Jordan, here we come!

Visiting the mythic city of Petra has been on my bucket list since I first saw Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade. Jordan in general has a mysterious aura with a culture and history that is very far from what I personally know (Western and south east/east Asian culture).  So I'm very excited to go there!

Because of the strikes in Paris, we had to leave very early for the airport. After the long wait for the flight, which was delayed by nearly 1h, and the 4.5h flight to Amman, we could finally see the Jordanian desert extending over the horizon covered by a mist of sand like we were lost in another world. 

At the airport, our driver Emad (from VIP Jordan Limo) is already there waiting to take us to our hotel in west Amman.

After a night in a noisy hotel room that smelled of cigarette smoke, we woke up early to go to the Desert Castles east of Amman: Amra, Kharanna and Azraq.

The Azraq castle is a basalt stone fort built by the Romans and used by the Ottomans and later by Lawrence of Arabia to protect its surroundings. We are alone and it feels unrealistic to be in this fort that was abandoned one hundred years ago. We don't dare go up as the stairs seem to be a little unsafe.

Next is the palace of Amra in the middle of the desert. It was a remnant of a bigger palace and is considered one of the World UNESCO heritage because of the frescoes inside. Unfortunately, at that time, the interior was closed and we could only see the surroundings that reminded me of a house on the planet Tatooine.

Last but not least was the Kharanna castle. From the outside, this building doesn't really look like a castle and the interior is a two story maze where the challenge was to find the stairway that led to the rooftop where you could see the desert horizon for miles on end.

Next, we are going back to Amman to visit the citadel, the King Abdullah Mosque and the Roman theater.