Most Inspirational Moment
Petra was simply magical and wins hands down! I particularly liked that this tour gives you 2 full days there. I didn't rush to see everything on day 1 and took the time to explore a little off the main trails and meet the local bedouin. I also loved Um Qais as it was in full spring bloom (I've never seen so may thistles outside of Scotland) Jerash is also incredible, wish I had longer to enjoy it!
Thoughts on Group Leader
Issa was a a responsible team leader, his knowledge of Jordanian history and culture was very good. He had a difficult task as we were a large group with differing interests. Issa very much focused on the history and the sights and was conscious of ensuring we saw everything on the itinerary. He was very helpful with all my queries and helped with my transfer at the end of my trip so this isn't a criticism but I did observe Issa struggled with all the organisational demands because there was so little downtime for him to organise himself.
Advice for Potential Travellers
If you can, arrive a day early, as the flight gets in after midnight and the tour starts the next morning.
Research the places on the itinerary before you travel - its information overload on the tour and there is a lot of history and no time to sit and read your guidebook.
The weather in Jordan varies from one part of the country to another so bring a warm sweater/fleece.
There are several walks over uneven/rocky terrain so do bring a pair of hiking boots or walking shoes with proper grips.
If you're a light sleeper bring earplugs as a number of our hotels were noisy
Oh and do bring a universal plug for the bath tubs as most of the hotels had a bath but no plug!
Suggestions
I am a big fan of Exodus and its objective of responsible tourism. I was very disappointed by the hotel in Amman at the start of the tour especially because I booked to arrive a day early and I asked for the name of the hotel before I booked my extra night. The taxi driver told me the hotel had changed on the way from the airport ie. 1am then took me to a completely different hotel. I was told Exodus would email me to explain, they never did! I am a seasoned traveller and live in central London but I was not comfortable as a woman travelling on my own at this hotel, lucky for me there was another Exodus traveller to engage with. In despair having managed for the whole day I had to demand the reception give me Issa's number and call him whilst he was finishing up on another tour to complain. My issues: The hotel was in the middle of nowhere with no facilities nearby to buy lunch or dinner. There were a bunch of local men sitting smoking cigarettes all day in the small lobby, there was a seedy very noisy nightclub under the property that played music till 4 am and my room was right above it. Imagine getting off a flight and arriving at 1 am to be shown your room with music blasting. We had to take taxis everywhere from this hotel, worse still even with a hotel card in arabic they didn't know where the hotel was to return us and promptly got lost. Had the start of my holiday not been so uncomfortable I would have given the tour five stars.
The grading of the tour is 1, having travelled previously on 2 other tours with Exodus, this tour should be grade 1-2 as you only need a reasonable level of fitness but the itinerary is compressed and there are some challenging walks in Pella and Petra.
I cannot understand why Exodus doesn't offer a 2 week tour. A couple of free days in the itinerary would have made the whole stay more enjoyable.I had a fantastic trip made better because I spent two weeks in Jordan and tacked 5 days onto my stay to make it a longer holiday. I spent three days at the Feynan Ecolodge which was amazing and a couple of days in Amman. Other suggestions to extend the tour would be a hike in the Canyon at Wadi Mujeeb and some time to walk around the arts and craft town of Madaba. Also Jerash was rushed and you could have a good 4 hours there with free time for the rest of the day.
