We will take the defensive position By building our fortress on the cliff face. From up here, we’ll see any invasion Long before they can get close to this place. It will give us time to boil our grease, And get each soldier to notch an arrow That they can aim through the castle wall’s crease. Our goal is to land the decisive blow In this holy war we’re destined to win. It has been foretold within the pages Of our sacred text, to kill each pagan Who won’t surrender to this fight’s wages. It is the way the divinity planned, Defending out spot on their stolen land.
Wadi Rum has always been one of the greatest draws for people coming out the Jordan. It has also held a special place in the movie industry. If a script calls for a distant sandy planet, or an Arabic landscape, this is the perfect place to come. Movies such as the recent version of Aladdin, and The Martian have both been filmed here. The recent blockbusters of both Dune movies have also been filmed here, and it is for these reasons that Wadi Rum is becoming even more of a draw for those looking for a unique travel experience.
Wadi Rum is easily the most unique desert landscape that I have ever visited. Its red dunes situate themselves among the towering craggy rocks that protrude from the sand. Every turn that is taken out in the area is met with a new visual treat. This presents the reason that Hollywood is so enamored with the place, but it also makes the perfect place for photographers as well. Every corner offers another photo opportunity, and it does not take much effort to take those pictures that tell amazing stories as well.
It is not just the landscape that offers those perfect pictures either. Wadi Rum is operated by the Bedouins who have navigated its stark landscape for centuries. Though you can find some hints of modern conveniences, the Bedouins still live by the traditional methods when they make their way out in the desert. It is almost impossible to get a signal on a cell phone out here, so travelers have to leave those things behind and live off of what the land offers. This contributes for moments of huddling around a campfire at night, or traveling from place to place on camel.
There are camps out in the desert that can be booked. They usually have the traditional tents that the Bedouins have lived in, made out of goat hair. Even though most of them lend themselves to a roughing it lifestyle, there are a few that come with patios, and private bathrooms. Recent years have also seen the emergence of the bubble tent. It is basically a yurt made out of a see-through wall, offering the residents the perfect night view of the starry skies while they sleep. I have heard mixed reviews about these places from the people who have stayed in them, and I can’t say either way due to the fact that I have not stayed in one. These are not the only places where people stay either. They go the complete other direction as well, taking their gear out to a secluded spot to set up camp where they can leave all of society behind. The whole place offers many different ways to experience the environment while still feeling like you are out on your own away from the crowds.
Wadi Rum is a must go to place for those taking the Jordan Loop. If you do come, make sure that you bring you camera because you will always be wanting to take it out to snap another quick picture. The moments will come fast, and you will never know when the next perfect shot will come from. It makes every trip out to the place not only familiar, but unique at the same time. It is easily my favorite place in Jordan, and I hope you can come out to Wadi Rum and enjoy it as well.
If you find yourself doing the Jordan Loop, and you have just left the Dead Sea to make your way over to Petra, there is a nice stop along the way that makes a nice break, and a beautiful place to enjoy a little piece of the areas history that does not have to do with either the Bible or Roman times. It is the Karak Castle, a large medieval castle situated on a hill in the city of Karak. The castle was built during the Crusades in 1142, and was used as a defensive position by many factions during that tumultuous time period in history.
The castle is a windy series of tunnels and rooms that sits on the hilltop that overlooks a large expanse of the valley below. For the most part, it is well preserved, and even though its dark passages might look foreboding at first glance, they light up as you walk along them so you can explore all the nooks and crannies that are there.
For how big and interesting it is, it is surprising how few visitors come to this location. I went during a down period of tourism for the country of Jordan, and I felt like I had the place to myself, but I am told that even when tourism was at its height, it was still not very packed. This makes it an essential place to visit, especially if you are traveling between the two bigger sights in Jordan.
The photo opportunities that it offers are limitless. I loved looking through the many embrasures, or arrow slits, in the castle and seeing how they could frame the valley below. Though the castle does not offer many explanations about what you are looking at, there is a museum on its grounds that will give you more insight about the area. I would tell you more about it, but I visited it on Jordan’s Labor Day, and it was closed on that day.
Even with missing out on the museum, there was still plenty to see on the grounds of this medieval castle. It is a great place to stop, and should be included as a quick adventure for all people making their way around the Jordan Loop. I would do it sooner rather than later because this place cannot remain a secret for too long.
Many people are surprised when I tell them that Jordan is a great tourist destination. They do not always think about this small country in the Middle East as offering much more than a desert landscape, and Arabic cuisine, but this is not the case. It boasts of history dating all the way back to Biblical times, landscape so starkly beautiful and distinct that movie companies come out all the time to shoot their movies out here, and a culture so rich that you can’t but help to want to learn more about it. For these reason, many people that find themselves working out in Jordan can often convince their families to come out and take in the beauty that is Jordan. There are three locations that become must sees for those that travel out here that we like to call the Jordan Loop.
Just to be clear, it is not really a loop. It is more an out and back, but that does not have the same kind of appeal. Still, they are the three must sees when coming out to Jordan.
The first is a short forty-five minute drive from Amman, the Dead Sea. The lowest place on Earth has many resorts dotting the salty shore. From here, you can take quick drives down to see the Salt Flats, or up to see the Panorama to learn more about the area and take in the incredible views.
The second stop is a quick three and half hour drive from the Dead Sea to the town of Wadi Musa. This town holds Jordan’s biggest attraction, and the one that brings people from all over the world to this part of the world, Petra. It has been highlighted in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, and ever since then, it has held the imagination of many. There are many more amazing buildings carved into the walls of the cliff, and it is a great place to come back to again and again.
The last stop comes on the heels of the most recent blockbuster filmed there, Dune Part Two. It is Wadi Rum, the expansive desert landscape with spectacular hikes, beautiful sunsets, and the closest you can come to the Bedouin experience without becoming a Bedouin.
The trip gets made by some of my colleagues on numerous occasions, every time one of their relatives come out to visit. For me, it is the first time that I get to make this trip as a tour guide, and show people around. I have been to a lot of these places already, and though I am excited to go back to them, I also can’t wait to see what other new experiences I can find while out in Jordan. I will get to learn more about the Jordan Loop, and I hope to share what I learn with the rest of you. So over the next few days, join me as I explore more of this country that is worth coming out and seeing.
One of the greatest benefits to being a teacher is the time off during the holidays. The final lessons have been taught, the grades are in, and there is nothing to do for the next couple weeks except get together with family and friends. For an international teacher that amounts to a little more effort than many would think. Two of the days of the break were lost traveling back and forth to the States, and then there is always the headache of jet lag to contend with.
Still, with all of the downsides of getting there, it is still worth getting back to the place where I grew up. There is a certain sense of comfort being back in Colorado that I just can’t get anywhere else in the world. Yet the longer I stay away from the place, the more I feel like I am no longer a part of this place. I am always on the search for those things that remind me of my hometown when I am abroad to feel that same sense of comfort.
It can come in the most unlikely places as well. Seeing a fox curled up under a bush might not be a common thing to see in Colorado, but it is not out of place either. There are many times that I ran into wildlife during my decades of living in the state. I can’t even count the number of times I have come across deer, elk, coyotes, foxes, and raptor birds. They were always something to marvel at when I came across them, but at the same time, I did not believe that I would have to note every time that I did.
I do not come across wildlife in Jordan like I did in Colorado. That is not to say that I am not reminded of that wildlife form time to time. There are the moments where domesticated animals give me the same kind of joy that I would get when I see a fox sleeping underneath a bush. It makes me start to realize that there are not many differences between places in the world. I might sit in Jordan over the school year and miss the place where I came from, but it takes me going there and back again to realize that I can find the same kind of joy no matter where I am in the world. It just takes a matter of perspective, and a shift of attitude. And traveling to my home state allows both of these things to happen. It makes coming back to my current life a pleasurable experience.
I know that I am not the only one that made this voyage over the holidays. I could see it in the airports with their packed in crowds, and people weighing their bags to make sure they could return home with all of the presents that they received. It is a wonderful distraction this time of year. It allows us to take pause and reflect on the life we have and we are living. I am grateful that I am given that opportunity to be able to do that every year, and I hope you find yourself in a similar situation.
Have a Great New Year, and I am looking forward to sharing my adventures with you throughout the course of it. Thanks for reading.
It has been another year around the sun, and it is time to look back and reflect on those moments that made this year great. It has been nice to know that the recent lockdowns brought on by the pandemic are behind us, and the world has opened up again. This means that travel is back, and many people took advantage of this fact to get out there and see many places on their bucket lists. I was no different. I was in eight different countries last year, three of which I have never been in before. During that time, I was able to tell you all about my experiences in this blog, and what follows are the posts from last year that connect with you the most.
Every year my siblings get together during the summer to go camping some place in the Colorado mountains. It has always been one of my favorite trips of the year because I get to visit with my family in one of my favorite places in the world, the Rocky Mountains. Usually, we get site at the state park close to Golden, Colorado, and spend our time hiking, cooking, and hanging around a campfire. It is a great place to visit if you find yourself in Colorado during the summer, and one I would recommend looking into.
It had been a few years since I had made it to Vietnam, and the last time I was out there, they were still putting in place the infrastructure to turn it into the tourist destination it has become today. Even before this, the Old Quarter in the heart of one of its greatest cities, Hanoi, held a fond memory in my mind. It is the place where all of the Vietnamese people converge to enjoy a night out. It has amazing food, jazz can be heard playing on the street corners, and there are tons of shops to find that perfect souvenir. I didn’t think it was possible, but it had become even busier than the first time I had gone out and visited, but still was worth the effort to make it back to.
There were many highlights from my trip to Scotland, but the one that stood out the most had to be the Isle of Skye. We arrived by ferry, and left by bridge, but spent the whole time exploring every nook and cranny that this island had to offer. Some of the best hikes in the country can be found here with views of mountains, rock formations, and the ocean that stretches out beyond. I was lucky enough to be out there during the off-season, but even then, we had to plan ahead to make sure we got reservations at restaurants, but still there were many times where it felt like we had the island to ourselves. It is one of those places that I know I will come back to visit again some day, and it holds some of the fondest memories from the year for me.
This was one of two poems I posted this year that made the list. It had been one of my favorite ones that I have written because it highlights one of the biggest reasons why I started this blog in the first place. I wanted to share those memories with people out there, and inspire them to go out and collect some of their own.
This was the first post I added this last year, and the second sonnet to appear on this list. It reflects on the time that I spent last holiday season in Oman, and like many poems I write at the end of the year and the start of a new one, it had me thinking about where my life had taken me. I know that nothing really changes on New Year’s Day, but it still is a nice time to take reflection of our lives, and think about where the next step in them will take. It is the reason you see so many posts like this one at the end of the year.
Edinburgh is easily one of my favorite large cities in the world. It is so atmospheric, and it reminds me of walking into a Charles Dickens’s story. One of the spots that I enjoyed the most stood at the edge of town. At this spot, a big hill, or small mountain, (depending on your perspective) beckons for you to hike to its top. Of course, I had to heed that call with a bunch of other people on one of the coldest days I experienced while out there. They call it Arthur’s Seat even though it has no connection to this legendary king. It is still worth the effort to see the view from the top.
Like a lot of people, during the Covid years, I got back into board gaming. It was something that I enjoyed a lot during my youth, and now that there are a bunch of games being created with adults like me in mind, it was the perfect time to get back into the hobby. Since then, I have spent some time with the games I have been adding to my collection by writing reviews about them. This year, I wrote about a classic light role playing game, Betrayal at House on the Hill. This wasn’t going to make the list this year, but right around Christmas time, it got a surge of hits as people started to wonder if this was a good gift or not. I just hope my review was helpful to them in deciding whether or not it was.
Though many of my travel posts come from other countries that I live near, I still do some traveling in the country I live in. I discovered a hidden spot this past year that has easily become one of my favorite in Jordan. It is not as dramatic as Petra, or Wadi Rum. It is not as touristy as the Dead Sea, or Aqaba. It is not as historic as Jerash, or Amman. But it is the place that many of the people of Jordan go to in order to unwind. Hidden in the mountains near the Dead Sea is a hot spring call Ma’in that I have found is the perfect place to unwind.
I travelled with my school’s track and field team to compete in a meet in Chennai, India this last year. It was a really busy trip, and I spent most of my time going back and forth between the school and the hotel with the team. I did have a short amount of time where I was able to get away to do some shopping for my wife for Valentine’s Day, and got to ride in a tuk tuk to get that shopping done. It was not the most unique experience of my life time, but it did make me reminiscent of my time spent living in Thailand.
It always surprises me what becomes the most popular post of the year. I usually think it would have to do with the ones I spend a lot of time on, and have deep philosophical things that I contemplate on. And then there are ones like this one where I got stuck waiting in Denver International Airport while waiting for the late arrival of my wife’s plane. I used to work at this airport, and it is currently undergoing a renovation, but it still has retained its weird nature. This post talked about how proud I am of my hometown as it retains its strangeness in this iconic airport.
As I traverse along the Sea of Death, Watching the salt water consume the land, I roll down the window to take a breath, And ride the wind with the play of my hand.
The ticking clock does not dictate my day, And there’s no rush to where I’m not going. I know the sea wishes for me to stay, But the wheels on the road keep on flowing.
I do hear your tempting voice luring me To spend the afternoon floating on you, But there are places I still want to see, And I will come back after I am through.
You are a part of all our destiny, Until then I will live a life that’s free.
We all need weekend getaways, and when given a three day weekend, we all like to jump on the opportunity to go take some time for ourselves. This is what I did this weekend. I did not have enough time to fly out of the country, but I still wanted to find a nice place where I could relax for a bit. I also wanted to experience something new. A friend of mine told me about these hot springs by the Dead Sea, so I thought that I would try that out.
Heading there, I instantly felt that this was the perfect place for a getaway from Amman, especially during the winter months. Amman has been hit with cold weather, and bouts of snow, but just an hour drive away locked away in a hidden canyon, the weather is perfect. It feels like a crisp fall or spring day with just enough sunshine to leave you comfortable. It is a very relaxing atmosphere, and the best part is, when you feel a little too cold, you can always hop into the warm, soothing water of the pool. It is like stepping into a hot tub, except there is enough space for everybody to find their own little corner. It is perfect on a day like the ones we experienced. I don’t know if it would as great during the summer months, but there is another pool there that was closed in February. I believe that this is the regular swimming pool, so during the warmer months, you could go there to cool off.
Some people drive down from Amman, just for the day. The pool is open to the public from nine o’clock in the morning until seven at night. But if you are looking to have a little privacy with the pool, there is a hotel attached to the pool. If you stay there at night, the pool is made available to you at six in the morning, so you can have the pool to yourself for a couple of hours before the crowds arrive. It is a little expensive, but a night’s stay does include dinner and breakfast, and the buffet does make the stay worth the price. The rooms are also really comfortable with amazing views of the valley.
The Ma’in Hot Spa is a great getaway, or even a nice night stop if you are traveling around the Dead Sea. It is only Qwant kilometers off highway 40 next to the Dead Sea. You just take the turnoff for the Panorama Plaza and follow the signs until you reach the hotel. It is a nice addition to any holiday, an definitely the perfect weekend getaway from Amman, Jordan.
Greece had always been one of the places I always wanted to visit, but it is in such a strange location in Europe that makes getting to it a little difficult by Eurorail. It became a no-brainer though when I moved to Jordan. It is a short flight to the islands, and with Spring Break being open to the world again this year, we took advantage of that fact to explore two of the islands, Santorini and Naxos. It was fun to see one of the more touristy islands, Santorini, compared to one of the quieter islands, Naxos, and get to experience them right before the Summer season started in full. It is easily a place that we will eventually come back to.
Iceland was another place that I had never been to that I always wanted to explore, and this last summer was the perfect time to do so. Covid restrictions were being loosened and we could spend the whole time outside where any exposure to it would be minimum. The funny thing about this trip is that I caught Covid right before we landed, so we were the ones that people needed to stay away from. The hike that we took on this day was absolutely beautiful, and I would have probably enjoyed it more if I wasn’t sick on this day. It was still a stunning place to visit in a country full of stunning places to see.
There are many things to do on the island of Santorini, Greece, but one that is skipped by many of the people that go there is the Akrotiri Ruins on the tip of the island. This is Greek’s answer to Pompeii. This city was destroyed by the volcano that turned the island into a ring instead of the massive mass of land that it used to be. So far, archeologists have just started unearthing the ruins that were left behind, but it is cool to see what Greek life used to be like, and imagine being a part of it.
This was one of my poems that people enjoyed a lot this year. Usually they do not make it into the top ten posts for the year, but I guess people connected with the story of Mary. I had been watching It’s a Wonderful Life for the first time in a long time over the Christmas holiday, and I noticed one part of the story that did not hold up as well as I remembered it to be. The awful life that Mary had because George Bailey had never been born is almost absurd if compared to today’s standards. Don’t get me wrong, it is still a great movie, but I’m having a hard time getting over this little part of the story.
This is the second poem of the year that ended up on the list of top ten poems for the year. I love the snow, and I have not been able to see it much ever since I moved abroad. It was a nice treat to see it early in the year, and it made for a nice inspiration for a poem. Evidently, many of you thought the same as well because it was the most popular poem of 2022.
This last year was spent learning a lot about the Greeks, and Romans, but one of my favorite trips was to a place that many people forget about when thinking of these two ancient civilizations, Cyprus. It is a short flight from Jordan, and it is filled with ruins all over the place. One of the best places to check out is the House of Dionysus. It has mosaic floors from ancient times that are still being uncovered. They do a great job of telling old Greek stories, and are worth the time to check out.
Growing up, my family had a tradition of getting together on New Year’s Eve and playing game until we could ring in the New Year. As I grew older, my siblings kept up the tradition, and not being able to attend has always been one of the bigger regrets I have had about moving abroad. Luckily, this year was started revisiting that tradition at my brother’s house. It was fun to ring in the New Year this way, and it is amazing that this post was one of the more popular ones as the year continued.
Considering that things have started to return to normal after the couple of years of dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic, it is hard to remember that it was still going on at the beginning of the year. This made travel exceptionally difficult. Not only did you need to be vaccinated in order to travel, and some countries had not gotten up to speed with that yet, you also needed to prove that you were Covid free. I had to stand in two line in the cold of Portland, Oregon at the beginning of the year to make sure that I could travel back to my job, and this post was an exploration of what that was like.
When summer rolled around, restrictions relaxed, and I was able to enjoy my first real travel experience after a couple of years of not being able to do so. Of course, we went big by renting a camper van and driving around Iceland for three weeks. It is a beautiful country, but we were there during the coldest June they have had in thirty years. Because of this, we got to know our camper vans really well. This post has been viewed by a lot of people who are going to travel there as they wonder which camper van company will be right for them. I hope the post guides them in the right direction and they can enjoy the country the way it is meant to be enjoyed.
My first trip of the year took me to Cyprus, only an hour flight from Amman, and a world of difference from each other. Cyprus is wine country, and one of only three places in the world where you can get the rare blue wine. This was the most popular post of the year, and I can understand why. The wine is a novelty, and it sparked a lot of people’s interest. It is fun to try, but for the most part, it is just like white wine, except the process of making it turns it blue.
This was a post from a year early that is still getting a lot of traffic. Apparently people love the combination of elk and the forests of Oregon. It was a treat for me to see them instead of the typical deer that roam the ranch, and apparently a lot of other people agreed.
This was actually a post that went live at the end of 2021. I was visiting family in Colorado, and my brother and his family took me down for the opening on Meow Wolf. I had never heard of this place, and it sounded interesting. It was cool to see the craziness that it had to offer, and it took until this year before people started visiting the post.
During the pandemic, I found my way back to hobby that I enjoyed a lot when I was younger, board games. This was a game that I got for Christmas, and I was able to play it at the end of 2021. This is the review of the game, and it has apparently helped a lot of people decide if the game is right for them or not because it was regularly visited during this year.
This was one of my biggest posts of 2021, and it continued to be a favorite of people’s again this year. It tells people how to visit this cool part of the Dead Sea that is a little ways away from all of the resorts that are further up the road. It is a great day trip and I expect people to visit it often again in 2023.
It always surprises me what people connect with and what they do not. This was supposed to be a throw away post based on a bumper sticker I saw while driving through Bend, Oregon. It has endured over the years, and is always one of my top posts. It is one of the few ones that I have posted that does not even have a picture to accompany it with, but people continue to come back to it again and again even though it has fallen off in popularity this last year.
This is by far my most popular board game review. It pits two of the top board games against each other and helps people decide which one is right for them. Even though I have been able to play Wingspan more over the last year, I still think that Everdell is the better game, and I have even started to see it for sale at Target, making it an even bigger game than when this was first posted.
This is far and away this most visited post that I have. It talks about a little hike that you can take if you find yourself in Railay, Thailand. It must be the one that people go to on a regular basis to help them find the way to the bat cave because it gets visits on a daily basis. I am glad that I have been able to help people find there way there, and I hope, if you are reading this blog, that you some day make it there as well as all the other places that I write about. The world is a great place, and you should go explore all of its nooks and crannies while you still can, especially now that travel is a thing again.
People travel from all over the world to enjoy the marvel that is Petra, and there is a lot that is written about this site. However there is more to the UNESCO World Heritage Site than just the city that lies behind the canyon. There is a whole city on the edge of it that is a wonderful location to set up camp before exploring all that Petra has to offer. It is called Wadi Musa and for a gateway town it does a good job inviting people in and preparing them for the adventure they will have in the park.
Of course, there are plenty of gift shops, and a few Turkish bathhouses, but one of the best places to unwind after hiking around the park is the Cave Bar. It is a short walk away from the entrance of Petra, and the prices on the drinks are a little higher than other places you will find in Jordan, but the atmosphere makes up for these small problems. It was built in an ancient tomb that used to be a part of Petra, and it claims to be the oldest bar in the world. There are plenty of cozy little corners in the bar to find a place to relax, but if you would rather sit and enjoy the company of a larger crowd, they do have an outdoor patio, and a larger room where you can watch a game or talk with other travelers.
Right up the hill from the bar, and the bigger tourist shops is the Petra Museum. This is a good place to visit before heading into the park to see all of the sites. It will take you through the history of the ancient city, and how it developed over the centuries. There is also a large collection of artwork that once graced the outside of many of its buildings, but were taken down when iconoclasts, or Christians who did not believe in icon and worked to destroy as many as they could. It is amazing that many of the statues survived because it depicts a civilization that was influenced by both the Greeks and Egyptians.
There are also many comfortable and affordable hotels nearby. We stayed at the Petra Boutique Hotel. It was a five minute walk from the entrance to the park, and served a nice breakfast in the morning. The only problem was that it sat right next to the main road of the town. At night the traffic disappears completely, but this allows for the packs of wild dogs to take over the street, and they are not very quiet. They did keep me up during my first night’s stay there, but I was so worn out from the long hike on the second night that they did not bother me anymore.
Also make sure that you have at least one of your meals at Mom’s Secret Recipe. It is a local restaurant that has really good food, and great atmosphere. It looks like the inside of a bedouin’s tent inside, and you can tell that the recipe comes from a mom who has spent many years perfecting her food.
Overall, the main attraction is Petra, but the town is a lovely place to stay as well. It is well worth staying there for a night or two because it makes the trip to Petra a little more relaxing. You will still find yourself on long hikes to amazing spots, but at least at night, you won’t have to worry about driving back to Amman or Aqaba because you will have a comfortable place to rest your head.
John Collings 