We were going on vacation in the UAE, but the tour manager warned that they sometimes began to refuse visas to men. We did not take risks and began to look for an alternative. Accidentally stumbled upon a vacation in Jordan and began to select a budget hotel, because. The main thing for us was to get to know a new country and visit excursions.
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We were going on vacation in the UAE, but the tour manager warned that they sometimes began to refuse visas to men. We did not take risks and began to look for an alternative. Accidentally stumbled upon a vacation in Jordan and began to select a budget hotel, because. The main thing for us was to get to know a new country and visit excursions. Thank you, other tourists consulted about the camp and hotels and we settled on My Hotel 3 *. The reviews did not disappoint, this is a good hotel, in terms of service it really matches and even surpasses the Egyptian 4 *. And much better than a 3* city hotel in Dubai. We arrived in the evening, after 5 minutes. were already in the room. Asked for a room in a quiet location and got one. The room was the last, corner, spacious. We immediately went up to the 6th floor, looked where the pool and the restaurant were. Most tourists stay there for a couple of days - we were a week. There is a kettle in the room, tea and sugar can be borrowed from the restaurant. They took breakfast - they are hearty, with a large selection of dishes, but a little monotonous. In addition to scrambled eggs and boiled eggs, there were also fried potatoes, fried sausages, beans, eggplant, fresh cucumbers and tomatoes, yogurt, dates, fruit salad, muffins, cheeses, sausage, butter, portioned honey, jam, triangle cheese, drinks, tea , coffee. The restaurant looks like a restaurant, not a canteen. Beautiful chairs covered with white covers, pleasant music, there were never queues, even on weekends when locals stopped by. Tables were cleaned instantly, despite the fact that there were few staff. They asked us for a room number for a couple of days, then they didn’t ask anymore. Always smiled kindly. They ate so much at breakfast that at lunch they drank only their Nesquik with a muffin (when they took them at breakfast in a restaurant, no one paid attention to this). Also, many took coffee, tea or juice with buns and went to sit at tables near the pool and smoke. We, too, after breakfast, always sat there (do not smoke) and admired the sights. To the left is Saudi Arabia, directly to Egypt, and to the left of Israel, which is within easy reach. The ships were in the roadstead, mountains on the left - very beautiful. One afternoon, my husband and I were swimming in the pool, there was no one else, the Metro-Hotel came and brought us 2 glasses of juice as a present. It was very nice. The pool was almost always empty except for a couple of people, which is what my husband likes. Since the hotel is urban and does not have a free beach, it captivates with its hospitality and order. Cleaned with high quality, the floor was always washed, 2 soaps and 2 (4) shampoos / gels were reported every day. Towels and pillowcases were also changed every day, but we didn’t get the pillowcases dirty... )) The entire bed was also changed in a week. The room was quite quiet, only the noise from the water was heard from the next room. We didn’t get the balcony (there are very few of them in the hotel and they are booked quickly and in advance.
It takes 5-7 minutes to go to the public free beach, we sat on the beach a couple of times, breathed the sea air and talked with the locals. Even the kids ran up and said: wellcome Jordan, and I gave them sweets)) Once I sat on a catamaran, putting my feet in the water, but the ship passed and I found myself in a tunic and leggings in the water - and so I decided to swim, feeling the national tradition. . . )) We went to the South Beach - 7 dinars one way taxi. There was not much time at sea because of excursions, so we often sunbathed and swam calmly by the pool. In the evenings, we walked around the city, went shopping, it took about 10 minutes to the market. Near McDonald's we went to duty free, keep in mind that you need a passport for shopping, otherwise it will be more expensive. Prices are indicated in both dollars and dinars. If you pay in dollars, change in dinars. The price for Pepsi and other 2 liters is 1 dinar (40 UAH), still water 1.5 liters is 0.35 dinars. When checking out from the hotel, no one went to check the room and the mini bar, in which everything was free. (unlike in the UAE, they gave us our passport only after they checked the room, and there were more cases when the staff took something from the mini bar and then demanded money for it). We communicated with the hotel guide only by viber or by phone. The two of us drove to the hotel. We were picked up at the airport from the hotel 7.5 hours before departure. four of us traveled in a minivan.
But of course Jordan is the country to see. So we spent a lot of time on excursions. They were also on the Dead Sea (before that they were on it in Israel - they are different) and on the Jordan River, where they plunged at the place of Christ's baptism. But the main attraction of Jordan is of course Petra. Petra is definitely a wonder of the world and a must visit for anyone visiting Jordan. It made a huge impression on us, especially the canyon and facades. You just need to ignore the annoying "drivers" of donkeys. Yes, the entrance is quite expensive - 50 dinars per person, but once in a lifetime it's worth it. One more piece of advice. We organized all the excursions ourselves, i. e. agreed with a taxi driver (who was advised to us by a local Ukrainian woman) and drove together. It's definitely cheaper than buying from an agency. The driver waits for as long as you need, you do not need to run after anyone, be afraid that you will be late and you can completely surrender to your impressions.
One more note on the Jordanian currency. The Jordanian dinar is equal to 1.4 dollars. So in everyday terms, the country is quite expensive. It is better to change money at the airport, there is a good exchange rate. But if you didn’t have time, as we did (the guide was in a hurry), then you can always find the same one in the city. Just do not change at the hotel - there is always a big commission. By the way, they didn’t fly on a charter, during takeoff and landing they gave out candies, then drinks, hot meals - a choice of potatoes, rice, pasta and fish, cutlet, chicken, white and red wine, butter, bun, chocolate bar, biscuit. Later they poured Zhivchik, Cola and water. Yes, and tourist visas are free, the guide who met them printed them out and handed them to us, they had to be kept until the return flight, and then they were seized at the control.
It takes 5-7 minutes to go to the public free beach, we sat on the beach a couple of times, breathed the sea air and talked with the locals. Even the kids ran up and said: wellcome Jordan, and I gave them sweets)) Once I sat on a catamaran, putting my feet in the water, but the ship passed and I found myself in a tunic and leggings in the water - and so I decided to swim, feeling the national tradition. . . )) We went to the South Beach - 7 dinars one way taxi. There was not much time at sea because of excursions, so we often sunbathed and swam calmly by the pool. In the evenings, we walked around the city, went shopping, it took about 10 minutes to the market. Near McDonald's we went to duty free, keep in mind that you need a passport for shopping, otherwise it will be more expensive. Prices are indicated in both dollars and dinars. If you pay in dollars, change in dinars. The price for Pepsi and other 2 liters is 1 dinar (40 UAH), still water 1.5 liters is 0.35 dinars. When checking out from the hotel, no one went to check the room and the mini bar, in which everything was free. (unlike in the UAE, they gave us our passport only after they checked the room, and there were more cases when the staff took something from the mini bar and then demanded money for it). We communicated with the hotel guide only by viber or by phone. The two of us drove to the hotel. We were picked up at the airport from the hotel 7.5 hours before departure. four of us traveled in a minivan.
But of course Jordan is the country to see. So we spent a lot of time on excursions. They were also on the Dead Sea (before that they were on it in Israel - they are different) and on the Jordan River, where they plunged at the place of Christ's baptism. But the main attraction of Jordan is of course Petra. Petra is definitely a wonder of the world and a must visit for anyone visiting Jordan. It made a huge impression on us, especially the canyon and facades. You just need to ignore the annoying "drivers" of donkeys. Yes, the entrance is quite expensive - 50 dinars per person, but once in a lifetime it's worth it. One more piece of advice. We organized all the excursions ourselves, i. e. agreed with a taxi driver (who was advised to us by a local Ukrainian woman) and drove together. It's definitely cheaper than buying from an agency. The driver waits for as long as you need, you do not need to run after anyone, be afraid that you will be late and you can completely surrender to your impressions.
One more note on the Jordanian currency. The Jordanian dinar is equal to 1.4 dollars. So in everyday terms, the country is quite expensive. It is better to change money at the airport, there is a good exchange rate. But if you didn’t have time, as we did (the guide was in a hurry), then you can always find the same one in the city. Just do not change at the hotel - there is always a big commission. By the way, they didn’t fly on a charter, during takeoff and landing they gave out candies, then drinks, hot meals - a choice of potatoes, rice, pasta and fish, cutlet, chicken, white and red wine, butter, bun, chocolate bar, biscuit. Later they poured Zhivchik, Cola and water. Yes, and tourist visas are free, the guide who met them printed them out and handed them to us, they had to be kept until the return flight, and then they were seized at the control.
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Rested in February from 19 to 2.2011. In Jordan for the first time, before that was only in Turkey and Egypt. Since Egypt was not available, I had to choose something else, reviewed everything and settled on Jordan. Girlfriends did not agree to such a trip, there is no All inclusive and you will need to go on excursions all the time, and who cares.
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Rested in February from 19 to 2.2011. In Jordan for the first time, before that was only in Turkey and Egypt. Since Egypt was not available, I had to choose something else, reviewed everything and settled on Jordan. Girlfriends did not agree to such a trip, there is no All inclusive and you will need to go on excursions all the time, and who cares. . . in general, who agreed - it was my mother : ) So I rested with my mother. In terms of money, of course, it turned out to be much more expensive and in choosing a hotel it was necessary to determine the price, the hotels were cheaper (Raed and Mina, they are a little further from My, but on the same street), but not by much, there were almost no reviews, at least something about this they wrote and they have their own website, the pictures seem to be beautiful, in general they decided on My hotel. We decided to take HB, because it was not clear what the prices were in restaurants, and if you are traveling for the first time, I advise you to do the same. Since almost all hotels are sold without a flight, I advise you to go on Saturday in order to save money - these are Mediterranean airlines, their flight costs 275 USD. e. , and there is also Royal Jordanian Airlines, here they are in the region of 400-450 dollars. We had a departure at 9.05 am, flew perfectly, fly a little more than 3 hours. We flew to Amman, we immediately go to change money for a visa of 30 dinars (in Jordan they only accept dinars, there are some shops or souvenir shops where they can accept dollars and euros, but don’t rely on it too much), just change exactly for a visa, because there charge a service fee! The host immediately meets with a sign with the names, all questions can be asked to him, so he is at the airport before boarding the transfer is all the time with you. We were met by a small transfer for 7 people. We drove for about 3.5 hours with one stop. Time flew by very quickly, as the road is simply gorgeous, very beautiful mountains!! ! We flew out of Kyiv, it was terribly cold, in Amman you could take off your fur coat and hat, and in Aqaba it was so hot that we immediately changed into flip flops and T-shirts. They settled us immediately and quickly, the room was excellent, the only thing was that there was no hair dryer, I searched everything on the Internet and did not find that there was a hair dryer and took it with me, there is a kettle for making coffee, tea and all accessories (added every day, except for water) , fridge. minus a small closet and all things had to be folded on chairs. The room was cleaned every day, towels and sheets changed. We were settled on the second floor overlooking the street, the windows overlooked the Golf Hotel, Movenpick (these hotels are nearby across the street and also the second line). A Russian-speaking girl called the guide immediately (we only talked to her by phone, since they are in Amman, but if there are problems, there is a host in Aqaba), she did not know anything about this hotel, as she told us that it was her first booking, the only thing she advised us was to ask the hotel staff for everything. So we came for dinner, they immediately put us at the table, the restaurant on the top floor overlooks the hotels and the embankment, a very beautiful view and interior of the restaurant. A restaurant worker came up to us (he knows a little Russian) and offered drinks, I asked him if it was free or paid, to which he replied that everything was free, we then ordered one white wine and one mango juice. After we ate and were about to leave, and this restaurant worker (as it turned out later that he was a bartender there) told us that we had 5 dinars, in general, we decided not to swear, but simply asked that next time they tell us, what is paid and what is free, as we have a certain budget that we are counting on! We returned to the room, it was not very pleasant and did not know what to expect next. . . Our guide called us to find out if we want to take excursions, and we told her everything about the incident in the restaurant. The next day, we were provided with drinks for free and for dinner we were also provided with drinks for free, after a representative of the host arrived at the hotel and sorted out the misunderstanding. We went for a walk in the evening, with a printed map of the city from a satellite, we reached the Intercontinental Hotel and never found the sea. . . In the morning we went for breakfast (a buffet, like dinner), they cook an omelette, eat fruits (pineapples, apples, oranges, bananas), cheeses, such as sausages and sausages, nuts, dates, dried apricots, buns, biscuits, toasts, coffee, tea , juices - everything is free for breakfast, (drinks are paid only for dinner !!! ) the most common breakfast is from 6.30 to 10 or 10.30. They have dinner, also a buffet, but if there are few tourists in the hotel, then dinner is menu. For dinner, a lot of salads, fish, chicken, vegetables, fruits, sweets. Let's go look for the sea (there is no beach near the hotel, use only the city or beach of 5 * hotels for a fee and very expensive, for example, Intercontinental 35 dinars per person per day) using the same map from the satellite in the other direction, we found it, it’s very close, but the beach....it’s terrible, I didn’t expect this, there are only local families with children, it didn’t work out to swim, everyone looks like they are aliens, it’s creepy. . . bathe only fully clothed. . . You can take pictures only on excursions, in the city it’s very careful with this, the main thing is that no one sees, but it’s better not to take pictures of local residents !! ! We then went on a walk around the city and found an information center in the park, where you can get information about the country and excursions in all languages. There, a taxi driver approached us and offered excursions (English-speaking, Russian speakers are rare), I agreed with him about 5 excursions for 200 dinars: 1 day Petra and the Wadi Rum desert, 2 day Main thermal springs, Jordan River, Dead Sea. And he offered us on the same day an excursion to the Aquarium for 3 dinars per person. Let's go to the Aquarium, it's very beautiful, it's worth looking in the aquariums up close, what swims in the sea and then go snorkeling. Then he brought the royal to the beach and we stayed there for an hour, there are very few people on this beach, when we were only one Arab family and they rested far from us or you could find a place even further away (they don’t have sunbeds on such beaches it happens!!! ). The next day we went to Petra and Wadi Rum, we met the newlyweds in the transfer and exchanged phone numbers and offered them to go on all the excursions with us, they agreed, because they found out how much the tour to Petra costs from the guide, 175 dinars per person ! . In the morning a taxi driver arrived, the guys came up and he agreed that the four of us would go (cheaper and more interesting, special thanks to them, we traveled all the sights in a fun and interesting way !!! ). It’s an hour and a half to go to Petra, the entrance is 50 dinars per person, we wandered there for 2 hours, we weren’t tired at all, it’s very beautiful there : ), of course, we were lucky that there were no tourists from Egypt and there were very few people. Then we went to watch the sunset in the Wadi Rum desert, transferred to jeeps (included in the price of a taxi, you don’t need to pay extra, just check with the taxi driver in advance! ) A very beautiful sight, words can not convey. . . and most importantly, a real desert with sand, not like in Egypt! After us, the taxi driver brought us to some type of roadside cafe for barbecue for dinner (it was also free, the taxi driver usually treats drinks for free during trips). On the third day, we decided to go to our guys, with whom we went on excursions, to the hotel (Intercontinental), everyone is allowed into the territory, but you have to pay for the beach, but you can just take a walk. There we took an excursion on the Discovery yacht (you can ask the boy who gives out towels on the beach or near the reception), the cost is 29 dinars per person for 4 hours with lunch and drinks, a stop for snorkeling, they give out masks and fins for free (it’s better to buy of course, you never know who used them... and if, in order to save money, you can buy a nursery for 2-3 dinars, and take a mask from them, and your own straw). The sea is clear, you can see corals and fish. Lower deck with glass bottom surrounded by seating. On the fourth day with a taxi driver, our second tour. We went on a different road, not on the one when we went to Petra, so we were constantly looking at new beautiful places along the way. It's a long 3 hour ride. The first stop was near the Dead Sea on the mountain just for photos, and then we climbed along the serpentine road to the thermal springs of Main, entrance 15 dinars. We enjoyed the waterfall for about an hour and soaked in the baths, the massage is wonderful, you immediately feel a surge of energy. Then we went to the Jordan River. Entrance 12 dinars, deposit one passport for an electronic guide (a player-type stick and a card with numbers where to click on the numbers, along the way there are signs with numbers). We get on the bus and they take us to the river. We go out and wander along the paths ourselves, but trying to keep up with the group that was riding the bus. Be sure to bring bottles with you to get water in the river. Near the fence and the border with Israel, do not be alarmed if there are sounds of explosions - these are mines exploding and it is safe. And there are also freaks running around with machine guns, you don’t need to be scared either, because there is a border there they watch tourists. We also returned and the bus brought us back to the taxi. Then we went to the Dead Sea, the entrance is 15 dinars (maybe there are cheaper beaches, we didn’t choose), the beach is excellent with a pool, changing rooms and showers. I have already been to the Dead Sea in Israel, so there was nothing surprising for me. The main thing is not to lie in the water for a long time and not roll over! It was hard to return, of course, it was already dark and very tired to go for more than 3 hours, it’s good that we had time for dinner, we were terribly hungry. The next day, our taxi driver offered us the finish of the program, we did not agree, but he persuaded us (by the way, the calculation for all excursions after is paid! That is, in our case, after the second day). He offered a yacht for everyone for 50 dinars and we will be alone there. In general, we took it, but it was possible not to take it, since the Discovery yacht is better. It turns out that there are four of us, yes, of course, plus, the yacht is small, we were brought to the royal beach and we swam there for a long time, like as much as we wanted - this is the only plus. In general, do not agree to the finish of the programs!! ! On the last day, we just wandered around the city, shopping, that day the king of Jordan arrived, the people rejoiced, they had a whole holiday, that's how they love him, ran up, told that our king came to us, it was nice to watch. I’ll advise you about shopping, the main thing is not to rush, to look, because for example, a mask from the Dead Sea costs 6-12 dinars everywhere (by the way, cosmetics are very expensive on the Dead Sea itself! ) We found in a shopping center, near our hotel for 1.5 dinars, there is a difference! And so is everything else, away from hotels even cheaper, walking around the city is not scary, no one sticks, they just watch. It was hard for me at first (I am a blonde with long hair), then I got used to it and did not pay attention, it was funny of course when the children ran up to get acquainted, I was a living doll for them : ). Yes, regarding the exchanger, we changed money near the Mina hotel, a little further from our hotel, they don’t take a commission there. My mother went to change money herself without knowing English at all, and no one deceived, everyone helps everywhere. In general, a very friendly country, few tourists, and it's so interesting and exciting, because you feel like in another world : ) Like in a fairy tale!!! !
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