Itinerary

Day One
Arrive Amman and transfer to our hotel.

Day Two

The remains of a Hellenistic palace at Qasr al-Abd; then on to the Dead Sea, the lowest place on earth, with a salt content of 33% - trying to swim here is a unique experience, and highly recommended at least once - but keep your mouth closed.

Day Three
Two Decapolis cities: Umm Qais (Gadara) on the edge of the Jordan River valley, from where there are views over the Sea of Galilee and the Golan Heights. As everywhere you turn in Jordan, this is the setting for one of the biblical stories - that of the Gadarene swine. Jerash is set in the pine valleys of the Gilead, and is one of the best-preserved Roman city in the East. The architecture is particularly fine, and a unique feature is the Oval Plaza, which has a paved surface over what was a natural sub-circular depression. Framed by a magnificent curved colonnade, its specific function is not now known.

Day Four
Early citadel and museum of Amman; south down the King's Highway to the church at Mount Nebo and the 6th century Madaba mosaic map. This schematic depiction of the Holy Land, with Jerusalem at the centre, has all sorts of lively detail indicating what life in town and country beside the River Jordan would have looked like then.

Day Five
The dramatic basalt city at Umm al-Jimal - even the doors are made of huge black slabs, and some of them still operate! There is no water in the area and all the Nabatean expertise in hydraulic management was needed to survive. One of the beauties of the site is the surviving domestic architecture - stables, manger, and ablution areas.
Azraq has far-reaching views over the surrounding empty landscape, and is situated in an oasis area of marshland on the southern tip of the Hauran. Wildlife was once abundant, and evidence of sheep and goat and plant domestication have been found. In the middle of town is a 3rd century Roman basalt fort. The hunting lodge at Amra is unique and one of the most lovely monuments in Jordan. Behind a rather plain exterior are are baths decorated with colourful and strange murals and frescoes. Qasr Kharaneh appears as a military installation but seems to have led a purely civilian life, possibly as a trade stop-over point.

Day Six
Dramatic drive through the Wadi Mujib, with spectacular scenery. The mightly ruins of the Kerak crusader castle, originally the site of an Iron Age Moabite town. The Church of St Lot at Deir ‘Ain Abata was only discovered relatively recently, following a search in which the main clue was its position marked on the Madaba map. The church was constructed in front of a natural cave which was believed to have been where Lot lived after his flight from Sodom and Gomorrah. (if open - if closed, then a visit to the church and mosaics at Umm Al-Rasas).

Day Seven
All day in Petra. We recommend walking into the site, both for the sense of discovery and because there are so many interesting monuments in the Siq. This is a city of the Nabateans, a people who seem to have drifted north from the southern desert where they roamed, trading with their mobile wealth, surviving from a number of ingenious water storage depots all over northern Arabia. They settled in this wide crescent ravine, impregnable on three sides by the towering peaks of core islands left by the abrasive rapids of millennia, and it grew into one of the most famous cities in the world. Its tombs cover a huge area, all cut into the richly coloured rock - it is called the ‘rose red city’ for good reason. There are two (optional) steepish climbs to the Nabatean ‘High Places’, which afford incredible views over the surrounding terrain.

Day Eight
Another full day in Petra.

Day Nine
The Neolithic site of Beidha, where prehistoric houses can still be seen. Drive to Wadi Rum, 50 miles south of Petra, where we take 4x4s through spectacular desert scenery, made famous by "Lawrence of Arabia". There are also several very fine rock art sites to be explored here, with carvings from very early times to the fairly recent past - this was how nomadic peoples left messages for each other.

Day Ten
Return to Amman for flight home.

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