Our trip to Jordan, by Jan

 

Jordan is a long, skinny country that is on the other side of the Dead Sea from Israel.

 

Due to current political conditions, you can enter Jordan from Israel at only two places - one far to the north of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem and one even farther to the South (Eilat.)  We entered from the north although Petra, our goal destination, is toward the South.

 

This is how it goes.  An Israeli driver picks you up at your hotel in Israel.  You drive several hours to the Jordanian border.  The driver is not a guide, just a driver.  He drops us off at "The Border."  There are no signs and no friendly people to tell you where to go. You are carrying your luggage for your stay in Jordan. It is NOT like customs at SFO……You find your way to pay an exit tax, you pay the tax, you go through a customs / passport procedure.  You get on a bus that that takes you approximately 1 block from Israeli to Jordanian side of border.  You get out, retrieve your luggage and wait to be found by your Jordanian driver and Jordanian guide.  Oh yes, you pay an entry tax into Jordan and go through a customs/passport check, etc again.  Then, you drive for hours from north to south in Jordan, mostly agricultural with occasional views of the Dead Sea and the realization of how close Israel and Jordan are to each other geographically.  The first stop is Jerash, which, as a tourist, I thought was a fake attraction to break up the trip all the way to Petra.  I was very wrong.  You will see the magic of Jerash in the pictures that follow