Traveling Jordan: A literature reviewCategory: Travel & Holidays
Article added by: marwan Asmar
By Dr Marwan Asmar
Jordan is a boon for tourism as shown by the books written on the Kingdom from different parts of the globe with a tourism/travel angle. For the international tourist that seems to be coming to the Kingdom from all over, these books serve an important collection of literature, providing all-rounded point-of view on tourism and travel in Jordan.
The literature has been consistent, and is likely to continue in the near future as Jordan continue to implement its National Tourism Strategy to end in 2010 with a view to expanding Jordan as a travel and tourism destination to the world.
Books are even being produced before time to cope with the anticipated demand as such touristic hubs like the Dead Sea, Madaba, Petra, Aqaba, Jeresh, Ajloun and Pella are gaining increasing importance on the world travel map.
The Jordan Travel Map (New Holland Publishers, UK, first edition 2008), is part of the Globetrotter Travel series, which includes guides, maps and atlases, covering more than 80 destinations worldwide, and has been put on different websites at least one year in advance.
The Jordan Travel Map allows the traveler to locate cities, towns, major roads and scenic routes, airports, hotels, golf courses, holiday resorts, parks and nature reserves in different cities and major centers for the tourists coming on travel packages or as individuals wanting to explore the many parts of the Kingdom.
The Map follows another guide on the country, the Jordan Travel Pack by the Globetrotter Travel Packs, (New Holland Publishers, UK, 128 pages, first edition 2007), a pocket-size guide of information, tips and recommendations, color photographs, charts and maps for the first-time traveler to experience the major highlights of Jordan. What is interesting as well, both were published within three months of each other, which means publishers are seeing Jordan as an important touristic attraction and destination for the near future.
It provides the visitor with ‘must see’ areas in a practical and user-friendly format, encouraging them to make the most of their available time and at a glance. A fold-out map of Jordan is ideal for visitors, highlighting scenic routes, and featuring three detailed area maps and seven town plans.
Publishers are also coming from different parts of the globe which show there are many people interested in what is happening in the region. The Jordan Insight Guide by Insight Guides (APA Publications, Singapore, 300 pages, 2007) is a paperback edition that must be seen as an envy to hold.
Similarly and in the previous year, The Rough Guide to Jordan, Matthew Teller, (Rough Guides, Third Edition, 528 pages, 2006), was published, opening with a 24-page, full-color section showcasing Jordan’s highlights, from Wadi Rum to the ‘pink city’ of Petra, Aqaba and providing a peak of Amman’s sophisticated dining scene.
There are reviews on nearly all of the best hotels, cafés and restaurants especially for those on a fixed budget with tips for adventure activities, including diving, camping, camel treks and balloon trips which are bourgeoning in popularity in the Kingdom. The guide also takes a look at Jordan’s colorful background with unique features on literature, art and women in Jordanian society. There are also detailed maps and plans for all regions.
In the same year, Lonely Planet Jordan by Bradley Mayhew, (Lonely Planet Publications, 304 pages, 6th edition, 2006), made another comeback. Mayhew maybe one of the most eminent travelers around the world, producing over 20 guides for Lonely Planet.
He explores the ancient cities and desert landscapes of Jordan, highlighting Petra, Wadi Rum and the Dead Sea, and concentrating on hiking, scrambling, rock climbing, camel trekking and 4WD excursions, all adventure sports for the most intrepid of tourists.
The hiking routes to Petra and its off-the-beaten tracks, the flagship of the world famous Dana nature reserve and the idea of sleeping under the stars is matched by tips on border crossings, Internet access, digital photography and transport routes whilst in Jordan.
With the guides have been books. Petra and the Lost Kingdom of the Nabataeans, Jane Taylor, (Harvard University Press, 224 pages, 2005) is an illustrated work covering the history of the Nabataeans, an Arab people who lived in the area of present-day southern Jordan and northern Saudi Arabia from about the third century B.C.E. until the sixth century C.E.
Taylor, a photographer and a writer, provides an intimate look at the Nabataean life and culture based on archaeological evidence and written records of the period, thoroughly examining the development and architecture of Petra, describing the Nabataean domination of the Middle Eastern spice trade and giving detailed information on their changing religious practices.
Taylor's clear, incisive writing and copious photographs bring their ancient world to life with the reader looking at the text and entranced by the high quality photographs.
There are books that have tried to be ‘innovative’ when they talked about the Kingdom. One such includes Ancient Jordan from the Air by D.L. Kennedy, and Robert Bewely (Council for British Research in the Levant, 282 pages, 2004).
Jordanian archaeological sites, deemed to be 25,000 of them are memorable from the air. Describing Jordan as an outdoor museum, the book contains four maps and 219 color photographs all from the air depicting the Kingdom’s different epochs from the Nabataean period, the Roman frontier forts, Jeresh, the Umayyad desert castles and the Crusader fortresses of Kerek and Shobak, all historical cities designed for the specialist and the generalists and above all those who want to go on an adventure.
The photographs were taken at heights ranging from as low as 50-100 feet by helicopter, to 2,000 feet or more from fixed-wing aircraft. All are transparently clear, revealing, and shot with precision, so all the surface detail of those are shown. All images are in full color.
This book is useful to professional and amateur scholars with a serious interest in the sites described, and anyone planning a trip to Jordan and wants to know whether it would be worth their while to visit the Byzantine village of Umm el-Jimal, the Neolithic urban center of Jawa, or the Abbasid family's home village of Humayma.
It was another ‘map year’ for Jordan in 2003. Jordan Map, by International Travel Maps, (ITMB Publishing 2003) is Canadian based which specializes in detailed reference and traveled map as it is the case with this one on Jordan. This one is a graphic map of the Kingdom plus Israel and portions of neighboring countries with topographical contour lines and elevations indicated by color changes and with an inset map of Amman printed on one side.
Legend locates border crossings; roads (with point-to-point distances) from highways to tracks/trails; railways; airports; salt flats; desert; rivers and wadis; parks and reserves; accommodation (motels, hotels, resorts); archaeological sites/ruins; beaches; churches.
At the turn of the new millennium a number of books were written on a special kind of adventure travel: Walking in Jordan: Walks, Treks, Caves and Climbs by Di Taylor, Tony Howard with a forward from Queen Elizabeth I, ( Interlink Publishing Group, 196 pages, 2001) is a walking journey of discovery into canyons, limestone cliffs, wooded valleys and high mountains of Jordan.
The book details over a 100 routes into unexplored areas of Jordan, but suggests that there are still unexplored areas for the intrepid traveler. The book gives you everything you need to know about the known routes.
Both authors had been climbing for 30 years across North Africa and the Middle East and were responsible in 1984 for discovering Wadi Rum as a climbing and trekking area.
Similarly Trekking and Canyoning in the Jordanian Dead Sea Rift, by Ita Haviv, (Desert Breeze Press, 264 pages, 2000), concentrates on desert trekking as an adventure and environmental form of travel.
Haviv is an Israeli geologist who sought to provide an indispensable guide of facts and information about such adventure travel concentrating on the Dead Sea with colorful desert landscapes.
The guidebook is based on 12-months thorough, day-to-day landscape survey of the Jordanian Rift, as well as on six years of trekking expeditions in Jordan, written from the perspective of an experienced hiker and guide.
The book describes 68 routes ranging from one to six days, involving easy walks for day-hikers and a more challenging treks with the 12 canyoning routes demand abseiling skills, all compacted together in 264 pages including 41 detailed maps, 3 true-color satellite images and 24 color pages. The vast majority of the routes were never described anywhere before with background information on the geography, history, flora, fauna, people and culture, nature conservation and language and information about when to trek, how to get there, what to take etc.
However since it was written in 2000, some updating might be required since the Dead Sea area is today undergoing tremendous changes as a result of hotel developments which may actually be affecting the terrain and routes
Posted By: marwan Asmar
Web: http://www.petratours.com
Contact: e-mail
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