Day 5: Madaba - Wadi Mujib Gorge - Kerak Castle - Petra
Sunday, May 3, 2009
We start the day at 7.30 having breakfast at the Marian Hotel and like the day before we spent in the biblical places of Jordan such as Mount Nebo and Bethany beyond the Jordan, breakfast is quite "poor." The crêpes must say that they are delicious, but there is nothing else that makes this first meal of the day stand out. In a while we will start today with our most important visit: the Kerak Castle and Petra at night.
They come to look for us and after paying 54 dinars per person and confirm the itinerary that at the end did not stop in Sobak and stopped at the Wadi Mujib Gorge, we did not take it on our trip to Jordan for free, but hey, we think it may be a good option, so we confirm it and there we go.
From Madaba to the Wadi Mujib Gorge It took us about 45 minutes to travel the King's Road, an impressive area of Jordan, which now seeing it, we have no regrets for having included it in today's itinerary. Impressive, this is the only word we find to define it.
It is a pity that the day does not accompany anything at all and in full Wadi Mujib Gorge we find a very cloudy sky and it does not look too much, but the truth is that we can get an idea how it has to be on a clear day, because if it is so incredible cloudy, with a clear day it has to be spectacular. No wonder they call him "the Grand Canyon of Jordan”, Something that makes us think about the trip that we have scheduled in October of this year, when we will visit the West of the United States and the national parks.
Wadi Mujib Gorge
After being in the Wadi Mujib Gorge For a while, we are on our way Kerak Castle where we pay 1 dinar per person to enter. The Castle is already really impressive from the outside, immense and with many places to explore.
Kerak Castle
Kerak Castle
The Kerak Castle It is one of the most incredible Crusader castles that are preserved in this region and we really have to say that under our experience it is an essential visit if you pass through the area.
Kerak Castle
Although it is in ruins, there are many interesting corners full of history that are worth spending a couple of hours to discover.
Kerak Castle
Kerak Castle in Jordan
After the visit of Kerak Castle, we stop for a while to have a drink and we return to take the road to Petra, which will be our particular icing on the cake of this trip. This section becomes quite long, taking about 2 hours to arrive from the area of Kerak Castle.
More practical information to prepare your trip to Jordan
- 10 essential places to see in Jordan
- 10 essential tips for traveling to Jordan
We arrive at the Petra Palace Hotel that is 500 meters from the entrance of Petra at noon and as soon as we arrive they tell us that until 3 they will not have our room ready, so we decided to eat at the hotel: big mistake since we have not eaten too well and for a more expensive price than not if we had done it on the street.
Book the best rated Spanish tours and excursions in Amman by travelers:
- Excursion to Amman, Gerasa and Ajlun Castle
- Excursion to Petra
- Excursion to the Desert Castles and Dead Sea
- Excursion to Madaba and Monte Nebo
- Excursion to Bethany and Dead Sea- Many more excursions and tours here
After eating and leaving our luggage in the room we went out to buy tickets for the Petra by Night or Petra by night show, which takes place only on Thursdays and Sundays (** Updated 06/15/2015: Thanks to Diana Garcés de Traviajar, who has consulted on www.visitpetra.jo, we confirm that the days of the show have changed to Monday, Wednesday and Thursday ), for 12 dinars per head and we confirm what we already thought: within 100 meters there are plenty of restaurants to choose from.
We decided that tonight without hesitation we will go to any of these and no dinners or meals at the hotel.
The curiosity of the day has been the change we have made from euros to dinars in an office near the hotel. We have found the most favorable change 0.88 dinars per euro and we have changed (in the hotel they tell us that we can change by 0.80).
When we have reached the Petra visitor center, we find another exchange office of the same branch and the change is at 0.90 !! When asking about that difference between one agency and another, they tell us that it has risen 5 minutes ago.
At the entrance of Petra we bought the tickets to see Petra show at night and we return to the hotel to rest.
If we are staying in Amman and have only one day, a good option is to book a trip to Petra with a guide in Spanish.
We check that the hotel is not like to throw rockets, but well, to sleep it is already fine, although we see that they do not have plugs for our laptop and phones as in the rest of hotels in Jordan, so we need an adapter that we ask at the reception and they tell us that they are all busy, that tomorrow they will give us one if they have. We have an hour of battery in the laptop so we hope to finish checking the things we have pending before we stay "dry".
For dinner we have gone to the Oriental Restaurant, recommended by Lonely and right next to the hotel. The price is a bit more expensive, but we take it for granted that everything here will surely be that way. The more you approach Petra the more the price of everything goes up.
After dinner we have already gone to Petra show at night. In several forums we had read opinions for all tastes, but we had already decided to have the experience, since it was the first contact we would have with Petra.
It lasts 2 hours and goes from the visitor center to the Treasury, all the way lit by candles and once in the Treasure they play typical instruments and sing.
Petra show at night
In the middle of the show, it has begun to drip and we have to leave the teas that we were taking on the carpets and protect ourselves from the rain in the Treasury.
After the experience we have to say that we liked it a lot. We can come to understand that there are people who disappoint, especially if you have already made the visit to Petra, so we recommend that you see this show without having seen anything of the Nabatean city.
It is a special, unique feeling, although as we have said, we believe that printing is much more special if it can be done without having seen Petra before.
The return to the hotel has made us a little hard going back through the Siq, guiding us only by candlelight and that has made us think that we have 2 hard days ahead, touring everything we can of Petra.
It is time to rest that tomorrow we want to enter Petra first thing in the morning.
Day 6 Petra
