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Sites
Amman Citadel, Museum and the Roman Theatre. Desert Castles - Kharana, el Azraq and Amra. Castle Ajlun, Jerash, Mt. Nebo, Madaba, Wadi Mujib, Kerak, Shobak, Petra, Little Petra, Beidha, Wadi Rum (with optional overnight stay) and the Dead Sea.
Day 1 – Sat 1st May 2010 - London/Amman
We fly from London to Amman with BMI arriving at 2155 and check into the luxurious Meridien Hotel in Amman for three nights on a room and breakfast basis. This lovely hotel is well placed for our explorations and has great facilities including swimming pool and a variety of excellent restaurants.
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Day 2 – Sun 2nd May - Desert Castles
We begin with a city tour of Amman which will include the National Archaeology Museum and the citadel with its splendid Islamic fortress and roman ruins. We move on to the famous Amman theatre with its steep sides and extraordinary acoustic. Now we head out of the city in an easterly direction to the first of our desert castles. Strictly speaking, Kharana is a caravanserai and not a castle. This lovely building, standing isolated in the desert, served a as protection against brigands in medieval times. We continue to lunch, which is included, at al Azraq. After lunch we visit the dark and foreboding basalt walls of al Azraq castle. This fortification was used by Lawrence during the fight against the Ottoman Empire and has some unusual features. Heading back towards Amman we stop at curious and lovely Amra. Again, not truly a castle but more of a summer residence and bathing house, the scandalous pictures on the walls have shocked and delighted in equal measure for hundreds of years. (BL)
 Day 3 – Mon 3rd May - Jerash
Our day starts with the journey north from the city to the hilltop fortress of Ajlun. This spectacularly placed castle was started in the late 12th century by one of the Saladin’s commanders and was a bulwark against the crusaders. The castle was inhabited until the early 19th century and has some very well preserved sections.
After lunch at the Green Valley restaurant we head to the nearby city of Jerash, ancient Gerasa. The site has been inhabited for yearly five thousand years but it was in the 1st and 2nd centuries that it attained it’s most glorious period. We will visit all the main elements of this city during our long afternoon including the magnificent gates, temples, theatres and streets of this wonderful place. (BL)
Day 4 – Tue 4th May - The King's Highway
We leave the hotel early as we have a full day and head south and east towards Mt Nebo, the site where Moses is said to have gazed out upon the ‘promised land’. Here we find an ancient church and some wonderful mosaics. We continue to the church of St George in nearby Madaba and perhaps one of the most famous mosaics of all, the 6th century map of the Holy Land. We continue south and find the spectacular views of the Wadi Mujib, Jordan’s Grand Canyon, where will stop photographs. Lunch today is at Kerak. After lunch we explore the splendid ruins of Kerak castle – a true gem among castles. This crusader has a long and dramatic history and we’ll be soaking that up as we marvel at the huge battlements and seemingly insurmountable defences. We continue towards Petra but have a small diversion of the much less well known, but utterly romantic, Shobak castle, our chosen site for sunset. We arrive in the dusk at Petra and check into the Crowne Plaza hotel for three nights on a room and breakfast basis. (BL)
Day 5 – Weds 5th May - Petra - Wadi Farasa
There are few experiences to rival turning that last bend in the Siq, the narrow chasm the leads into the Petra, and seeing the magnificent treasure through a giant fissure in the rock, it takes the breath away! Our journey today will concentrate on the beautiful and unusual and we’ll leave the utterly monumental to our second visit. We enter the first part of the city and then take a sharp left to climb the long staircase that leads to the High Place of Sacrifice. From here, Petra is laid out in front of us. In the distance, we can see Aaron’s tomb and the mountains beyond. We then begin a descent but by a different path. A series of winding staircases takes us down into the Wadi Farasa and the most beautiful colour sandstone formations to be founding Petra. Here, too, we find the exquisite Garden Tomb as well as the Roman Soldier. We continue down to the main city floor. After a leisurely lunch (not included) at the restaurant, we being a leisure walk back to the hotel stopping to see points of interest along the way. (B)
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DEPARTURE DATE - 1st May 2010
TOUR CODE - AWKH010510
| Standard Tour Price: |
£1,895 |
| Single Supplement: |
£430 |
| Optional Desert Overnight: |
£111 |
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Day 6 – Thu 6th May - The Monastery
Once again we descend into the Siq and out into the central city. Today we will concentrate on the Royal Tombs, the Theatre and the Cardo with its splendid temples. After lunch, again not included, those who wish to can ascend the long staircase up to the Monastery, el Deir. Five minutes further and you reach ‘the view at the end of the world’ out over part what is, in fact, the northern end of the Great Rift Valley. The long walk back to the hotel will have you feeling thoroughly exercised!
Day 7 – Fri 7th May Beidha & Wadi Rum
This morning we check out and head off to Little Petra. Here we find less remarkable tombs but there is one with some very interesting painting inside. The main reason for this excursion, however, is to take the 20 minute walk away from Little Petra to Beidha. This is a beautifully situation Neolithic village and a possible claimant for the oldest human farming settlement in the world. Settled in a charming valley, it is easy to imagine our ancient ancestors cultivating the soil, tending their crops and living out a reasonably easy existence, easy for the time at least. This is a lovely place indeed. Watch out for the Rose Finches that inhabit the cliffs above the site. We will stop for lunch at a local restaurant in Wadi Moussa before heading south towards Aqaba and the Wadi Rum. Here, those who wish to spend a night in the desert in a comfortable private camp will change vehicles and go off on an adventure into the Wadi stopping at Lawrence Well, the Little Bridge and the Big Bridge (Um Fruth) where many of the wonderful Rose Finches can be found. Dinner is under a Bedouin tent and, indeed, under the desert stars. Those not camping in the desert will be taken to the Captains Hotel in Aqaba for an evening of relaxation. (B & BD)
Day 8 – Sat 8th May - The Dead Sea
The desert group will now return to the Eco Centre via the ‘Canyon’ where they will meet the Aqaba group. We head north now, along the desert highway, for the serious comforts of the Marriott Dead Sea hotel. A chance to completely relax, unwind and experience the weirdness that is floating in the Dead Sea. The rest of the day is at leisure. (B)
Day 9 - Sun 9th May - Home
We have our own transfer to Queen Alia airport where we board our 0905 BMI flight back to London arriving at around 1250. (B)
Tour Manager: Janet Shepherd is one of AWT's most experienced Tour Managers and knows the Middle East well. Equally at home in a desert camp or a five star hotel, Janet is huge fun to travel with. |