Our first glimpse of Jordan

After arriving in Amman at 4 am this morning, the first thing we did was crash straight into bed. Thankfully, we managed a few solid hours of sleep before dragging ourselves up at 9:30 to make the most of the hotel’s buffet breakfast. To be honest, it probably wasn’t worth setting an alarm for but it was free, so we weren’t about to complain.

Back in our room, we quickly realized that the next 10 days on tour are going to be packed, so we decided to sneak in as much rest as we could. That “little nap” turned into sleeping most of the day, and we finally resurfaced at around 2 pm, Feeling a little fresher, I gave Jayde a quick haircut (travel life grooming session!) before we figured it was time to head out and get a taste of Amman.

We wandered down the road to a small supermarket to pick up some snacks. The walk itself was eye opening, busy, chaotic, and definitely a bit of a cultural shock. I found myself sticking pretty close to Jayde as we navigated the streets.
With snacks secured, we headed back to the hotel to freshen up and get ready for something we’d both been looking forward to, meeting our tour group!!!

Our group turned out to be lovely. There are about ten of us in total mostly Australians, apart from four of us and while many are a bit older, there are two girls around our age too. Our tour guide is fantastic, funny, welcoming, and clearly passionate about showing us around Jordan. After some quick introductions and a bit of admin chat, we all headed across the road for dinner.

Dinner was our first real Jordanian feast. We ordered a traditional dish of meat and vegetables slow cooked in clay pots. They cracked open the tops of the pots right at our table, releasing the most incredible smells. The food itself was delicious and after the sky-high prices in Turkey, we were thrilled to find it was also really affordable.

From there, our guide led us down the road into the heart of Amman. The streets were buzzing with life, people everywhere, shops spilling over, and a kind of chaotic energy that made it both overwhelming and exciting. We stopped at a famous spot to try kunafa, a traditional Middle Eastern dessert. I wasn’t a fan, but Jayde enjoyed it. A little further along, we hit a juice bar where our guide insisted we try the lemon and basil juice. He wasn’t exaggerating it was hands down the best juice I’ve ever had.

We finished the night with a quick visit to the old Roman Bath ruins before heading back to the hotel. Tomorrow we’re off to the Dead Sea, and we can’t wait to see what adventures await.Read more