Western Jordan has a fascinating landscape, full of canyons carved by water over millions of years. It reminds one of Utah or Arizona. We visited Madaba, a town with centuries of tradition making mosaics, the Dead Sea, and Petra, ancient capital of the Nabatean empire.
Madaba to the Dead Sea
The drive from Amman to Petra went through Madaba, through some impressive canyons, and included a side trip to the Dead Sea, the lowest point on land in the world. More pictures...
Petra
Petra, an ancient Nabatean city, is the prime tourist destination in Jordan. Most of the structures of the city itself are either ruined or being rediscovered and restored, but the tomb facades carved into the sides of the mountains surrounding it are amazing. More pictures...
Wadi Rum
Wadi Rum and the surrounding areas of the southern Jordan desert is not only where Lawrence of Arabia was filmed, it's also where the events depicted took place. It's like Monument Valley in northern Arizona, with one interesting rock after another for miles on end. Our Bedouin driver was angry at the government for kicking Bedouins out of Wadi Rum itself, and avoided going there so as not to give them money. We absolutely insisted that he go there the morning we left, just to make sure we weren't going to Yosemite and missing Yosemite Valley. As it turned out, the area we'd seen was quite comparable to what was in Wadi Rum itself. More pictures...
