Wadi Rum and its desserts cannot be covered in one day, and I was determined to spend another day in the desert lands of Wadi Rum. We started the day at nine in the morning and hired a truck to venture into the desserts. This was the first time I saw the dessert falcon and Eagle flying over the rocks in the clear blue sky. A camel caravan was passing by; ropes had tied some of the camel’s legs. This is done so the camels don’t run away or wander. 

I managed to climb a steep sand hill; this was my first sandboarding experience. I took a board and slipped down the hill as my driver, Issam, took a video of me sliding. There was a rope down the hill, which I used to pull myself back up the sandy hill. I felt exhausted. Nonetheless, it was a great exercise, and I got a real taste of the sport.

Our next stop was to see the face rock and the ship rock, which were rocks shaped like a human face and a ship. Then there was the mushroom rock. I climbed up the rock to glimpse the vast sandy dunes that stared at me. We also managed to venture into nomadic caves. The caves were dark, but I could get some good pictures of them from inside using the lights on my mobile.

Most of all, I enjoyed hot tea, which was available in the many tenets on the sandy dunes of the desserts.

In the middle of the afternoon I managed to sit on one of the large rocks and mediate. It’s was very quiet and serine and it was very easy for me to mediate while I sat on the rock.

Then we went to see the rock carvings. They were huge sandstone rocks with carvings of camels, eagles, and other animals found in the desert. There was also a rock with the face of Lawrence of Arabia carved on it. 

I spent four hours exploring the Wadi Rum dessert in total, and I was happy with my explorations, but the highlight of my day was sandboarding.

I got the real taste of Jordan’s desserts when I drove down to see the Al Azraq Castle, which is ninety minutes away from the main city of Amman . 

The first fortress was thought to have been built here in 300 CE during the reign of Diocletian. The Byzantines and the Umayyads also used the structure. Buried deep in the Jordanian desserts, it is a wonder in itself. Surrounded by barbed wires, getting inside the castle area is challenging as it is fully fortified. A distance away is a military installation of the Jordanian army. The fried brown dessert lends itself to a fantastic background, and the drive gave me a real glimpse of dessert life, with nomadic Arabs taking their sheep from one corner to the other corner of the dessert.

The next day, I flew to Aqaba, another big city in Jordan near the Red Sea. I asked my Driver, Issam, to join me while I took the Air Jordan flight. It took me around fifty minutes to get to the city, where Issam met me at the airport. 

Our first stop was the Aqaba Fort, which dates back to the sixteenth century. It was used as a military stronghold. Lawrence of Arabia rode triumphantly from here to Ciro . The fort also has dungeons and jails where prisoners were kept . It was used as a fortress during the Ottoman Empire .

The Cave of Seven Sleepers is a historical site in Al Rajib, east of Amman. The legend has it that a group of seven young men fled the religious persecution of the Roman emperor Decius, according to Byzantine and Islamic sources. According to the story, they hid in these caves in 250 AD only to emerge 309 years later; it is said that they slept for 309 years inside the caves, and a dog guarded the cave’s opening.

The seven sleepers were Maximian, Martini, Donisus, John, Constantine, Iamblicus, and Serapion. According to the myth, when the seven young men woke up after 309 years, the Roman Empire had become Christian, and they were welcomed back- this was a miracle of God. Eight smaller tombs are sealed inside the cave itself. Above and below the caves are the remains of two mosques.

The story of Seven Sleepers is that the Peg-an Emperor Decius is in the middle of a campaign to stamp out Christianity in 250 AD. Many Christians are caught and killed, and others are persecuted. The emperor traveled to Ephesus, where seven Christian soldiers were garrison. They are all Christians, and thus, they are stripped of their ranks and asked to give up their Christian beliefs. The men are chased as they flee for safety inside the cave; the open mouth of the cave then collapses, trapping all the seven men inside the cave. Two Christian men are sent to witness these events. Two plaques are kept near the rubble of the caves that carry the names of the seven men who are presumed to be buried in the rubble inside the caves. 

Iambilicus is the first to wake up, and he sees that the rubble on the cave’s opening has collapsed, and a ray of light is shining through the cave. Iambilicus goes out of the cave to fetch food and water for the others, and this is when the story starts to get very interesting. As he approaches the city of Ephesus, he sees that the city has changed immensely. He sees the cross on the town, and he sees people speaking on Christian topics that are meant to be hidden. He then approaches a merchant and gives him a coin to buy bread. The merchant feels cheated, and Iambilicus is arrested for holding and using outdated silver for a hundred and ninety years. The emperor Decius is at the back of the coin, but the year is 439 AD.

Iambilicus soon realizes that a lot of time has passed since he and the other men had been in the cave for 309 years. The soldiers who arrested Iambilicus take him to a Bishop to settle disputes. The Bishop soon realizes that God is doing something here after he hears Iambilicus’s full story.

Jordan is proving to be a trip of wonders, and today was my trip to Petra Caves. I had been waiting to see this world heritage site for years and was finally on my way. My taxi driver, a local Jordanian man named Issam, was at my hotel early as the incredible caves of Petra were more than three hours away from the city center.

Wadi Musa Drive is one of the stops on the way to Petra; the scenery was breathtaking, as I could see the vast brown landmass of Jordon; the highway is well constructed, and the drive was pretty smooth. Bollywood films, especially Shah Rukh Khan, are viral here, and my driver made it a point to keep playing the songs from the Bollywood Film Pathan on the way, “ Jhoome re Pathan mere Jaan.” I was pleasantly surprised that he was playing the Arabic version of the song, which sounded even better than the original. I enjoyed the ride across the vast expanse of the desert. 

Petra was built by the Nabataeans, who were Arab nomads and traders. These people constructed Petra and carved its ancient monuments from the substantial sandstone rocks. The Nabateans emerged as a distinct civilization and political entity between the 4th and 2nd centuries BCE,[cantered around a loosely controlled trading network that brought considerable wealth and influence across the ancient world.   

After buying an entry ticket for ten dinars, I was welcomed by a plump Arab lady who introduced herself as Amal Betra.” I can eat you around the Petra Caves, and you can also have dinner at my house; I am a great cook.” She smiled and told me. I took her up on the offer and showed her some of my videos where I had worked with Shah Rukh Khan in a film. We meandered through the pink and red stone rocks of Petra. I was especially intrigued by the drainage system that the Nabataeans had built to tarp rainwater, which would provide water for the inhabitants of this ancient city. 

Petra was a trading route used by the Arabs as they rode around the mammoth sandstone rocks on camels and donkeys. Tourists use camels and donkeys to cover the Petra caves; some find the long walks exhausting. I, however, decided to walk along with my guide, Amal Betra, and see this spectacular civilization. The Nabataeans used it as a trade route to carry incense and spices to Sirya, Egypt, Arabian, and the Mediterranean in the 6th century BC. 

I also met the Bedouins, the local nomads living in the Petra caves for generations. They survive entirely on tourism, eating with their hands. They keep many wives but are very friendly; the typical greeting is kissing each other on the cheeks. The Swiss explorer John Louis Bogart discovered the Petra caves in 1812 after the Nabataeans had abandoned them due to a series of earthquakes. 

I was also intrigued to see the sandstones that depict Dushara, the supreme god of the Nabateans, also known as the lord of the mountains, who was worshipped by the nomadic tribes that lived in Petra.

But the most beautiful site is Al Khazenh, which means the treasure. These are the most elaborate rock-cut tombs of Petra. I managed to meander through the site on the back of a large camel. This was my first camel ride in Jordan, and it was so much fun.

The Khazneh was the tomb of Aritas, the fourth, who ruled the region in 1st BC. It was used as the backdrop for Steven Spielberg’s film Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

The Roman theatre is another wonder carved out of sandstone with a seating capacity of over five thousand. It was where people would sing and dance and was used for mass entertainment. 

But the most fascinating is the tomb of Jebel Haroon, where the brother of Moses named Aron was buried.

Sun Rise and sunset are when Petra truly glows, and one can see the various colors of the sandstone. In the evening, I was invited by my guide Amal to her home for dinner. She was a middle-aged Arab woman who was divorced and lived near the site of Petra with her mother and a seven-year-old son. I enjoyed a meal of mutton and rice along with vegetables. Sitting on the floor, we tucked into our food, eating from one plate with our hands like a family. The TV was showing a Bollywood film which was dubbed into Arabic. Bollywood Films are very popular here and are dubbed in the local language. This was my first experience eating and chatting with a regular Jordanian Family.

The drive back was three hours long, and we reached Amman through the desert of Wadi Mosa. I was totally exhausted by the end of the trip, but the knowledge I gained about the region was immense.

After the one-day stopover in Bahrain, I woke up early to catch my connecting flight to Amman, the capital city of Jordan. At the hotel reception, I was handed a large hamper full of food with almost six packets of eggs, sausages, sandwiches, coffee, and assorted juices. I was overwhelmed by such a large quantity of food and only managed to eat half of what was given to me. It was still early morning, and a taxi was waiting for me to shock me off at the airport. I managed to stop to take pictures of the morning skyline, filled with an orange hue. Mornings and nights are more relaxed in Bahrain, but in the afternoon, it gets hot. I was impressed with the country; it was clean, and it was clear that people here had an excellent quality of life.

By connecting, the Gulf Air flight was on scheduled time, and this was the first time I was traveling business class, so naturally, I was being looked after well. I was served champagne and nuts on the flight and managed to get some sleep on the three-hour-plus journey.

Amman was cold and chilly as I got out of the airport. It was freezing, and a flush of cold wind hit me in the face. It was raining heavily, and the weather was very windy. As luck would have it, I found a friendly taxi driver who drove me to my hotel and promised to take me around the city for sightseeing. 

I can’t wait to see the rest of Amman, so keep reading my blog for the next update.

The Amman Citadel 

After recovering from a day-long jet lag, I managed to get up early today for breakfast and was ready to take the city tour of Amman. I became friendly with a taxi driver named Issam, who took me to the day’s first stop, the Amman Citadel. This is an old archeological wonder at the heart of the city. It has the ancient temple of Hercules, along with a museum. The historic site has an old 1700-meter wall dating back to the bronze age. It also has the iconic Umayyad place along with the temple of Hercules. You can cover the entire site within two hours, and this is a perfect place to get a panoramic view of the city of Amman, as the ruins are at a great height, towering over the city. The breathtaking view is a perfect spot for taking some great pictures. The site is 850 meters above sea level and is a UNESCO world heritage site. There is also the old Byzantine church that one can visit. The place dates back to the Bronze Age and the Roman, Byzantine, and Umayyad eras. The temple of Hercules has two towering pillars that are thirty feet tall and date back to 160 CE. One can get a visitor pass for three riyals and a tour guide for thirty riyals who will take you around the place. All in all, it was a tremendous historical experience.

King Abdullah Mosque 

The King Abdullah I Mosque in Amman, Jordan, was built between 1982 and 1989. It is capped by a blue mosaic dome beneath which 3,000 Muslims may offer prayer. Tourists are allowed to visit. Men must have long trousers on, and women must cover their heads, arms, and legs. This was my next stop. There are also a couple of shops where one can buy artefacts and memorabilia that depict the true culture of the city.

Roman Theatre 

Roman Theatre of Amman is a 6,000-seat, 2nd-century Roman theatre. A famous landmark in the Jordanian capital dates back to the Roman period when the city was known as Philadelphia. It also has a history museum that shows the nomadic roots of the people of Jordon.

Hair Cut at a local Babar Shop 

I also managed to get a hair cut and have wax inserted in my ears and nostrils to get rid of the unwanted hair in those areas. All the while, my taxi driver kept me company.

Traditional Food’s of Jordon 

I tucked into Mansaf and Khanif, the traditional foods of Jordan. Mansaf is The conventional signature dish of Jordan and a source of pride for all Jordanians who make the best Mansaf. A large platter of white rice over paper-thin bread called “Shrak” topped with pull-apart lamb cuts and soaked in a special sauce made from dried yogurt called Jameed.

 Every meal has a dessert, and Knafeh will stand out. It consists of crispy baked dough made from either semolina or vermicelli noodles, topped with a unique white cheese. Once it has gotten a crisp golden brown color, it is flipped, doused with a special syrup, and sprinkled with pistachios to add more texture.

The Cake Shop of Amman – Jordon 

I was immensely jet-lagged and slept the entire day at my hotel. After enjoying a meal of chicken and rice, I went back to sleep again. I was so jet lagged that I had no energy to go sightseeing in the morning and decided to give it a miss; my taxi driver had been waiting all morning and had to return from the hotel as I asked him to come the next day. 

In the evening, I managed to get myself back on my feet and decided to walk around Amman’s busy streets. I ventured into a sweet shop selling local sweets and managed to chat with a few locals, trying to learn some words from the Arabic language. The city is frigid, with temperatures falling below three degrees. I walked across the street and the city alleys and found a beautiful cake shop. This was a perfect place to enjoy coffee and cookies. I was welcomed by the shop owners and given some cookies on the house, along with a pot of black coffee. I chatted with the owners and showed them some of my YouTube videos of films I had done with Shah Rukh Khan. The locals were delighted. Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan are the most popular actors in this country. They are also big fans of Amitabh Bachchan; I showed the cake shop owner, Karim, some of my videos from the film Rann, where I acted with Amitabh Bachchan. They were delighted and became friendly with me. 

My first impression of the city was very positive. The people are really very friendly. From the airport to the hotel, I felt very welcomed . 

I will be exploring the city’s many sights tomorrow. Until then, enjoy the pictures from the day.

I was excited about my first travels to the Middle East; I planned my itinerary weeks in advance. It was simple: my tour plan was to spend two weeks in Jordan, where I would travel to Amman, the capital of Jordan, and then proceed to Doha, the capital city of Qatar, following which I booked my hotels in Egypt. I wanted to spend at least three weeks in Egypt, knowing there would be much to see in Cairo. I had also planned a trip to Tehran in Iran, but that was not to be as fighting had started in Iran, and due to the adverse conditions in the country where there was great fear of familiar tourists being detained or arrested, I decided against the trip. I was going to three countries that I would cover in this trip: Jordan, Qatar, and Egypt. As luck would have it, I would also get an opportunity to see Bahrain. This was because my flight from Delhi to Bahrain was delayed, and thus, the connected flight from Bahrain to Amman would also have to be rescheduled. 

Due to this, I got the chance to spend a whole day in Bahrain itself. I got friendly with a lovely Airhostess on my flight from Delhi to Bahrain, who gave me a lot of attention and ensured that my first air travel in business class would be an experience I would never forget. I got champagne and prawns for dinner and enjoyed the in-flight entertainment. When I landed in Bahrain, I was given a new waiting pass and was booked into a beautiful five-star hotel for the night. Bahrain was warm, and my first impression of the country was fantastic. The roads are brilliant, and the government is an island city surrounded by water and pristine beaches. Everyone drives cars here, and people are very well off. 

This is a fishing country, and fishing is what the people of this country do. Along with oil and tourism, that is what sustains the economy of this place. A Kenyan cab driver who duly drove me to my hotel picked me up at the airport. The Art hotel was where I would spend my day in this country. I was greeted by a Pakistani waiter called Malik in the hotel, and I was happy to speak Urdu with him. The people are amiable here, and the country is very sparsely populated. It has only two million people. There is a lot of space around, and everyone is very well off. Most people drive cars here, and Bahrain looks to be a very prosperous city. After tucking into a plate full of Biriyani, I had a quick hot shower and decided to catch a tapas. I felt totally jet lagged.

Since I had to be at the airport the next day early in the morning, I could not see much of the city or any of its attractions, but I managed to get a good feel of the country nonetheless.  

The Amazon basin; a tangle of rivers, lakes and labyrinth of winding jungle trails, home to 20% of the water on the planet. In fact, in the Peruvian Amazon, which represents more than 60% of its territory, it’s estimated that there are more than 19.77 million acres (8 million hectares) occupied by wetlands, or large marshy areas, dominated by the ‘aguaje‘ palm. But, why are these swamps important, and what animals can be found lurking beneath?

A swamp is defined as a forested wetland and, like marshes, they’re often found near lakes or rivers, and have slow draining mineral soil. In the Amazon, swamps sustain communities of animals that benefit from the ecosystem’s rich nutrients, water and shelter. These wetlands perform many essential ecosystem services, from flood control and carbon storage to fish production.

It’s not just animals that benefit from the mineral rich soil, however. People living in the Amazon region also take advantage of the ecosystem’s recourses. Palm fruit, for example, has a sweet, pleasant flavour, and is a popular snack amongst locals, whether it’s eaten fresh, blended into ice cream or zesty drinks (aguajina).

Those residing in the Amazon also use the cut trunk of the aguaje as a source of ‘suri‘, the edible coleoptera – a small, vibrant beetle – larva that is frequently used for both food and local medicine. The coleopteran lays its eggs in the pulp of the trunk, there the larvae develop in the form of round, plump worms, high in fat.

Whilst paddling through the swampy waters, those exploring might spot a pair of eyes, just above the waters murky surface; the Black Caiman, the largest predator in the Amazonian ecosystem. Other animals that dwell in the swamps include the anaconda, boa constrictors, the tapir and capybara, amongst others.

At Inkaterra’s Amazonian properties, guests can join the popular Lake Sandoval excursion, which involves an intimate boat ride through dense swampland, before embarking on a sightseeing journey across glistening Lake Sandoval; also the wetlands located within Inkaterra Reserva Amazónica property and near the “Reserva Ecológica Inkaterra protected area.