Visas, Embassies & Border Crossings
At the Syrian Embassy in Brussels it is possible to get multiple entry visas without any fuss (not a re-entry permit, but multiple entry valid for 6 months)The visa is just slightly more expensive.
Aleppo is also the place where you can extend your visas very easily (not the procedure but the effect). In 45 minutes, after some up-and-downstairs runs, I received a 1 month extension when I asked for a 5 day extension.
It seems to vary a lot when paying exit tax in Jordan. Indeed, sometimes when you stay less than 72 hours in Jordan, you are exempt from paying but when crossing to Israel by the Cheikh Hussein Bridge, you'll have to pay.
The Jordanian visa for Belgians is an enormous 23JD compared with 6JD for
French, 8JD for Germans, 11JD for Dutch, 23JD for UK, 33JD for US and free for Japanese. At the border they issue only single tourists visas (no multiple entry, and no transit visas). Jordan officials agree not to stamp your passport at the entry/exit of Israel and will give you a visa on a separate piece of paper.
Be careful at the Cheikh Hussein Bridge Crossing (Jordan River for the Israelis). There are two roads to the crossing; one is for the lorries and you will be sent away if you show up there. This wrong crossing is indicated by panels at the turnoff; don't believe them and follow the main road to the south, to Pella. You'll have to walk 15 minutes and then turn left and follow the splendid new road, down to the Jordan River and to the good crossing. If you go to the wrong crossing, follow a small road left just before the first checkpoint. The good one is quite a long way from there (30 minutes).
Andrzej Bielecki, Belgium (Apr 99)
The visa for Australians is free at the Jordan embassy but US$25 at the border.
I travelled from Jordan into Israel at the King Husssein Bridge. I received a piece of paper from the Jordanians with a stamp that allowed me to return to Jordan for up to three months through the same location - hence no Jordan exit stamp in my passport. In Israel I received the yellow entry card and that was stamped instead of my passport. The exit from Israel still costs US$31. On exiting Israel they took their card and Jordan took their piece of paper. No evidence of a trip to Israel except for a few t-shirts.
Benjamin Richards (Mar 99)
No visas are available from the border crossing of Allenby Bridge so you have to go to the Jisr Sheik Hussein for any visas.
Australian passport holders have to pay JD16 for a visa along with the updated 57NIS departure tax from Israel
Departure tax is payable from the King Hussein/Allenby bridge of JD4.
King Husssein/Allenby Bridege border closes at 11.30 pm and opens at 6.30 am.
The last bus from the Israeli side to Jerusalem leaves at 7 pm and my suggestion is to get there well in time to make the bus as the taxis all charge 30NIS per person with a full taxi only.
Rebekah Nathan (June 98)
New Zealanders can get visa for Jordan in Damascus for ú400 - it's JD16 at the border. Service taxis are the easiest way to go as there's minimal fuss at the border with only 4-5 passengers.
Jenni Fleming (Apr 98)
We heard from one Australian traveller that the visa fee for these nationals has changed from being free to 16JD - the same as for New Zealanders.
Caroline Logan & Andrew Osborne (Apr 98)
Allenby Bridge/Jisr al-Malek al-Hussein Border Crossing - There is now a departure tax at this border crossing and it is 4JD each. We arrived thinking there was no such tax and we had to change money. The bank there much make a killing as there is a 1JD commission and if you are leaving the country, you'll only be changing enough to cover the tax. We crossed the street and found a restaurant owner who changed ú5 for us, no commission and a free cup of tea, which got us through. Lots of travellers in the same position weren't so fortunate.
Caroline Logan & Andrew Osborne (Apr 98)
We hitched through Jordan in a day and departed from the port of Aqaba. Having pointed out to Jordanian immigration officers that we had been in Jordan for less than 72 hours, we were made exempt from departure tax. It seems that this exemption is not only accessible for departures via air.
Bruce Kilby (Apr 98)
No matter what the Jordanian Embassies abroad tell you there is no longer any problem buying Jordanian single entry visas at the airport in Ammam. Visas must be paid in JD, it is not a problem since there is an exchange office open 24 hours a day. Fees depend on your nationality, but it is cheaper than getting the visas abroad (I was charged about three times more at the Jordanian Embassy in London and it took me three days to get them). For East Europeans the fee is around 9JD.
Also when coming from Syria or Egypt by land it is possible to buy Jordanian single entry visas at the border, but be ready to wait in a long line. For those that need Israeli visas, it is possible to get them at the Israeli Embassy in Shmeisany district in Amman. Do not wait in the line with the Palestinians but go straight to the building. The fee is 12JD. You might be asked for sufficient funds (a credit card is OK) and plane tickets, so have those with you. Do not expect this to be a pleasant experience since the place is heavily guarded. Office hours for applications are from 8 - 11 am every day except Fridays and Saturdays. You can pick the visas up at 3pm the same day your application was submitted. There is no problem to get the Israeli visas with Syrian stamps in your passport.
Karin and Libor - (Dec 97)
The Jordan embassy in Pretoria, South Africa issues free visas in 24 hours but a visa is also issued at the border in minutes which is also free.
John Hayward - South Africa - (Nov 97)
When hiring a taxi in Amman to take the trip down the King's Highway, it pays to check whether the driver knows what he is talking about. Our driver had obviously never been down the King's Highway (he asked for directions about 50 times) and had never learned to drive a car on a steep road. This almost caused an engine break-down climbing up Wadi el-Mujib. He ended up very sour because of the difficult road we silly tourists insisted on, instead of taking the fast track Desert Highway. A good idea is to ask the driver if he has done the trip before, if nothing else than to avoid constant complaining and demands for extra payment en route becasue of the "difficult driving".
Peter Holm, Denmark (Jan 99)
It's a must to visit the castle in Kerak and if you find a bus which goes direct to Petra, get it. It's not easy to find connections from town to town.
Do pay attention to the strong sun in the desert of Wadi Rum. I got sun stroke even with a hat and a bottle of water and sunglasses - and it was November.
Vittorio D"Orazio, Italy (Jan 99)
In Apamea, if you don't have much time, we suggest that you only visit the museum, which is much more interesting than the ruins.
When visiting the ruins, it can be helpful to be a Belgian or speak French, as a Belgian professor is now doing excavations. One of the guards showed us a prohibited area for this reason (for free) and warned us not to buy "antiquities" from the local hustlers.
Eddy Veraghtert & Angeline van Hout, Belgium (Dec 98)
In high season, it's a good idea to make hotel reservations a few days in advance. Every hotel manager will do it for you, you just have to pay for the phone call.
A rather nasty evolution is, in our opinion, that some of the low budget travel agencies use the better low budget hotels for their groups throughout the year, which makes it very difficult for the independent traveller to have a room in these places.
Eddy Veraghtert & Angeline van Hout, Belgium (Dec 98)
In Amman, if you are fond of Modern Art, try the Gallery Darat al Funun which was built on an old byzantine church. They have alternating exhibitions in their rooms and several objects in their gardens. The small cafeteria in front of the "blue house" is a good choice to have some tea or coffee surrounded by flowers.
To reach it - coming from the Gold Suq walk up a couple of meters on the left hand side of King Hussein Street until you reach a steep staircase between two houses (above there is a sign to "Rivera Hotel"). Walk up the staircase until you reach the end and turn right up the hill. After about 15 m you'll be standing in front of the walls of Darat al Funun. Now choose the street either right or left along the wall and enter the first gate to find it. It'll be one of the four entrances to the garden. There is no sign in Latin letters.
Astrid Padberg (Nov 98)
In Tartus, the immigration office has moved to a little street behind An'Alandalos Street. For 30LS and two photos, we had an extension of visa for one month (we only asked for one week) in less than 40 minutes.
Christelle Dain & Lorenzo Caselli, Italy (Aug 98)
There are plans to eventually to fence off the Amman citadel and charge for entry but at the moment it is well worth a visit (free). Restoration/uncovering (and in some cases the putting up of explanatory plaques) has been done on the large cistern, the bath system (modelled on the Roman but dating from Islamic period), the mosque on the highest point (not immediately obvious), the Roman wall with a small section of Ammonite wall, olive press, extensive renovation of the main antechamber of the Islamic period building.
The mini amphitheatre called the Odeon is also restored and is a nice piece of work and can be entered.
There are two kinds of payphones and for ALO type you can buy a card for 15 dinars to make international call.
There is also an airport bus from Saha Hashemi very near the amphitheatre but less frequent than the Abdalix airport bus.
There is a brand new Macdonald's near the amphitheatre for those who like that kind of thing.
Anonymous (Apr 98)
Amman: There is no trouble to find the airport bus now: brand new large sign at the top end of Abdawi busstation.
Carsten Hyld Iversen - Denmark (Feb 98)
It's possible to sleep at the beach of the National Touristic Camp in Aqaba. This is better, and a lot cheaper, than sleeping in an unaircondtiioned hotel in the summer, because it gets very hot in summer (Aqaba was the only place where the heat bothered us). It's also possible to rent snorkelling gear there.
One of the better spots for snorkelling is about 50 m south of the beach. Near a buoy lies a sunken ship that was sunk in the eighties to create a place for the coral to grow on. They sunk it because nobody wanted it anymore after it was destroyed by a fire. The name of the ship is the Cedar Pride. It lies about 100 m from the coast and is a really good place for snorkelling because it lies near the surface. It's illegal to take coral with you, even if it's dead and it is not wise to touch the coral since it's both bad for the coral and for you. Coral cuts heal very slowly. Watch out for some of the fish. The stone fish (a very well camouflaged one) and the scorpion fish (a beautiful veined one) both have venomous stings that can make you go through some agonising pain.
Edo Plantinga - The Netherlands (Mar 98)
At the entrance to Petra or any other place, student's can't go in free any more, even if they have papers from the Ministry. They have to pay the normal price.
Mohammed Atieh - Jordan, (Oct 97)
I was relieved to read in LP that the Intercontinental Hotel in Amman, Jordan would do cash advances on visa. We spent 5JD of our precious money to take a taxi to the hotel. They refused to do it, because we were not staying there. I could have cried. The manager was around and I explained the situation, but they still wouldn't let me use my visa.. The taxi driver who took us back, told us that we could do cash advances at the Palace Hotel. He was right.
Kirstie William & Paul Fahy - UK (Sept 97)
The Department of Antiquities trick where students with letters from their universities obtain passes to get into Petra for free does not work any more. Every student I met who had tried this, failed and had to pay the full entry fee for Petra.
Silvia Schikhof - The Netherlands (Sept 97)
I did as suggested and kept myself covered up while in Amman. We went to the Dead Sea for a swim (or rather float,) and found myself to be the only western women on the beach. My partner was taking photos of me and was soon surrounded by men staring at me. When they started throwing stones, I got out quickly and headed for the showers. It was a shame, as we were assured by the taxi driver who brought us, that it would be ok for me to swim.
Kirstie William and Paul Fahy - UK (Sept 97)
JORDAN
