Jordan School Group Holiday

You travel south to Wadi Rum along the Desert Highway. Approximately 320kms, 4 hrs. today is our longest driving day. Wadi Rum offers some of the most extraordinary desert scenery. Here you camp close to the entrance of the wadi, and in true desert fashion you sleep in a traditional Bedouin tent or under the stars. Lawrence of Arabia is just as evident today. To the Howeitat Bedouin, who have taken it as their own, the area is known as the Valley of the Moon. These people are reputedly the remainder of Lawrence's Arab army who marched with him from Azraq in the north, then stayed behind once battle was done. The Milky Way, satellites and shooting stars can clearly be seen - a great way to learn a little about the solar system.Overnight: Captains Camp, Bedouin-style camp (communal sleeping arrangement) (BLD)aptains

Once again you travel on the King’s Highway, this time for around 2 hours to the well-concealed city of Petra where you will have a full day to explore. Petra's exact location was unknown in the West until 1812, when the Swiss explorer J.L. Burckhardt, a convert to Islam, made a short detour to sacrifice a goat at the nearby meli (tomb) of the prophet Harun. As he picked his way towards the foot of the mountain, he stumbled across the siq, the narrow defile that leads to Petra – and the rest is history. Since that day many others have made their way along the same path and, as Burckhardt must have done, gazed in awe at the splendid monuments that adorn this remote valley. This morning you'll make your way to the fabled site, following the same path as Burckhardt, which funnels you through the banded rock walls that tower above. At the end of the kilometre-long path, you are rewarded by a glimpse of the most beautiful building of all - the Khazneh or Treasury - so-called because the Bedouin believed that the urn crowning the edifice held a cache of gold and jewels. The first sight of this perfectly proportioned tomb, carved from the towering rock, is truly unforgettable, but there's much more to come! Some 2,400 years ago the Nabateans taxed the trade caravans that plied between Arabia and the eastern Mediterranean and, using the proceeds, built the first houses and temples here. Later these taxes proved even more rewarding, and today the Nabatean legacy includes houses, tombs, temples, a (Roman-built) amphitheatre and much more.It is well worth making the hour or so ascent up the rocky path, which leads to the Monastery, a vast structure rivalling even the Treasury. Time should also allow you to climb to one of the High Places, the mountain-top altars where ritual sacrifices were made; from here there are spectacular views of the mountains, valleys and canyons below. Overnight: Petra Edom Hotel (BLD)

You spend time in Madaba then head to the biblical site of Mt Nebo. The Bible tells us this is the final resting-place of Moses; from here he looked out onto the Promised Land.  Continue to the Dead Sea, at 400 meters below sea level it's the lowest place on earth. There will be time to swim (or rather float!) before the short journey back to Amman. Overnight: Amman Liwan Hotel (BLD)