Peace Way Tours
We, at Peace Way Tours,
long-established as travel agents of
quality, since 1983, are based on the
ground floor of the Housing Bank Centre
Building on the Corniche Road in the Red
Sea City of Aqaba. We are pleased to
offer visitors to the Hashemite Kingdom
of Jordan a variety of tours to the
impressive and beautiful places that our
country has to offer.
Our tours start from our
Housing Bank Building Office.
Petra
Petra, built
among and carved upon the outstandingly
beautiful and often multi-coloured
sandstone rocks of the Shara Mountains,
is considered one of the world’s most
impressive archaeological sites. It was
founded by the Nabatean Arabs who
arrived in the area around 500 BCE,
having trekked there over many
generations from Yemen. Through their
enterprising endeavours, they made Petra
into the centre of both a Kingdom that
stretched as far north as Damascus and a
much more expansive trading network that
supplied the Mediterranean World with
the goods of the East, the silks, the
spices, the perfumes and the incense
from China, India and Arabia. Its wealth
made it a desirable acquisition for the
Roman Empire and in 106 CE/AD, under the
Roman Emperor Trajan, it fell to the
Romans. It continued as a city into the
Byzantine period (there are remains of
churches with fine mosaics) but
gradually came to be forgotten by the
world at large until the Anglo-Swiss
explorer Johann Burckhardt came across
it in 1812. His writings brought
knowledge of the wonders of Petra to the
broader world. Many thousands of people,
who have heard of its wonders, come from
around the globe each year to visit it.
Our Tour To Petra:
We leave Aqaba at 08.00
and arrive at the entrance to Petra at
about 09.30. (At the Visitors’ Centre if
at least 4 people wish to hire the
services of a knowledgeable guide, they
can do so for JD 7 each) You then have
time to explore Petra on foot until
again meeting back at the entrance at
15.30. (Be sure to give enough time to
get back to the entrance.) We then
travel to our restaurant for a full and
appetizing but late lunch. (Have a good
breakfast.) We will leave the restaurant
at about 16.30 and be back in Aqaba by
18.00. If you wish to stay in Petra,
please inform us so that we can give you
your Petra Entrance Ticket which is
valid for three days.
Petra
1Day JD90.00 / US$130.00.
If you wish to stay in Petra, not
wanting to return to Aqaba, the cost is JD
80.00 /US$120.00. These prices, per person,
include entrance fees to Petra, lunch
with soft drinks and transportation in
air-conditioned minibus/car, between Aqaba and Petra and back
or not.
AMMAN, JERASH, MADABA,
MOUNT NEBO, THE DEAD SEA.
(This tour can be taken
as a whole, Aqaba to Aqaba with one
night’s stay in Amman or Aqaba to Amman
including one night’s stay in Amman, but
excluding visits to Madaba, Mount Nebo
and the Dead Sea. The price depends on
the option you choose.)
JERASH
Jerash is considered to
be the best preserved Roman Provincial
City on Earth. By tradition, it was
founded in the 320s B.C.E., by some of
the soldiers of Alexander the Great.
With other similar cities it formed the
Decapolis, the League of Ten Cities. In
63 B.C.E. the Roman general, Pompey,
encouraged the people of Jerash to
become, willingly and without a fight,
part of the Roman Empire. They were
rewarded by being given tax-free status
within the Empire and became wealthy,
especially during the 1st and
2nd centuries CE/AD through
trading with the Nabateans. The city
continued into the Byzantine period and
as well as the fine Roman period Greek
style theatre, the Forum and the well
preserved main streets with their
columns, there are temples from the
Roman period and the ruins of churches
from the Byzantine period.
AMMAN
Jordan’s capital, known
in ancient times as Philadelphia and in
biblical times as Rabbat Ammon, was also
a member of the Decapolis but little
more than its theatre remains from those
times. It is a beautiful and bustling
city built mainly in fine stone with a
population of over 1 million.
MADABA
Madaba is famous as being
the site of the mosaic map of Palestine
dating from the reign of the Byzantine
Emperor Justinian in the 6th
Century AD/CE. The mosaic was laid down
with the purpose of being a guide map
for the many Christian pilgrims to the
holy sites in Palestine who passed
through Madaba on their way to Jerusalem
and the other places connected with the
life of Jesus. Madaba was left in ruins
for many centuries until a group of
approximately 80 Christian families
decided to move there from Kerak in the
1880s. When they were building the
church of St. George in 1896, the mosaic
map was rediscovered. Contact was made
with the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in
Jerusalem, the wording on the map being
in Greek, and news of the discovery of
this map travelled around the world.
Much of it has survived intact through
the centuries, with Jerusalem, as it
then was, at its centre. Madaba is also
renowned for its carpets.
MOUNT NEBO
A few kilometres from
Madaba at Mount Nebo is the place where
the Prophet Moses, as written of in the
Old Testament of the Bible, viewed the
‘Promised Land’ and then died. There is
a church, inside which are fine
Byzantine period mosaics showing the
animals that were then common in the
region. On a clear day, Jerusalem is
visible across the expanse of the Jordan
Valley as is the northern part of the
Dead Sea.
THE DEAD SEA
This is by far the lowest
point on the surface of the globe. The
surface of the Dead Sea is, as of 2006,
at an elevation of 418 metres (1371
feet) below sea level, although the Dead
Sea is gradually shrinking over time.
Approximately 2 million years ago, the
link that existed between the
Mediterranean and the Dead Sea became
blocked due to tectonic forces. Due to
the lack of an exit to the ocean, the
mineral content of the Dead Sea has been
gradually building up since then, with
it now being approximately 31% minerals.
The Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea
are 6% while the oceans of the world are
at about 3% mineral content. The
buoyancy of the Dead Sea makes floating
in it a unique experience. Swimming is
difficult as one is simply too far out
of the water to get a good swipe at it,
to propel oneself forward. In fact,
don’t try; you’ll get the water in your
eyes and that stings badly. The mud and
the sunlight’s properties, due to
reduced UV content, have special health
properties. Being an extra 400 metres or
so away from the sun means that greater
amounts of UV rays are filtered out.
Visiting the Dead Sea on its Jordanian
coastline does not entail a long walk to
the water’s edge as the slope on the
Jordanian side is much steeper.
Our Tour to Jerash,
Amman, Madaba, Mount Nebo and the Dead
Sea with one night’s stay in a 2 star
Hotel in Amman. Or to Jerash and Amman
with a 2 star hotel stay for one
night.
Depart from Aqaba at
07.00, with a short stop en route for
you to buy snacks, arriving at Jerash at
about 12.00 midday. The services of
knowledgeable local guides may be hired,
if you wish, at the Jerash Visitors’
Centre. Visit the site of Jerash until
15.00. Drive from Jerash to Amman
arriving at the Roman Theatre in the
downtown area of the city at
approximately 16.30. Visit the Roman
Theatre and then do a city tour of Amman
by minibus or car before arriving back
at the Roman Theatre area for our
dinner. After dinner we will go to our 2
star hotel for the night. Those buying
the tour only to Jerash and Amman can
sleep on but those continuing (wake up
calls arranged) on to Madaba and the
Dead Sea and back to Aqaba will start at
8.00 for our drive to Madaba, arriving
there at about 9.30. Visit the mosaic
map and at 11.15, leave Madaba for the
15 minute drive to Mount Nebo. Leaving
Mount Nebo at 12.30, we drive down to
the Dead Sea. There we will have lunch
and have plenty of time to bathe in the
Dead Sea, coating our bodies in the
sea’s therapeutic mud before showering,
watching the sunset and then driving
back to Aqaba, stopping en route where
you can buy snacks and arriving late but
well before midnight in Aqaba.
The price from Aqaba to
Aqaba with one night’s 2 star hotel stay
in Amman is
100
JD.
From Aqaba to Amman with
one night’s 2 star hotel stay in Amman
is
55
JD. These prices, per
person, include entrance fees were
applicable, transportation in
air-conditioned minibus/cars, one
night’s 2 star hotel accommodation and
meals with soft drinks on both days as
mentioned in the above itinerary.
WADI RUM
Wadi Rum is an
outstanding desert landscape of
sandstone mountains that were pushed up
by volcanic activity millions of years
ago, allowing outcrops of granite to
seep out around the bases of the
sandstone mountains. One of the
mountains is Jebal Rum, the tallest
mountain in Jordan at 1754 metres (5755
feet) above sea level. Erosion has
worked its magic on the rocks, pitting
their surfaces and creating land
bridges. The Bedouin who inhabit Wadi
Rum are friendly and hospitable people
with detailed knowledge of their
magnificently scenic domain. Wadi Rum is
desert but it is desert that is very
different from how you most likely ever
imagined it. Its outstanding beauty will
work upon your mind and your soul to
enhance and expand your views of the
power of nature and humankind’s
relationship with that power.
Our Tour to Wadi Rum
We leave Aqaba by
air-conditioned car or minibus at 12.00,
midday, arriving in Wadi Rum at about
13.15. There we transfer to 4X4 jeeps to
start our trip from the northern side of
Wadi Rum, heading towards the South East
and passing through the superlative
scenery visiting the famous Um Fruth and
Burda Rock Bridges, the sand dune and
then going back to the Bedouin camp to
watch the sunset and to enjoy a barbeque
with tea and soft drinks and accompanied
by Bedouin music around the fire. On
cloudless nights, the stars of the Milky
Way are visible in all their glory and
if we are lucky, there may be shooting
stars. We will leave Wadi Rum for the
return journey to Aqaba at about 20.30,
arriving back in Aqaba around 21.40.
The price of our tour to
Wadi Rum, per person, inclusive of
entrance fees, transportation between
Aqaba and Wadi Rum in air-conditioned
car or minibus and 4X4 jeeps around Wadi
Rum plus a barbeque, water, tea, soft
drinks etc is JD37.00 or $60.00 per day.
THE GULF OF AQABA COASTAL
ENVIRONMENT
The marine environment of
the Jordanian Red Sea coastline is
unique in being the most northerly area
of coral in the whole of the
Indian-Pacific Oceanic system which,
when combined with its high degree of
uniformity of sea temperature throughout
the year, means that it has a very high
level of bio-diversity. It is home to
more than 156 varieties of coral and
over 190 different species of tropical
fish.
Our Glass-Bottom
Boat/South Beach Trip
We depart at 10.00 in the
morning to make our way by minibus or
car to the South Beach where we will
board a Glass-Bottomed Boat to view the
coral and the colourful fish. There will
be plenty of time for snorkelling (We
provide masks and fins/flippers) and to
have lunch with soft drinks before
leaving South Beach to make our way back
to Aqaba by 16.00.
The
Price of our
trip for a glass-bottomed boat ride and
snorkelling on South Beach per person,
inclusive of transportation to and from
the beach, hire of snorkelling equipment
and lunch with soft drinks is
15.00 J.D.
For all Children under 10
years of age, the above tours are free
except for taxes, entrance fees and
hotel accommodation.
We give special prices if
you choose to take all of our above
tours.
If 14 persons wish to
book a tour as a group, then one person
goes free of charge.
The Minimum number of
people needed for a tour to function is
4 persons.
Our Location
is on the ground floor of the Housing
Bank Centre for Trade and Finance,
between Crystal Hotel and Nairouk 2
Hotel on the Corniche Road.
When in Aqaba, come and
see us.
