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With its balmy winter climate and idyllic setting, Aqaba is Jordan’s year-round aquatic playground. In winter, while Amman shivers around 5ºC (41ºF), the temperature hovers steadily at about 25ºC (77ºF) in Aqaba. The thriving underwater marine life and the crystal clear waters of...

Stunning in its natural beauty, Wadi Rum epitomizes the romance of the desert. With its “moonscape” of ancient valleys and towering sandstone mountains rising out of the sand, Wadi Rum is also home to several Bedouin tribes who live in scattered camps throughout the...

Hammamat  Ma’in (also called Zarqa Ma’in) is a series of natural hot springs and waterfalls with biblical connections, located between Madaba and the Dead Sea in Jordan. King Herod frequented the healing springs at Ma’in (when these waters were known as Baaras)...

The Dead Sea is 75 kilometers long and from 6 to 16 kilometers wide. It is fed by the Jordan River, but it has no outlet. As its name suggests, the Dead Sea is entirely devoid of plant and animal life. This is due to an extremely high content of salt and other minerals—350 grams...

This well-preserved castle is located about 16 kilometers west of Qusayr ‘Amra and 55 kilometers east of Amman. The spot is marked by an assortment of tall radio pylons on the other side of the highway. Qasr al-Harraneh remains an enigma to archaeologists and historians. Some...

Heading back towards Amman on Highway 40, Qusayr ‘Amra is about 28 kilometers from Azraq. This is the best preserved of the desert.   castles, and probably the most charming. It was built during the reign of the Caliph Walid I (705-715 CE) as a luxurious bath house. The...

This strange black city is located about 20 kilometers east of the provincial capital of Mafraq, 87 kilometers from Amman, and only 10 kilometers from the Syrian border. Umm al-Jimal is now known as the Black Oasisbecause of the black basalt rock from which many of its houses,...

The modern town of Umm Qais is the site of the ancient Greco-Roman town of Gadara, one of the cities of the Decapolis and, according to the Bible, the place where Jesus cast out the devil from two men into a herd of pigs (Matthew 8: 28-34). Rising 518 meters above sea level with...

Jerash, located 48 kilometers north of Amman is considered one of the largest and most well-preserved sites of Roman architecture in the world outside Italy. To this day, its colonnaded streets, baths, theaters, plazas and arches remain in exceptional condition. Within the...

Perta – The Glory Of Decay The Moon was lighting the road much better than streetlights lined up along the sidewalks. I walked in what appeared to be a complete silence. It was hard to imagine what would wait for me around a corner. Strange dome-like rocks watched me as I...