I looked over Jordan, and what did I see…?

Everyone’s talking about Jordan at the moment; Twitter feeds are littered with Jordan related hash tags. For a while it seemed as though the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge themselves were flying in for their honeymoon, and you could hear Jordan’s Wikipedia website count start notching up. What would this place have to offer a newly married royal couple? Well, an awful lot, actually.

Jordan doesn’t really hold a terribly enviable geographical position, tucked in between Israel, Iraq and Syria. Its neighbours unfortunately don’t spend much time at the top of travel destination lists and despite hiding the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Petra away in its magnificent terrain, Jordan remains a relatively undiscovered gem.

You can spend weeks prowling around Jordan, exploring the desert from the camps in Wadi Rum, trekking through Dana National Park, visiting the crusade castles such as Kerak, perched on a hillside overlooking the valleys, or roaming and hiking through Petra. But more fool you if you leave it at that: you can visit the Roman mosaics in the quaint town of Madaba and slather yourself in Dead Sea mud at, er, the Dead Sea. You can visit the museums, the mosques and the coffee shops in the country’s capital, Amman as well as wander around and take in the atmosphere, and the outstanding hospitality, of the more rural villages and towns.

The country holds huge significance for religious travellers as it seeps biblical history; you can visit Mount Nebo where Moses got to look over the Holy Land before he died, or the spot in the River Jordan as it flows into the Dead Sea where John the Baptist baptised Jesus.

I have an overriding memory in Jordan of great food – be it an extravagant (in every way but the cost) buffet dinner at a hotel at the Red Sea or in the heart of Petra, a quick dinner from a side-of-the-road rotisserie or in a very hospitable passerby’s house. Although things cost somewhat extra in Jordan than here in Dahab, just plan for a little extra expenditure and take it all in.

Good news for UK-based itchy feet: now Easyjet flies from the UK to both Sharm el Sheikh and Amman, the capital of Jordan. So, a two-week holiday could take in a week in Dahab and the Sinai, a ferry boat across the Gulf of Aqaba, and a week in Jordan, moving from south to north, and flying out at from the top having taken in all the sights (and sites) mentioned above. I’m not sure I could think of a more beautiful, adventurous trip. Here at Sunrise Lodge, we can organise the whole lot for you, from start to finish, from Sharm to Amman (you’re just on your own when it comes to bagging a cheap flight). You’ll just have to hope I don’t tag along too – it’s been five years since I was there, and since I can practically see the coastline from my home, that’s five years too many.