Jordan is a great, friendly country to visit. Unlike the other Arab countries we have visited we were never hassled in shops and were always made welcome.
Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (at the time of writing) is a relative oasis of calm surrounded by Syria and Iraq with their terrible troubles on the North & East and their old foe Israel on the West. As for the Southern border, well it was the Saud clan who deposed the Hashemite kings (relatives of the current Jordanian king, Abdullah II) to take Arabia from them, hence Saudi Arabia.
For those with access to our Family Photos, King Abdullah was the Guest of Honour & gave an entertaining talk at Mark's Passing Out parade at Sandhurst in 2006.
Petra's rock colours and patterns were surreal to see.
Typical of the genuine friendliness we encountered.
We had some great meals in Jordan. Mo enjoyed cooking the "upside down" meal of Maqluba for us.
The UN peacekeepers often stay in Jordan when they want a respite from all the dreadful conflicts in neighbouring countries.
Aqaba is a Duty Free zone. A nonentity as a seaside town. At least all the restaurants served beer here.
Originally Jordan had a very small coastline at Aqaba (Jordan's sole coastal waters). In 1965, King Hussein swapped some of his desert area for 11 miles of extra coastline from Saudi Arabia.
Maybe not quite the Great Barrier Reef off Queensland, but it was fun to snorkel over the coral reef here.
A nature reserve with some great hikes, as my sister-in-law, Karen will testify.
