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« Last edited by davidmal on October 10, 2023, 05:09:10 PM »

Author Topic: Jordan Master Thread  (Read 93443 times)

Offline batzelda1

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Jordan Master Thread
« on: June 18, 2010, 03:14:44 AM »
Can anyone recommend a tour guide/tour company for a one-day trip from Eilat to Petra?
« Last Edit: July 16, 2012, 06:43:30 PM by Dan »

Offline moish

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Re: Petra
« Reply #1 on: June 18, 2010, 03:21:58 AM »
when i was a bochur, we (me and friends) did it ourselves. basically walk over the border at aravah (2 minutes north of eilat) and take a taxi to petra. once there, we hired a guide thru the tourist info center. if you would rather a company in israel, i can scan you a copy of a brochure here but i dont have any experience with them.

Offline chuchem

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Re: Petra
« Reply #2 on: June 18, 2010, 04:29:56 AM »
Hi I also went without a guide. You will pay much more with an israeli Company

We (incl. wife and baby) had 24 hours time, so we did it as following

10 PM Flight TLV-Amman with Royal Jordanian (booked on their website)
 
midnight 2,5 hour cab to Petra from airport. I stayed at the crown plaza. They arranged the cab, it was 80 Dollars. Probably cheaper if you just take one from the airport, but the one from the hotel knew the way, so not worth saving 20 Dollars for the unknown

9 am we took a tour guide from the info center for 2 hours, the rest we walked around ourselfs and on donkeys guided by six year old kids ;-)

3 pm taxi to Aqaba/ eilat border. 2 hours about 50 Dollars

Crossed the border, had supper in Halaluya and took a flight back to Tel Aviv with israir(booked on their website). Landed in Tlv 9 PM, home at  10:30 PM

A real nice 24 hours trip

Be careful, the border is not open 24 hours, so check the times if you want to do it in one day!


Offline moish

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Re: Petra
« Reply #3 on: June 18, 2010, 07:19:13 AM »
interesting way to do it. how much was the flight tlv-amm?

Offline chuchem

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Re: Petra
« Reply #4 on: June 18, 2010, 08:18:20 AM »
I dont remember anymore, sorry, but not to much

Offline steve2

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Re: Petra
« Reply #5 on: June 18, 2010, 09:55:21 AM »
 its beyond me why anyone would want to spend their Money in Jordan , Turkey etc today after what their Govts have been saying lately about Israel

Offline em0616

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Re: Petra
« Reply #6 on: June 18, 2010, 09:58:54 AM »
There are 3 borders with Israel to Jordan. The one closest to Jerusalem (Allenby/King Hussein bridge), does require a
Jordanian visa in advanced if coming from Israel, (plus Israeli passport holders are not allowed to use the
Allenby/King Hussein bridge. This border is only opened from early morning till about 1pm, and there are service vans
running all morning between Damascus Gate and the Allenby bridge.

Once on the Jordanian side, one can rent a car and drive to Petra, hire a taxi (make sure to negotiate price and write down the
price on paper (they like to say fifteen jordanian dinar, and then when you get off, they are demanding 50 dinar).

If coming in from Eilat, crossing the border into Jordan, take a taxi to bus station (should cost 7-8 dinar for the 5 minute ride),
where there are service vans  to Petra, for about 5 Jordanian. a taxi to Petra should cost around 30-35 dinar.

If you are looking to stay in a cheap hotel in Petra, I would recommend Valentine Inn.

The Petra park, you would have to pay an admissions fee, which is about 21 JD for one day, 26 JD for two days.
You definitely do not need a tour guide, you can cover it by foot, and will be hassled by horse, camel, and donkey
owners offering to give you a ride.

If you come in early, you can take a 4 hour trip up to Har hahor where Aharon hakohein is believed to be buried.
Once inside the park, negotiate a price with the bedoin guide to take you up. (They call it Jabal Aarun).
I have done it on occasions by foot, and by donkey. It's too steep to use a different animal.


Also for more travel info look at http://wikitravel.org/en/Petra  and http://www.tripadvisor.com forums.

My itinerary that I have done twice:

Take Egged bus to Eilat - from there take a 5 minute taxi to the Arava crossing to Jordan. At the border terminal
the entire procedure should take 15-20 minutes. You have to pay an Israeli departure tax (around 95 shekel, which you can by
by credit card). Once in Petra, a taxi to Petra should be 30 dinar. Or take a taxi to town (7-9 dinar), and from there next to the
Aqaba police station, sort of an outside bus station,  service vans go to Petra, in the morning hours for about 5 dinars, and leave
when they fill up.

The Arava border crossing with Eilat is opened from 6:30am to 8:00 pm. After Petra, you can head back South to Aqaba,
and cross back into Eilat, but since it's a humongous circle if you are going back Jerusalem or Tel Aviv - I recommend
going straight up North to King Hussein/Allenby crossing. You can take a taxi, and ask him to take him on the Kings
Highway, instead of the Deserts - which will allow for an extremely scenic route.

In Amman, I stayed at the Palace Hotel http://www.palacehotel.com.jo/

The city of Amman, there is not much to see or due there - you can skip it. There is a service van from Petra to Amman,
but I believe it's only twice a day. In Amman, a taxi to the Israeli border is about 10-12 Jordanian. In the Abdali bus
station, (which I think is by the second circle of Amman) there are shared taxis all morning that go to the border station, leaving
when they fill up for around 3-4 Jordanian. The Allenby terminal is very busy, as it's the only way Palestinians can cross from
Jordan into Jericho, as Palestinians who are not Israeli citizens, are not allowed to use Ben Gurion airport. Once on the Israeli
side, which is near Jericho, there are service vans that drop you off by Damascus gate ( for around 50 shekel).  Also,
on the Israeli side, there is a separate line for Palestinians and tourists.

The Eilat/Aqaba crossing is by foot, but Allenby bridge, involves a 5 minute bus ride after going through departure.

 In Amman, I stayed at the Palace Hotel http://www.palacehotel.com.jo/

Offline Dan

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Re: Petra
« Reply #7 on: June 18, 2010, 10:28:15 AM »
interesting way to do it. how much was the flight tlv-amm?
The route is golden for LAN or Qantas miles.
« Last Edit: June 18, 2010, 11:32:56 AM by Dan »
Save your time, I don't answer PM. Post it in the forum and a dedicated DDF'er will get back to you as soon as possible.

Offline batzelda1

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Re: Petra
« Reply #8 on: June 18, 2010, 11:29:51 AM »
Is Qantas and Lan miles an equivalent now?

Offline kivabb

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Re: Petra, Jordan Master Thread
« Reply #9 on: June 19, 2010, 10:46:45 PM »
Once you're crazy enough to go, make sure you go to Ahron Hacohens Kever which is right near Petra.

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Re: Petra, Jordan Master Thread
« Reply #10 on: June 20, 2010, 02:50:30 AM »
we were "crazy enough" to go, but werent prepared to go 3 hours on donkeyback to a safek kever

Offline chuchem

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Re: Petra, Jordan Master Thread
« Reply #11 on: June 20, 2010, 06:09:53 AM »
If you want to go to Ahrons Kever, you have to be there really early to make it back to the border on time. Also note its a very steep path. I think the only way you can do it is, if you stay over night in Petra. I know guys who did it and they rather walked most of the way, as they were scared the donkey will fall.

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Re: Petra, Jordan Master Thread
« Reply #12 on: June 20, 2010, 06:11:56 AM »
its beyond me why anyone would want to spend their Money in Jordan , Turkey etc today after what their Govts have been saying lately about Israel

I didnt go there for a long vacation and spend tons of money. I went to see something that intrests me and left again. If a guy goes for a week to the beach in Turkey, you are right, he can do that in Israel. But I cant see Petra anywere else, if I dont go I punish myself!

Offline steve2

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Re: Petra, Jordan Master Thread
« Reply #13 on: June 20, 2010, 07:51:41 AM »
I didnt go there for a long vacation and spend tons of money. I went to see something that intrests me and left again. If a guy goes for a week to the beach in Turkey, you are right, he can do that in Israel. But I cant see Petra anywere else, if I dont go I punish myself!

 a very nice Rationalization what can I say. A person can say the same for places in Iran, Syria etc etc. Could be if you werent spending even a Dime but as long as a person will in 1 way or another be spending $$ there its best NOT to go,IMO. At least under the present circumstances that Kol Yisroel is in

Offline md

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Re: Petra, Jordan Master Thread
« Reply #14 on: June 20, 2010, 08:41:29 AM »
I have to agree with steve2

Offline chuchem

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Re: Petra, Jordan Master Thread
« Reply #15 on: June 20, 2010, 09:26:14 AM »
Lets not forget one thing. Jordan is a state that made peace with israel, didnt show any hostility and no terror comes from their border. So lets not compare jordan to turkey or iran!

Offline steve2

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Re: Petra, Jordan Master Thread
« Reply #16 on: June 20, 2010, 09:44:07 AM »
Lets not forget one thing. Jordan is a state that made peace with israel, didnt show any hostility and no terror comes from their border. So lets not compare jordan to turkey or iran!


 Boy are U in the mood today to Rationalize

 Jordan lets see it wasnt them who destroyed the cementary on Har Tzatim, they didnt burn all the Shuls in the Old City, before 1967 they allowed any and ALL Jews to visit the Kotel. I guess you havent read any of the Kings statements lately. Need I go on talking about whom you consider to be a State at peace, IMO the only Piece they want is Israel

In a nut shell they want all of Israel as they still feel the British Mandate was wrong for creating a Jewish State, nor dont they care that before 1946 there was Never such a creature as a Jordanian. And the vast majority of Jordians today are Palestines

 chuchem with these posts of yurs you are proving yourself to be anything but your handle

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Re: Petra, Jordan Master Thread
« Reply #17 on: June 20, 2010, 10:16:39 AM »
I just said we should not compare them to turkey iran or syria, thats all. Nobody likes us and most countries around the world killed us during some stage in history. There are not many places left to visit if you are looking for a place that loves us and never killed us.

Is it better to spend the summer in France or Spain? How about russia and Poland?

I know you will not agree with me!

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Re: Petra, Jordan Master Thread
« Reply #18 on: June 20, 2010, 10:29:09 AM »
I just said we should not compare them to turkey iran or syria, thats all. Nobody likes us and most countries around the world killed us during some stage in history. There are not many places left to visit if you are looking for a place that loves us and never killed us.

Is it better to spend the summer in France or Spain? How about russia and Poland?

I know you will not agree with me!

 as true as this is IMO, theres a Big difference between what a country or people did 100, 1000 yrs ago to what they are doing today

Jordan even Egpyt are NOT friends with Israel or The Jewish people, I wouldnt say there is Peace but rather lack of War at this time, but if a War should brake out do U really think they will simply sit by and say sorry My Bros we have a Peace agreement with Israel and You are on your own, they might if they dont see they can Gain anything by joining in but most likely they wont be sitting on the side lines

 So there are plenty of places in the world to go and visit and spend ones $$ , we dont need to support our Enemies who are waiting and hoping that each day is the end of ALL Jews living on this earth.

 I myself would like to go to Petra and other places in Jordan and Egypt etc but wont

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Re: Petra, Jordan Master Thread
« Reply #19 on: June 20, 2010, 09:54:23 PM »
we were "crazy enough" to go, but werent prepared to go 3 hours on donkeyback to a safek kever

If you saw the way those bedoins made us take off our shoes before we went in there, you could tell the chashivos even they had for it. But granted that it was a arduous hike. We met up with some 70+ year old chief bedoin lady who could have done advertisements as the Morlboro woman with what she was smoking. She escorted us for the 2 hour hike and had the key to get in which was kind of critical after all that. All she asked was some tip in return. We gave her $20 and she was happy. This of course was 15 years ago so maybe inflation has hit Jordan as well. I think she would have rathered another pack of Marlboros. Don't do the hike without being prepared, without having some sort of escort, and without having that key.

Petra is breathtaking, but once you do that initial short hike into the theater, it take like 30 minutes to see what's there. The inside of the structures let's just say is a bais hakisei kavua and enter at your own risk. The kever defenitely made the trip into something really cool and special. But we spent the night there.