Can’t believe it’s been over a year and a half since our last international vacation, but hey, having a kid changes your life just a little bit 🙂 Speaking of kids, we’ve been loving on our first so much that we decided to give her a sibling and have another… enter babymoon #2!
Our destination criteria included the following:
- somewhere we haven’t been before
- direct flight to and from D.C.
- warm weather
- mix of relaxation and pregnancy safe activities/exploration
- good food
We ended up deciding on Jordan, flying in and out of Amman, but spending our time in Petra, Wadi Rum, and the Dead Sea.
Being that I’m no influencer, have limited free time, and write in this blog to mainly serve as a travel diary/memory bank, my writing efforts will end here and bullet points for the trip highlights will be taking over.
Amman
- Stayed here for a night upon arrival to recoup from the long flight
- Fun note – the royal wedding of the Jordanian Prince happened just the day before, so there were still parties and celebrations going on.
Petra
- Visited Mt. Nebo, Madaba Greek Orthodox Church, and Kerak Castle along the way from Amman to Petra
- Petra hotel conveniently located right across the main entrance to Ancient Ruins of Petra
- 7 am start on first day of exploring the ruins to try and avoid the mid-day desert heat. Djinn Blocks and The Dam were the first visible parts of the ruins as we made our way towards The Siq.
- The Siq = incredible narrow gorge (resulting from a natural splitting of a mountain) that is a little over a half mile long. It leads all visitors to the main sites of Petra. Upon exiting The Siq, you’re immediately wowed by the first site of the Treasury building.
- Other Petra sites we hit were: The Street of Facades, The Theatre, The Royal Tombs, The Nymphaeum, The Church, Colonnade Street, The Great Temple, and Qasr al-Bint… all done at 26 weeks pregnant and over 5 hours of walking in the desert… I even faced one of my fears and crossed a see through bridge.
- There were two Petra sites not particularly recommended for pregnant woman due to a number of conditions: The High Place of Sacrifice and The Monastery, so Matt checked those out the following day while I stayed behind and got myself a massage 🙂
Wadi Rum
- Went glamping in the middle of the desert in a panoramic igloo-like dome. Slept beneath the stars.
- Desert tour of Wadi Rum aka “Mars on Earth” – Lawrence Spring, Sand Dunes, Alkazali Canyon, The Bridge + sunset views from open air jeep.
- A couple of small hikes, one in particular to get a birds eye view of our camp.
Dead Sea
- Floated in the Dead Sea – full body mud mask and all.
- Matt wanted to check out Wadi Mujib, a hike into a canyon that’s supposed to be pretty amazing but it was closed due to flooding.
- Toured the site where Jesus was baptized.
- Plenty of time spent relaxing poolside and getting spa treatments before the long journey back to the states.
For more pictures of our trip to Jordan, check out the image gallery page or click on the links below: