Eid al Adha has come and gone, and so has Amy. She was in Jordan for just three short days over the break, but we fit in so much during that time.

After picking her up from the airport and feasting on Jordanian salads and BBQ chicken and beef, we woke up early on Monday to do the Wadi Mujib gorge hike with Hamza and Faris.

Beautiful Wadi Mujib is one of my favorite hikes in Jordan.

After the hike Amy and I checked into the Mujib chalets across the street and spend the rest of the day relaxing by the Dead Sea.

Our “hut hut”: think very comfortable camping.

We found some mud on the shore and slathered it on for smooth skin. It did not smell good.

Unlike when I went in hellish-hot July, the Dead Sea in October is absolutely lovely.

I can’t wait to go back.

The next day we woke with the sunrise, had a delicious breakfast provided by the chalets (boiled eggs! coffee! hummus! corn!) and headed off to see the site where Jesus was baptized on the Jordan river. Pricey at 12JDs but its one of those places we had heard about since birth, really, so it was pretty high on our to-do list.

Amy on the Jordanian bank, dipping her feet into the river where Jesus was baptized. The platform across the river is Israeli.

We headed back to Amman to see the Citadel, rest up, and have a simple falafel dinner at one of my favorite neighborhood restaurants.

Thursday we forced ourselves out of bed before dawn, met up with Hamza, and drove down to Wadi Mousa and Petra. I’ve been in Jordan for nearly 5 months now, but it was my first time into the site. With Hamza’s help and my work ID, I got into the park for the local price: 1JD. Amy’s ticket, being a foreigner, was 50JDs. We paid up and joined the crowds.

Petra really is worth navigating the ocean of tourists and the high entry fee. It is one of those sites I had seen in hundreds of photos, but they could never really capture the experience of taking it all in for myself. We packed a big picnic lunch and spent the day in the expansive town.

The Amphitheater

Tombs behind camels available as taxi service

Feeling energetic, we took the somewhat strenuous hike up to the Monestary.

Pretty Petra-pink sand

The hot trek up is worth the view as you round the corner and see this.

We scarfed down our picnic at the top of the world.

We drove back to Amman the same day. I dropped her off for her flight back to Kuwait early this morning.

I miss her already.