A birthday getaway.
There’re no direct flights from Hong Kong to Jordan. You’ll have to make a connection in Bangkok, Dubai or Doha. I try to stick with Cathay so Bangkok was it. Getting to Petra was a 20 hours journey. Cray but absolutely worth it.
itinerary at a glance
5 Jordanian Dinar (HKD 55) 
I always withdraw cash from an ATM while abroad, and it was no exception this time. There’re 4 ATMs in the arrival hall. I went straight to the UnionPay one. It didn’t work and I was like, hmm maybe I screwed up the password. Because Jordanian ATMs have the 1-2-3 buttons at the top whereas HK ones have them at the bottom. I tried it again. Nope. So I gave the other ATMs a whirl. On the 12th time (tried 3 times each), I was able to withdraw cash from it. Lesson learnt – If you’re persistence, you’ll get it.
I didn’t have time to explore Amman but at a glance the city is built entirely of white/cream-coloured stone, giving a sense of architectural homogeneity. taken on the cab ride from the airport to Jett Bus Station.
Al Siq 
The Treasury
My pics don’t do it justice. Al Siq is a 1.2km naturally formed deep gorge in the sandstone mountains that represents the main entrance to Petra. Along the way, you can see the rock changes from red to ocher to orange and back to red
Petra is one of the driest places on the planet. A complex hydraulic system was built by the Nabateans for collecting and conveying water. Such impressive technical mastery
Animal cruelty? The Monastery is one of the main and the largest monuments of Petra, to see that, you have to climb 800+ steep and slippery steps
Alternatively, you can hire a mule/donkey for 10JD (~110 HKD) which I strongly against as they’re often mistreated/abused like the handlers beating them with sticks/electric flex, open wounds caused by poor harnessing etc. Maybe it’s part of the Petra experience that travellers lose sight of the fact that the animal feels too
On my way to the Monastery
The Monastery (Ad-Deir), man for scale
Urn Tomb
Urn Tomb is the biggest royal tomb in Petra. It was presumably constructed for King Malchus II (died in 70 AD) or his predecessor King Aretas IV
They were taken on the cab ride from Petra to Wadi Rum. When you go solo, you’re pretty much obliged to have those small talks with the taxi dude. During my time in Jordan, things I got asked the most ① Ethnicity ② Marital status (like really?)
Mars 
Wadi Rum
Underground cooking 
Traditional Bedouin Meal 
Wadi Rum Bedouin Camp
Wadi Rum Protected Area 
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