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Holiday in Jordan - risks and anxiety
Thirith
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
My wife and me are currently trying to make holiday plans for this year, and one of the places she'd love to go to is Jordan, especially because of Petra (AKA That Amazing Location At The End Of Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade Isn't A Matte Painting?!). I'm not uninterested myself, but after checking out various websites (mostly government information on safety in various countries), all of which sound rather guarded, I'm a bit nervous. While it does sound like Jordan is perhaps the safest country in the region, I think the same could've been said of Egypt when the Luxor massacre happened.
In this respect I've got two questions:
1) Do any of you have any first- or second-hand knowledge of Jordan? Are the sites I've checked out just being extra careful and therefore make the country sound less safe than it is?
2) Especially if I'm being anxious about nothing, do any of you have any tips on how to handle this anxiety?
P.S.: While it's absolutely an option *not* to go to Jordan, I'd rather not do so based on anxiety that may well be 95% irrational, as it's a place my wife would dearly love to visit.
In this respect I've got two questions:
1) Do any of you have any first- or second-hand knowledge of Jordan? Are the sites I've checked out just being extra careful and therefore make the country sound less safe than it is?
2) Especially if I'm being anxious about nothing, do any of you have any tips on how to handle this anxiety?
P.S.: While it's absolutely an option *not* to go to Jordan, I'd rather not do so based on anxiety that may well be 95% irrational, as it's a place my wife would dearly love to visit.
"Nothing is gonna save us forever but a lot of things can save us today." - Night in the Woods
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"Nothing is gonna save us forever but a lot of things can save us today." - Night in the Woods
I don't know where you're based out of but I recommend going to a consulate/embassy, rather than mailing your passport through a 3rd party, as you only have a small window to get it done, and if they are delayed you don't have a passport.
Coran Attack!
"Nothing is gonna save us forever but a lot of things can save us today." - Night in the Woods
For the most part you should not worry about anything, at all, in Jordan. Don't believe the hype. I would not hesitate for a moment to suggest you go over there, and in fact I try to convince my students to do so on a regular basis. Most - nearly all, frankly - Jordanians I've met were great people. Petra is an internationally-famous tourist site and is very safe. There are some places that you could potentially run into trouble, but they're not the kind of places you'd be going to with a tour group (like Syrian refugee camps, near the Syrian border, etc.)
There are some cultural things you should probably be aware of, though, if you're not familiar with or you've never travelled in an Arab country. Nothing major, just some basic cultural literacy stuff to keep you from sticking out too much, or getting sunstroke.
Again, if there's anything specific you want to know, just respond here or PM me.
"Nothing is gonna save us forever but a lot of things can save us today." - Night in the Woods
It's probably not going to be representative of the Beirut her grandfather and great-grandparents knew
There was a major terrorist attack in November, but I read that the largest security risk right now are illegal checkpoints operated by militias both inside and outside cities (there have been numerous kidnappings of foreign citizens since the beginning of the Syrian Civil War)
[edit] If you are a US citizen, you might want to consider your government's travel warning
No problem at all! I love going to Jordan and I think everybody who has the chance should try to go to Petra, in particular, at least once. Not only is it visually spectacular but it's got an extremely interesting history (at least, if you're nerdy, like me, and get all geeked out on Helleno-Roman colonial syncretism). You can see Roman and Hellenistic ruins all over Europe and the Mediterranean, but the Nabataean stuff in Jordan is unique, there's nothing else like it.
Anyway, I'm sort of taking a break from the internet and will only be visiting the forums sporadically for the next few months because of school, so in case I'm not around when/if you're planning your trip I thought I'd write up some very basic information that you'll probably want to know if you do decide to go. This may be old hat to you, since it sounds like you all have done quite a bit of traveling, and if you go with a tour group they may explain these things to you anyway, but anyway. This is the standard health and safety lecture we give to all our students:
*That, however, should not be a problem as long as you drink your water from bottles. Especially in a tourist town like Wadi Musa (the small modern town next to the Petra archaeological site, where you'll presumably be staying if you go over there), you can easily buy large bottles of purified water for very cheap, often in packages. I believe a standard size is something like a six-pack of 1.5 liter bottles. I always prefer to have at least a six-pack of those on hand in my room while I'm over there, and keep two with me when I go out in the morning. Make sure the bottles are sealed, and not the kind that are refilled (you'll sometimes find the latter in drink coolers in shops).
*Likewise, if you're at a market or whatever, do not buy or eat any soft-skinned fruit or vegetables. Stuff like oranges with a hard shell is generally safe. Most produce in Jordan is local and a lot of it has been watered with unfiltered river water, so it has the same problems as the tap water. The showers are, of course, perfectly safe, and most of my friends brush their teeth with the tap water, but I play it safe and use bottled water for that too.
*If you're going in the summertime, Jordan can get extremely hot - well over 100-110 degrees F. The desert saps the water right out of you, so make sure that you're staying totally hydrated. Pace yourself and make sure you're drinking regularly, and not just when you feel thirsty. You'll probably be sweating constantly even though you won't notice it (the air is dry enough that the sweat usually dries/evaporates instantly). The terrain around Petra is very rugged, and seeing most of the park involves quite a bit of hiking. I've never had a problem with heat exhaustion/dehydration in the years I've went over there, even when we were doing stuff that required a fair degree of exertion, but I've seen healthy people drop because they didn't drink at all. Know the signs of dehydration (headache, dizziness, dark urine, etc.)
*Clothing. This is a big deal, so pardon me if I go on overlong.
Always, always, always wear some kind of hat. You'll notice you very rarely see any of the locals walking around outside their houses/shops without some sort of head covering; the sun is relentless and even for people that are used to it, it can drop you in a few minutes in the midday heat. Personally, I prefer to wear a keffiyeh/shemagh. They're much more comfortable, much less sweaty, much more likely to stay on your head in the wind than a regular brimmed hat, and depending on how you tie it, they also keep your neck cool. They're all over the place in Wadi Musa - literally, as in every single little shop will sell them - but I would recommend buying one off of Amazon or a similar site and learning to tie it before you leave. It can take a little bit of practice. There's a million ways to tie one, so just do what you think will work for you - just whatever you do don't wear it loose, with the black coil thing on your head, a la Yasser Arafat. That's a style worn only by old, local men. I usually wear mine wrapped, like a turban, but with a piece hanging down in the back to cover my neck/shoulders.
As far as the rest of your clothing goes - at Petra you'll see tourists wearing all kinds of stuff, and many of them will sorely regret their clothing choices later. In the west, the general idea is "the hotter I am, the less clothing I should be wearing", and if you're in the tropics that might be true, but it's a terrible idea in the desert. Opt for loose, lightweight stuff with maximum body coverage. I usually wear some kind of long-sleeved, button-up shirt, long, lightweight but durable pants (like army surplus pants, or those cool hiking pants that you can find in outdoors stores these days). Last time I was at Petra I saw a group of fair-skinned European teenagers hiking through the park. The girls were wearing spaghetti-strap tank tops and running shorts; the boys were wearing sleeveless undershirt tops and cargo shorts. I didn't see them at the end of the day, but I'm assuming they would have looked like freshly-boiled lobsters. Wearing strong sunblock on the parts of your skin that are exposed - face, neck, forearms, etc - and you should be fine.
The locals in Wadi Musa see people from all over the world every day, and have seen literally everything, and won't be surprised no matter what you're wearing. I would state that, in general, it's fairly uncommon for men to wear short pants in Arab countries, especially adult men (shorts are seen as being for very young boys - as in, early elementary school at the oldest). This has been changing somewhat in recent years, especially in the cities, but Wadi Musa is a country town and some of the locals might think you're a bit silly if you're a man and walking around in shorts. The general rule for women, modesty-wise, is to go for a higher neckline (ie, a crew, not something crazy like a turtleneck) and make sure your sleeves go down to at least your elbows. It can also get very cold at night, so a jacket or sweater is by no means a bad idea.
I would also recommend taking a few pairs of cheap, polarized sunglasses. Polarized, because the sun and the glare can be very bright, and cheap, because it's easy to lose on a trip like this. As far as shoes go, I usually wear some kind of comfortable, well-broken-in boots. Tennis shoes are probably fine in Petra, but be wary of anything with mesh panels for "breathability", they can let sand in and ruin your day.
That's about all the safety stuff I can think of right off the top of my head. One last thing I would mention is that I would advise against women walking around town without a man in the party. It's unfortunate, because as I said the vast majority of Jordanians are wonderful people, but for women walking by themselves its quite possible that some dumbass shabab (teenager-ish/early 20s guys) will subject unescorted women to some street harassment or try to cop a feel. This is very unlikely to be a problem if a man is in the group, especially if it's a married couple.
Non-muslim women are not expected to wear Muslim-style headcoverings anywhere in the country, and actually people would probably find that very strange. The only place that sort of thing would be expected is if, for whatever reason, you find yourself in a mosque or similar religious site.
Also, one thing you'll probably see a lot of is pairs of shabab walking around town arm in arm. That's just something that bros in Jordan do, it doesn't mean that male homosexuality has suddenly become extremely common there.
And, finally, a couple of things you might want to know about Petra in particular:
However, in my opinion the crown of the park is the Monastery, a similar structure on top of one of the park's mountains. There's a spectacular view of the surrounding desert from the top and the structure itself is incredible. The flip side to this is that you can only reach the monastery by way of a very long and very steep set of steps. I've never actually timed our ascents of it, but I think it took us at least 30-40 minutes to get to the top, and may have been longer. For some reason I get the impression that a lot of tour groups go to the Monastery later in the day, when the sun is at its height. If at all possible I would advise you to go up the staircase as early as you can get to it in the morning. A lot of the stairs are actually in the shade before the sun gets too high, and if you get there before everyone else starts making the climb you can have the mountaintop entirely to yourself, which is an irreplaceable experience.
There are guys who will rent you out a donkey to go up the Monastery steps, and this can seem tempting, but I would advise against it, especially if you're not familiar with animal riding. The donkeys are not necessarily well-trained, they might very well decide to bite/kick/butt you. Just trust in your two feet, you'll get up there eventually.
Last time I was there you couldn't actually go in to most of those monumental tombs in the park - they were blocked off by sawhorses - but there are all kinds of other niches and rooms in the less spectacular structures that you can check out.
Also, if you have some spare money, try to purchase some stuff from the stands and shops within the park. They're staffed by the local tribe of Bedouin, and most of their money comes from Petra/tourism, and with tourism being down in the last few years I hear they've been having a rough go of it.
Sorry if you were familiar with quite a bit of that, but not knowing where you've travelled before that's everything I think you'd need to know if you're unfamiliar with that kind of physical environment and you're planning on doing a lot of physical activity. You would think that tour groups would lay a lot of this stuff out for their customers, but judging by some of the stuff I've seen tourists do in the park I am under the impression that's not the case. If you decide to go during the wintertime/wet season, the heat and sun are much less of an issue.
Again, I wouldn't worry about safety at all. I honestly feel safer in Jordan than I do in the town where I actually live most of the time, because in Jordan you're drastically less likely to be accosted by a crowd of drunk hooligans after dark, and people in general seem to look out for each other more (for instance, hitchhiking is still a common way for people to get around, because a lot of people don't have cars, although there is the expectation that you will give the driver a little money at the end of the trip for their trouble).
The only other thing I would say is by all means take the opportunity to go. I've been trying to get my family to do so for years. It really is an amazing place.
EDIT: Oh, I forgot about this - I would advise against renting a car or trying to drive around unless you're going to be there for a while. I've never been to continental Europe but Jordanian/Mediterranean driving in general is insane by American standards - high congested and highly aggressive, at as high a speed as possible. The locals (somehow) manage just fine, but you couldn't pay me to drive in that environment, though I know plenty of non-locals who do. City streets tend to be narrow and sometimes unlabelled, and Wadi Musa in particular is an ant farm-type maze with lots of hills. If there's somewhere you want to go, just hail a taxi, it's vastly simpler.
"Nothing is gonna save us forever but a lot of things can save us today." - Night in the Woods
There's basically two kinds of tourism in Jordan, historical and natural. Since you and your wife were interested in Petra, I'm assuming you're more interested in historical/archaeological sites. Whenever we go over there we generally stay for an entire research season (6-8 weeks), and we never run out of things to do, but of course we also spend a lot of that time working and what have you. If you're interested in Petra and Wadi Musa specifically, I'd say that a week would probably be adequate. If you'd like to branch out to the rest of the country there are a few more sites that you might be interested in, that might lead you to stay longer.
Historical Stuff:
*Not too far from Jerash is Madaba, another really well-preserved ancient city, site of a famous (to some people, anyway...) mosaic map of the region. Madaba is also apparently a really cool place to go shopping, but I've never been there myself.
*There's also a lot of archaeological sites in the capital city, Amman. Personally I am not all that crazy about Amman, it is a gigantic sprawling city with millions of people and too crowded for my tastes, but everybody's different.
*There's a few historical churches on some Christian holy sites, but I don't know a whole lot about them, although I will say that ancient historical churches are very fascinating and peaceful places that are often worth checking out even if you aren't religious. If you really want to see a lot of those, though, I would recommend you go to Israel instead of Jordan, since they've got stuff like the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem or the Church of the Nativity in Palestinian Bethlehem (both of which have had churches standing and in use on the site since Roman times).
You'll have noticed that a lot of this stuff is in the north of the country and, as I mentioned in my first post, the north of the country can be a little rougher. I would not go as far as to say it would actually be dangerous, but people in that part of the country generally tend to be more skeptical and less friendly toward Westerners than they are in the South. I don't want to make too much of it, since I doubt it's something you would have to deal with unless you were driving/wandering around alone and tour groups go up to Jerash all the time, but it's still something you might want to be aware of. I probably also would have different experiences than you would, since I'm an American and (if I read correctly) you're Swiss? and the locals obviously have some pretty strong feelings about American foreign policy. I have no idea how they feel about Europeans.
Also, in some of those northern country towns you might notice people unabashedly staring at you. That, again, is just a cultural thing, they're not sizing you up for a dim basement long-pig barbecue, there just isn't as much sanction about staring at strangers there as their is in American/European etiquette.
There's a lot of stuff I'm probably not mentioning, that's just the stuff I've either visited myself or have heard about from other people.
Nature/Outdoorsy Stuff:
*Around the Red Sea, in the south of the country, there's a lot of snorkeling, diving, glass-bottom boats, etc. There's apparently some pretty cool coral reefs to check out and (I believe) even some old shipwrecks. I think there's also a lot of charter fishing there as well. The city you'd want to go to there is Aqaba, which is also pretty swanky from what I hear (it's right across the border from Saudi Arabia and a lot of Saudi tourists like to vacation there).
*A big national park is Wadi Rum, which is kind of the Jordanian equivalent of the Grand Canyon. Lots of beautiful rock formations and red-rock canyons, as well as some old Nabataean stuff. It is somehow weirdly connected to T.E. Lawrence in some weird way that I cannot remember the details of. There's a lot of camping, ATV tours, jeep/truck tours, and even camel expeditions, though I would not recommend the latter unless you're very familiar with riding animals. Camels are assholes. Some of those tours are overnight gigs where the Bedouin will cook a big feast, play drums, and what have you, with little cabins and such for overnight accomodations. Very touristy, but it's still a lot of fun IMO.
*There's also a lot of horseback riding charter trips you can get set up around Petra/Wadi Musa, but I'm not sure I'd recommend it for beginners since I think they expect you to have a basic knowledge of horsemanship.
Some random stuff and other advice that I forgot earlier:
Also, there are a lot of feral and semi-feral animals in Jordan and the Middle East in general, especially cats. Some of these are pretty healthy, others will be sick or dying. I like to keep some water that I can pour out for them when I can, but I would advise you not to pet them, since they generally live in garbage and filth and can carry diseases. Most of the locals see them as pests, and treat them accordingly, so they might not be too pleased if they see you feeding/watering them. I doubt anyone would say anything, though.
One thing I almost forgot - if at ALL possible, look at the calendar and do NOT plan your trip during Ramadan. Wadi Musa probably wouldn't change that much, especially if it fell during the high tourist season, but in most of the country during Ramadan everything just flat shuts down during the day, and a lot of people will be in sort of a pissy mood since they haven't had any food/water/cigarettes since before dawn. Obviously not everybody is religiously observant, but everybody shuts everything down anyway because that's just what you do. If you're not a Muslim, the only cool thing about Ramadan is the fireworks on Eid, when it's over.
So, basically you could spend as much time in Jordan as you wanted to, it just depends on what you want to do and how long you want to do it for.
Oh, and one last thing - if you eat meat, you definitely need to find some genuine Jordanian shwarma while you're over there. A lot of touristy places, especially around Wadi Musa, instead sell "French Shwarma", which is "shwarma" in a kind of mini...baguette...thing, and is worthless. Real shwarma is sliced off of a doner kebab, and comes in a large, thin, salty kind of pita called a shrac; wrapped up, it looks sort of like a burrito. You'll know you got the genuine article if it has a garlic mayonnaise sauce and has french fries crammed down into it. If you're vegetarian, that's no problem either, since just about everywhere will have falafel, hummus, good baba ghanoush, etc.
Hope that helps. If I can think of anything else I'll come back and add it.
- Jordan is most definitely a safe country for tourism.
- I...don't remember the water being that bad. Though I'm sure there was a reason we were drinking all that evaporated milk.
- Jerash and Madaba are great for different historical reasons. I dare say that you'll find Jerash a larger and more interesting day trip--there are a lot of different things to see there, and I still remember the experience quite vividly.
- Madaba's claim to fame are the mosaics (a famous early Christian attraction), and the modern city was built around and on top of the settlements of Christian Bedouin tribes who helped archaeologists discover and preserve the historical sites. You will basically be going into churches, museums, and (sometimes) houses where these finds have been discovered and preserved. For example, this is a story about a (distant) ancestor of mine, who helped settle the area (and whose descendents came to 'own' the property that some of these mosaics exist in).
- Petra is of course the main tourist draw. However:
- The caution about not driving yourself *anywhere* is, sadly, 150% accurate. Always take a taxi (or, better, a tour bus) if you can help it; there is not very much in the way of traffic laws or safe driving outside of the capital.
Games: Ad Astra Per Phalla | Choose Your Own Phalla
Who what?
I was in Jordan for ~3 months at a time in 2012 and 2014, mostly in 'Amman. It's totally safe. Have no anxieties.
"Nothing is gonna save us forever but a lot of things can save us today." - Night in the Woods
This probably goes without saying, and I'm not suggesting that you would do it, but not knowing you personally I feel obligated to warn you just in case - whatever you do, do NOT do any drugs in while you're in the country. Like most countries in the Middle East, Jordan has very harsh drug laws, and if you got caught trying to bring drugs into the country or doing them while you were there you might not get to go home for a long time. This is obviously not a problem if you don't do drugs, but going into Jordan would be a very bad time to forget that you had a joint floating around in the bottom of your backpack from your last camping trip. I've never actually seen Jordanian security go through somebody's bag, but still I thought you ought to know this.
A corollary to this is that you can get lots of prescription drugs over the counter for extremely cheap in Jordan. Most of the pharmacists I've run into were very helpful and they usually speak extremely good English (not sure about other languages), so if you forget some sort of prescription at home don't freak out - that can probably be remedied pretty easily without a trip to a clinic (something you really want to avoid if possible).
I meant to say this weeks ago, but Bedigunz is right and a travel visa expires after a few weeks. If you're only staying for two weeks I'm pretty sure that it isn't a problem, I think travel visas last at least three weeks, but I honestly can't remember. If you run over your visa they will make you pay a little fine as you're going through customs on your way out of the country. I forget how much it is exactly, IIRC I think it's something like the equivalent of $20-25 US dollars (per person, obviously).
In every bathroom, there will be signs telling you not to flush toilet paper down the toilet. Obey these signs. Most plumbing in Jordan is made to operate with very little water, and paper will clog it up very quickly, leading to a multi-hour adventure with a roto-rooter that would be less than delightful. Some of my friends have learned this the hard way
I originally told you that you all might want to order a keffiyeh before you get there so you could learn to tie it. The other day I was checking out the keffiyehs on Amazon because of boredom/nostalgia, and you might want to be careful about which ones you order, and make sure you get one that you can see the whole thing in the pictures. Apparently some of the more poorly-reviewed items have little skulls, ak-47s, and crossbones on them when they're unfolded... (I guess this is popular among the airsoft crowd for some reason?) So be careful about which one you pick out, lest you look like a megadork :P
That's about all I can think of to tell you right now. Enjoy yourself and safe travels!
We haven't booked yet, since we still have to check a couple of things, but most likely we'll do a tour with a good company, which would take us around the country in two weeks. That should make a lot of things easier (if also less adventurous, but adventure isn't one of the things I most look for in a holiday) and removes most of my (irrational) worries - though they were already pretty much gone thanks to the posts in this thread.
"Nothing is gonna save us forever but a lot of things can save us today." - Night in the Woods
"Nothing is gonna save us forever but a lot of things can save us today." - Night in the Woods
Games: Ad Astra Per Phalla | Choose Your Own Phalla