JORDAN: AN ADVENTURE FOR THE INDIANA JONES IN YOU

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Overview

JORDAN: AN ADVENTURE FOR THE INDIANA JONES IN YOU
Amman, Amman Governorate, Jordan
Oct 6 - 13, 2018
Erica Jung image
Erica Jung
$3,495
Deposit: $500

About your trip

Dive Into The Breathtaking

Jordan has delighted visitors for centuries with its world heritage sites, friendly towns and inspiring desert landscapes.

Ancient Allure

Jordan has a tradition of welcoming visitors: camel caravans plied the legendary King’s Highway transporting frankincense in exchange for spices and Nabataean tradesmen, Roman legionnaires, Muslim armies and zealous Crusaders all passed through the land, leaving behind impressive monuments. These monuments, including Roman amphitheatres, crusader castles and Christian mosaics, have fascinated subsequent travellers in search of antiquity and the origins of faith. The tradition of hospitality to visitors remains to this day.

You will not forget the weightlessness experience while floating on the Dead Sea, getting culturized with some of the best Islamic art in its setting, seeping in spirituality with the place of Jesus’s baptism at Jordan River, Mount Nebo where Moses died, and so much more. You will balance out the fulfilling and active days with pampering 5-star accommodations. 

To bring it all together and leave you refreshed, recharged, and inspired, Erica Jung, an internationally known yoga guide, spirit junkie, and world adventurer will guide you in daily practices that ask you to go deeper and create your happiness from the inside out. 

When you need to get away, do not worry about the details. Have trust that you’re experiencing the best.

Day One:

Day One: image

Amman

  •  Fly into Amman (AMM) and get ready for adventure…
  • Our guide will meet you at the airport and escort you to our first hotel, the lavish Rotana Amman, Jordan first and tallest building centrally located in the hub of happening.
  • Leisure time to unwind, unpack, explore
  • Welcome dinner and delicious local fare
  • Say “Assalaamu ‘Alaikum” (May Peace be Upon you) to Jordan!

Day 2

Day 2 image

Amman – Jerash – Umm Qais – Dead Sea

  • Morning yoga to kick the travel stiffness and get us energized
  • Grab a traditional Jordanian breakfast to fuel up as we set out to explore Amman
  •  Amman, the capital of Jordan, is a fascinating city of contrasts – a unique blend of old and new, ideally situated on a hilly area between the desert and the fertile Jordan Valley with numerous ancient ruins

• Atop Jabal al-Qala’a hill, the historic Citadel includes the pillars of the Roman Temple of Hercules and the 8th-century Umayyad Palace complex, known for its grand dome.•The magnificently restored Roman Theater is a 6,000-capacity, 2nd-century stone amphitheater offering occasional events and impressive remnant of Roman Philadelphia

• Enjoy a picturesque drive through woody hills and fertile basins to our destination of Jerash

  • Conquered by General Pompey in 63 BC, it came under Roman rule and was one of the ten great Roman cities of the Decapolis League.
  • The city’s golden age came under Roman rule, during which time it was known as Gerasa, and the site is now generally acknowledged to be one of the best-preserved Roman provincial towns in the world.
  • Its architecture, religion and languages reflect a process by which two powerful    cultures meshed and coexisted – The Graeco-Roman world of the Mediterranean basin and the traditions of the Arab Orient.
  • Trek over to Umm Qais in a lush country hill over looking Golan Heights and the Sea of Galilee.
    • Since excavations began in 1974, archaeologists have uncovered many impressive remains, including a colonnaded street, a theater, a mausoleum and a Byzantine church.
    •  The city is mentioned in the New Testament as the site where Jesus cast out demons and sent them into a herd of pigs, who then ran into the lake (Matthew 8:28-34).
    •  Enjoy stunning views overlooking the Holy Lands, a magical place to sit, meditate and connect, absorbing its deep wisdom and rich history.
  • Fully recharged, we take our bags to our next residence, the jaw-dropping Kempinski Hotel Ishtar Dead Sea , situated right on the famous salt lake.
  • Enjoy evening yoga so ease our worked muscles from a day of exploring ancient ruins
  • Dinner with a view at this desert oasis will be the perfect night cap.

Day 3

Day 3 image

Dead Sea – Mt. Nebo – Jordan River –Bethabara – Madaba

  • Rise and shine with morning yoga over looking The Dead Sea (weather pending)
    •  Jordan Valley Dead Sea, without a doubt the world’s most amazing place, the Jordan Rift Valley is a dramatic, beautiful landscape, which at the Dead Sea, is over 400m (1,312 ft.) below sea level.
    • The lowest point on the face of the earth, this vast stretch of water receives a number of incoming rivers, including the River Jordan. Once the waters reach the Dead Sea they are land-locked and have nowhere to go, so they evaporate, leaving behind a dense, rich, cocktail of salts and minerals that supply industry, agriculture and medicine with some of its finest products
    • The Dead Sea is flanked by mountains to the east and the rolling hills of Jerusalem to the west, giving it an almost other-worldly beauty. The unusually warm, incredibly buoyant and mineral-rich waters have attracted visitors since ancient times, including King Herod the Great and the beautiful Egyptian Queen, Cleopatra.
    • All of whom have luxuriated in the Dead Sea’s rich, black, stimulating mud and floated effortlessly on their backs while soaking up the water’s healthy minerals along with the gently diffused rays of the Jordanian sun.
  • We set out for a full day of exploration starting with Bethabara, or Bethany, the site of Jesus’s Baptism.
    • The authenticity of this site is as pure as the testimonies from the gospels, the pilgrims and travelers that have visited this cherished site. The archaeological sites discovered and the associated studies carried out recently show the remains of five churches uniquely designed and built since the 5th century as memorials of Jesus baptism.
    • Just east of the Jordan River, about 9 kilometers north of the dead sea modern explorers discovered the ruins and foundations of a large number of sandstone piers related to a Byzantine church built at the time of Emperor Anastasius (491-518 AD).
    • Situated in a pristine natural environment the site is believed to be the location where Jesus of Nazareth was baptized by John the Baptist. It features Roman and Byzantine remains including churches and chapels, a monastery, caves that have been used by hermits and pools in which baptisms were celebrated, testifying to the religious character of the place. The site is a Christian place of pilgrimage.
  • A short distance away is the breathtaking site of Mount Nebo, one of the most revered holy sites of Jordan, unique resonance for Jews, Christians and Muslims.
    • It is said that this is where Moses got a glimpse of the Promised Land after leading the Israelites for forty year through the wilderness and is the place where Moses was buried.
    • A small Byzantine church was built there by early Christians, which has been expanded into a vast complex where you can view the ancient structure and intricate and well preserved mosaics.
  • Continuing on the famed 5,000 yr old King’s Highway, a long, meandering squiggle of a road running through some of Jordan’s loveliest countryside, to our next desitination, the charming city of Madaba, know as “The City Of Mosaics.”
  • The King’s Highway is mentioned in the Old Testament: Moses was refused permission to travel on it by the king of Edom, and later the Nabateans, from their power base in Petra, used it to trade luxury goods between Arabia and Syria.
    • Madaba is especially famous for a particular set of mosaics at the church of St. George. The floor is a map of the Holy Land, crafted in exquisite detail.
  • With so much magic being experienced, its the perfect time to head back to the incredible Kempinski for an afternoon of leisure and more Dead Sea pampering, however you choose.
  • We will meet up for evening yoga and another delicious dinner to top of the wonderful day.

Day 4

Day 4 image

Dead Sea – Dana Nature Reserve – Petra

  • Sadly we sad goodby to The Kempinski and Dead Sea and set out for Dana Nature Reserve for a hike through is stunning landscape.
    • One of Jordan’s hidden gems, the charming 15th-century stone village of Dana dangles beneath the King’s Highway on a precipice, commanding exceptional views of the valley below. That valley and the surrounding area make up the Dana Biosphere Reserve. It’s a wonderful place to escape Jordan’s cities and spend a few days hiking, enjoy some village atmosphere and look for wildlife.
    • Dana is Jordan’s largest nature reserve, covering some 320 square kilometers of spectacular mountains and wadis along the face of the Great Rift Valley.
    • From scorching sand dunes in the west to cool mountain tops in the east, the Dana Biosphere Reserve is home to a great variety of wildlife. There are plants and animals characteristic of true desert, of Mediterranean forests and of the dry plains of Russia.
  • After exploring and taking in the natural wonder, we set up our new homes for the next two night at Mövenpick Resort Petra located directly at the entrance of the historic Jordanian city of Petra.
  • Enjoy an evening session of yoga to unwind our hiking legs and get hungry for a fun evening of learning traditional Jordanian dishes at Petra Kitchen.
    • It’ll surely be a great way to impress friends back home with your new culinary skills!

Day 5

Day 5 image

Petra

  • No snoozing today! We are up and at ’em with morning yoga.
  • After fueling ourselves up at breakfast we set off for Little Petra or Al Siq Al Barid.

• Located a few kilometers north of the Nabataean city, the former caravan resting place can be considered a suburb of Petra.

• Although el – Barid is as Petra is much smaller and has less magnificent facades, the original meaning was large: Small Petra was an important caravan rest stop on the trade route between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea – and also the largest trading center of Petra.

• Throughout the gorge there are numerous caves, niches, walls, channels and cisterns. Many stairs lead up – probably to a height sacrificial places where rites were performed.

  • Bust out your cameras! We are heading to one of the most Instagramable spots in the world, Petra!
  •  We enter this ancient city and world wonder on foot from the ease of our resort and feel just like past traders of ancient times.

• Petra, the world wonder, is without a doubt Jordan’s most valuable treasure and greatest tourist attraction. It is a vast, unique city, carved into the sheer rock face by the Nabataeans, an industrious Arab people who settled here more than 2000 years ago, turning it into an important junction for the silk, spice and other trade routes that linked China, India and southern Arabia with Egypt, Syria, Greece and Rome.

• Entrance to the city is through the Siq, a narrow gorge, over 1km in length, which is flanked on either side by soaring, 80m high cliffs. Just walking through the Siq is an experience in itself. The colors and formations of the rocks are dazzling. Make sure to grab plenty of photos!

•As you reach the end of the Siq you will catch your first glimpse of Al-Khazneh (Treasury). Although much has been written about Petra, nothing really prepares you for this amazing place. It has to be seen to be believed!

  • Our fun and engaging guide will be having us explore all of the grounds and learning all about its secrets including photos at the iconic Treasury where Indiana Jones entered to retrieve the Holy Grail.
  • Evening yoga and dinner back in our abode is the perfect way to top off a day of wonderment that words might have a hard time describing.

Day 6

Day 6 image

Petra – Wadi Rum

  • Test your senses and appreciate the silence. We start the morning with a silent walking meditation to the Treasury at Petra before the rush of tourists.
    • After that time in reflection its off to a morning yoga session in a private spot on the grounds that simply will have you feeling deeply connected to the vast grounds all around.
    • It very well might be one of the most memorable yoga sessions you will ever have and help put it all in perspective.
  • Quick breakfast follows our morning before continuing onto Wadi Rum a stupendous, timeless place, virtually untouched by humanity and its destructive forces.
    • A maze of monolithic rockscapes rises up from the desert floor to heights of 1,750m creating a natural challenge for serious mountaineers. Hikers can enjoy the tranquility of the boundless empty spaces and explore the canyons and water holes to discover 4000-year-old rock drawings and the many other spectacular treasures this vast wilderness holds in store.• Here, it is the weather and winds that have carved the imposing, towering skyscrapers, so elegantly described by T.E. Lawrence as “vast, echoing and God-like…”

  • Also known as ‘The Valley of the Moon’, this is the place where Prince Faisal Bin Hussein and    T.E. Lawrence based their headquarters during the Arab Revolt against the Ottomans in World War I, their exploits intrinsically woven into the history of this amazing area.

 • Wadi Rum is everything you’d expect of a quintessential desert: it is extreme in summer heat and winter cold; it is violent and moody as the sun slices through chiselled siqs (canyons) at dawn or melts the division between rock and sand at dusk; it is exacting on the Bedouin who live in it and vengeful on those who ignore its dangers.

  • We cruise through these jaw-dropping lands with a 2 hour Jeep tour through the desert to take in the full scape of the lands and see how the Bedouin live.
  • Feel like a King or Queen with a night of glamping in style, under the stars at Wadi Rum Luxury Night Camp, an unforgettable way of stripping the soul back to basics.
  • Enjoy a truly special evening of yoga and dinner in the serenity and stillness of the desert.

Day 7

Day 7 image

Wadi Rum – Amman

  • Enjoy a slightly later start with a detoxing Morning Yoga flow followed by a leisurely breakfast.
  •  There is free time to book an optional camel ride in the desert or just kick back and relax.
  • We head back to Amman a final official city tour and for some free time to hunt the local markets for authentic finds.
  • For our farewell dinner, we head to visit a local Jordanian family for a traditional dinner and meeting of the minds and hearts as we experience more of Jordan’s legendary hospitality.
    • No doubt there will be lots of laughter, sharing of stories, and hilarious pop culture comparisons. It’ll be the sweetest of send offs.

Day 8

Day 8 image

Amman

  • Today we temporarily part ways until our next adventure together
  •  Morning breakfast and then transfers to the airport for the journey back home.
  • “Shukran Lak” ( Thank You) to Jordan and it’s people for an experience and warmth we will be talking about for a very long time.

Location

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1. Amman, Amman Governorate, Jordan

Amman, Amman Governorate, Jordan

About your organizer

EJ
Erica Jung
Fierce, compassionate, and beating to the beat of her own drum, Erica Jung is one yoga teacher you want to know. She’s a New Jersey native and splits her time living there and in Hamburg, Germany. Making good use of her dual citizenship, she speaks both English and Mandarin and teaches and hosts yoga retreats all over the world. - Erica first found yoga about 13 years ago while studying psychology and nursing. She stepped into her first yoga class with a desire to become more flexible, only to discover yoga was so much more than that. It was a way to blend her WHOLE-istic philosophy and Eastern and Western Sciences together into a potent combination that brought out the highest version of self. - She's now the creator of Transformational Travel and Science of Spirit which all help people expand their perspectives and connect more fully and genuinely to their true selves, for their best life yet. _ She hopes to connect with you and share this ever exciting journey called life.

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© 2026 Erica Jung