Petra and Amman, Jordan.

Buying a “Jordan Expert” Jordan Pass waives your visa fee, covers entrance costs to many sites in Jordan, and includes 3 days in Petra. Honestly, we didn’t exactly know what Petra was, but 3 days and hours of hiking cleared it up: it truly is a city made of rock. Streets, squares, shops, homes, burial sites, churches, a huge theater. With camels and goats roaming, and Bedouins living nearby selling souvenirs and refreshments at every turn, it wasn’t hard to get a glimpse of what it may have been like.

The rock itself is stunning; we took 100s of photos of the swirling reds and layered pink rock. Some parts looked perfectly painted.

Our original plan was to visit Israel, but we scratched that after the October 7th attack on Palestine. Even up to the day of our flight, the Israel/Iran attacks caused us to question our Jordan plan and re-route again. While tourism overall in Jordan has seriously dwindled over the past 9 months, thankfully we kept our plans and never once felt unsafe.

Jordan was easy to navigate, and we loved what it had to offer. Amman felt laid-back, yet vibrant. We came to deeply appreciate the desert landscape and those who have lived there for centuries.