This post is also available in:
Italiano (Italian)
I had long dreamed of a trip to the Middle East, which would later become one of my most popular areas.
The why of the trip to the Middle East
After a few years in which I had had to limit myself for various reasons, I had an incredible urge to discover some new countries, precisely outside Europe, to go backpacking and solo.
I could have gone only in late August, for about 10 days and on a limited budget. I chose Jordan and Israel, but I was wrong because they deserve 2 separate trips. To do just the first one takes a week, while for the essentials of Israel, at least 5 days.
The ‘organization
As I later found out, public transportation in both countries works, but with limitations. They are few in Jordan while in Israel they are stopped during shabbat (Friday sunset to Saturday sunset). So one has to study the itinerary well. The heat was not a big problem, it is always worse the Po Valley in my opinion.
For Jordan at the time without the low-costs it was expensive to fly and obviously the Petra site, but everything else is extremely cheap. I booked well in advance to get a better price, my idea was to arrive in Amman, visit Jordan by going south, cross the border at Aquaba and go up Israel north, basing myself in Jerusalem and then stay the last night in Tel Aviv before returning home (Tel Aviv had the only international airport).
The idea, which I confirmed, was to do everything by public transportation because at the time I still wasn’t convinced about driving around solo in rental cars; in hindsight now I can say that for Jordan you can safely rent a car.
Almost quiet period for a trip to the Middle East
In June 2014 began yet another conflict (in that case skirmishes) between Israel and Palestine. After all, this is an area that has always had conflicts and the last one is considered to have started in 1948. I tried to change the trip by staying in Jordan all the time, but the penalty for changing flights was very high. I waited until the last for the possibility of cancellation, but despite the Palestinian rockets, the Tel Aviv airport was never considered to be in danger. So I decided to leave anyway with the idea of only going to Tel Aviv at the last minute. The intent was to reduce the stay in Israel as much as possible; because of the danger of possible attacks, but also riots, clashes or attacks that especially in Jerusalem were more than possible.
It was the only time I found myself in doubt about an event as serious as war, which for Westerners of my generation, has long been considered distant. In my time there, the waters calmed down. In Tel Aviv there was the usual somewhat tense atmosphere they are used to, while in Jordan all was calm.
Jordan a happy island
If you look at the map you get chills as the country is surrounded by unstable realities, to say the least: Israel, the West Bank, Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. But it is a real happy oasis, despite the fact that among other things it is home to so many refugees from the warring countries that are its neighbors.
The must-see for me of Jordan:
- Petra
- Wadi Rum Desert
- Dead Sea
- Jerash
Jordan is wonderful because although it is small and with much of the land desert, it has three/four of the most beautiful places in the world. Another important aspect, which I later found to be a common characteristic of Middle Eastern countries, is the extreme friendliness of the inhabitants, who are never pushy as is often the case in Maghrebi countries.
Home trip Welcome to Jordan (and Israel)
Next stop On your trip to Jordan, don’t miss Jerash
Trips taken, travel stories divided by continent
Countries visited in my travel stories
Anecdotes, divided by type in travel narratives
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.