadi rum, Petra including travel days
Getting in
We took a flight from Delhi to Amman via Cairo (there was no direct flight option from India to Jordan), on Egypt air. Egypt air flights were on time, comfortable, with good food. Jordan is extremely safe once you enter in. The realistic risk when we travelled was of flight cancellations/ delays basis Israel -Iran response to each other through missile attacks. Thankfully we didn’t have any disruptions during our travel
Flights were not the cheapest ($700 or INR 60k per person), but they offered best duration and arrival times
Visa
Visa was on arrival for us since we had Jordan pass. The process was confusing at airport through. We got redirected to different places more than 5 times to get a form filled by tourist police I believe, get it stamped in another room, get a visa at another corner, get it stamped at a different place and so on. The forms were in Arabic and the person at most counters couldn’t communicate in English, so we were left guessing as to what was happening. We finally got the visa after about an hour although there was no queue anywhere
Going Around
Jordan is a small country, and places can be covered by taxis in hours within each other. I had booked taxi in advance from Hamza Fdool (reachable on +962 79071 3154) basis positive feedback on Tripadvisor. He has connections across major cities and offers clean, punctual service. This is what we paid
- Around Amman covering Madaba, Mt Nebo, Jerash: JOD 80
- Amman to Wadi rum: JOD 100
- Wadi Rum to Petra: 45 JOD
- Petra to Amman: 80 JOD
Tipping is additional, we typically paid 5 JOD extra when service was excellent
Currency
We used ATM at the airport to withdraw 250 JOD cash for immediate use. The fee was 7.5 JOD plus fee from card issuer (another 2.5 USD). Typical fee inside the city is 5 JOD with maximum withdrawal limit per day is 250 JOD
Exchange offices at the airport charged pretty high commissions to the tune of 20% so we avoided them. We exchanged USD at Abu Sheikha Exchange for zero commission in Amman city here
Jordan pass
This is very useful while staying for 3+ days, covering most attractions. Madaba and Mt Nebo have additional fee (1 and 3 JOD respectively). We chose the Jordan Explorer option (75 JOD) that gave 2 day entry to Petra as we wanted to cover Monastery on second day. The official site covers answers to most FAQs
Tipping
It is expected that you tip everywhere, but we were selective about it. I have reached a mindset where I feel one should tip only when you feel like and the amount you feel like. We have learned to be at peace with unhappy faces at times. I calibrate basis local culture but don’t go overboard like the Americans. However, we did end up tipping at most places at Egypt since the amounts were small
Places to visit in Jordan
- Petra
- Wadi rum
- Amman and around
- Madaba
- Mt. Nebo
- Dead sea
- Jerash ruins
How much does it cost
We spent around $1500 per person
- Flights: $1000 (We combined our Egypt tour with Jordan; Includes domestic flights in India to get to Delhi)
- Hotel: $200 ($50 per night)
- Food: $50 (We carry our own food/ shop at supermarkets)
- Tours/ transport: $160
- Visa and entry fee: $75 (Jordan pass – Explorer)
- Insurance: $15