Holidays+from+Sudan+-+Jordan


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When and who : ** We went for six days during the first week of March 2009. We were two adults, one pre-schooler of 3 ½ years and one baby of eight months. We thought we would be able to enjoy spring weather with temperatures around 20 degrees at the Dead Sea and around 16 in Amman. But as we have won the first prize in the Jordanian Bad Weather Lottery we were regaled with temperatures of 0 and 10 degrees, rain and even SNOW! Apparently this is very unusual, just really bad luck.  **Where did we stay: **   We decided to splash out and stayed at the Kempinsky Ishtar Dead Sea: []. We took advantage of a seasonal family offer for 170 Euros which included accommodation  for 2 adults in a Double Superior Room , one child (up to 12 years old) with complimentary dinner and extra bed , international breakfast and dinner buffet , complimentary access to the Anantara Spa wet area (Including large indoor Jacuzzi and Hydro Pool) , <span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-language: ES;">complimentary mini-Bar (Replenished daily) and Internet Access <span style="color: black; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri;">, <span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-language: ES;">night swimming till 11:00pm. <span style="color: black; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri;"> <span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; msohansifontfamily: Calibri; msobidifontfamily: Arial; msoansilanguage: EN-US; msoasciifontfamily: Calibri;">The hotel was just fantastic. It was our first experience with an oversized (more than 300 rooms) hotel and we liked it probably because it was out of the season. The grounds are huge and you have to be prepared to cover distances. The hotel ground is terrassed. The various levels are interconnected through stairs, slopes, and lifts. You can order a club car (sort of golf cart) that takes you around. Kids love that. There are all sorts of pools; some of them were heated nicely. There is a sand beach with volley ball, beach soccer, and two plastic slides children. Unfortunately there is no specific outdoor play area for children. For getting around with the baby I used a front baby carrier as using a pram would have meant to cover huge distances.

As there were few people at the hotel we were upgraded and had a wonderful big room next to the kids pool and close to the beach. Two cribs were provided. The buffet is great, but not very child friendly. It only opens at 7pm and we would have liked to have dinner for the kids a bit earlier. There is also nothing very child-specific to eat. The other restaurants at the hotel with à la carte dining offer a kids ´menu. I found it also difficult to feed the baby with foods from the buffet (there are simply no food jars for babies available in Jordan).

There is a Kid´s Club inside a big room without natural light. Children have to be accompanied by adults.

The spa is open until 10 pm. So we took the kids to bed at 7:30 pm and then enjoyed the spa. The spa is supposed to be the biggest, nicest, best etc one the Middle East and it IS nice. If you are as unlucky with the weather as we were: there are two Dead Sea pools at the spa. All in all I had the feeling that children are tolerated but are not catered for specifically. Keep them busy, keep them quite seems to be the motto. This is in terms of things for children. The staff, however, was just outstanding with our kids. <span style="color: black; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri;">
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">How to get there and around? **
 * <span style="font-weight: normal; color: black; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Royal Jordanian flies to Amman daily. The plane leaves at 6am. The flight takes less than three hours. The plane back leaves Amman at 0:40am and arrives in KRT at 4:30am. Fare around $350 for adults. **


 * <span style="font-weight: normal; color: black; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">We rented a car via Internet from Khartoum. [] . The good news is that there is no upfront pay and national driving licences are accepted. A person from their office met us at the airport. The car was equipped with two children seats. The car was an older model but well maintained. Everything worked. We just left the car at the airport car park when we left Jordan. **

Getting around Jordan is fairly easily. It is small country, has a good network of roads in good conditions. Jordanians are good drivers. Towns and sights are well signposted in both Arabic and English. There are so many things to do and to see that it is difficult to make a choice. Distances are pretty short. <span style="color: black; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri;">You can get to the Dead Sea there fairly easily from the airport. After leaving the airport just follow the sign for Amman first, then the Dead Sea. It takes about 1 ¼ hours to get there. **<span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Things to do with kids: **
 * <span style="font-weight: normal; color: black; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Useful websites are: [], [] **

<span style="color: black; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">1. **__<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Visit Petra __****<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">: **<span style="color: black; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri;"> this is one of the MUST DOs of any visit to Jordan. It takes you roughly three hours to get there from any of the Dead Sea hotels. Better to drive back to Amman and then take the Desert Highway down to Petra. The Desert Highway is in better conditions than the other highways. Petra itself is huge and actually takes a few days to visit wholly. But with little children this is not quite possible. So we decided on a short visit of three hours. <span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; msohansifontfamily: Calibri; msobidifontfamily: Arial; msoansilanguage: EN-US; msoasciifontfamily: Calibri;">A visit involves a lot of walking, even before you enter Petra itself. I found a pram of limited use only as it has been snowing the day before and the grounds were muddy and slippery. So I carried the baby in a front carrier. We took a horse from the entrance to the the Siq. There we changed for a carriage which took us through the Siq. To visit Petra we rode on top of a donkey. **__ 2. Visit to Jerash: __** []. These are Roman ruins to the North of Jordan. It takes 1 ½ to get there. Drive back to Amman and then follow the signs Irbid until Jerash is signposted. It is a nice visit. When it is not raining there are chariot races and actors reenacting Roman gladiator fights. Pram useful. Tips: ** There are no shops or pharmacies close to the hotel at the Dead Sea. If you need anything, like nappies etc., it is better to stock up in Amman before heading out. There are two hypermarkets (Cosmo and Safeway) that can be easily reached from the airport. These two supermarkets are also open on Fridays and Cosmo is open 24/7. How to get there (thanks to our friends in Jordan for the directions): go all the way to 7th circle. After the Modern American School, you'll go under a bridge, then get into the right lane (so you won't go under 7th circle), and do a U-turn. It'll be that exit with the car dealerships. You'll see a small traffic circle immediately. Go through that, and then take your first left to get to Cosmo. From this pint you see Safeway to your right. There are no food jars for babies in Jordan. Just doesn´t seem to exist.
 * __ 3. Visit to Ajlun castle: __** this is a 30 minutes drive from Jerash. It reminds of the castle in The Name of the Rose. It is great fun just to climb around and look into creepy niches. It is supposed to offer superb views of the Jordan valley. During our visit it was unfortunately surrounded by thick for with visibility less than 30 metres. No pram possible. Use front carrier.
 * __ 4. Visit to Madaba: __** this small town is located halfway between Amman and the Dead Sea. It is home to many floor mosaics. Sights are in pretty close distance of each other making it an easy visit. Pram useful.
 * __ 5. The Dead Sea: __** one of the most amazing experiences ever but NOT for little children. The water stings in the small cuts and bruises. And when the water gets into the eyes or up the nose it makes even an adult cry.
 * __6. Bethany-beyond-Jordan:__** well, for believers this is a MUST place to visit, but in fact there is little to see there. This is the place where Jesus was supposed to be baptised. There is some archaeological evidence that this must have happened in the area, but still I think legend is a more important factor than hard evidence. There are few remains of Byzantine churches and baptizing pools to be seen. Apart from that it is just a nice walk. If you are not into a faith-based visit you can give it easily a miss.