$200 Luxury Jordan Resort 🇯🇴

A video in two halves. It opens in Wadi Rum — where Harry, Mac and a third companion have already spent half a day, and which he calls one of his favourite places in Jordan if not the world — and then drives an hour or two to Aqaba on the Red Sea for a few days of not moving.

Most of it is comfortable: a three-bedroom apartment split three ways, a gym, a pool, a bar, and a dinner that comes to about $28 for the table in one of Jordan’s most touristy towns.

The last two minutes are the reason the video matters. Harry raises, on camera, that the locals here felt different from the rest of the country — specifically that Sofia was stared at constantly — and hands her the question rather than answering it. What she says is the only first-hand account by a woman anywhere in the bundle, and it now sits on cover up in conservative countries: dress appropriately, hold your ground, don’t let anyone tell you not to come, and don’t confuse the staring with the people, who were kind all evening.

Key moments

• [00:00] Morning in Wadi Rum, filmed throughout as Mars.
• [00:30] The warning: the desert gets very cold — bring a coat.
• [01:03] Breakfast — pastry, eggs, coffee.
• [02:04] The pods, and what the price includes: a jeep tour, dinner and breakfast. Three of them shared one, which split the cost.
• [02:34] Glamping rather than camping — and the thing proper camping still does better, which is the stars.
• [03:05] Leaving for Aqaba, one to two hours away, known for its marine life.
• [03:35] First impressions: hotter, palm trees, bigger than expected, and touristy enough to feel Mediterranean.
• [04:06] The hotel beach, and a warm sea.
• [04:36] The apartment: living room, balcony over the beach, a washing machine, three bedrooms.
• [05:38] Booked for two nights; pool, beach, hot tub.
• [06:08] The gym.
• [06:38] About $200 a night for the apartment, split three ways and sleeping four — which he calls fairly good value for a tourist town.
• [07:42] The others found, predictably, at the bar.
• [08:12] Out for dinner with no plan; they ask a man selling tea in the street.
• [08:49] He and his son walk them to a restaurant.
• [09:21] Aqaba is visibly touristy — souvenir shops and a lot of Western visitors.
• [10:30] Chicken biryani, grilled chicken, rice with nuts, soup, Turkish coffee.
• [11:00] Mac demonstrates how to eat it: pinch the bread, scoop, parcel.
• [11:30] Lime poured over the rice.
• [12:31] The bill — about $28 for two full meals and drinks, which he flags as unexpectedly good for a tourist town.
• [13:02] Jordanian tea with sage, cinnamon and cardamom, no sugar.
• [13:32] His attempts at the market going nowhere; he blames his pronunciation.
• [14:07] Backgammon in the street.
• [14:37] His first kanafeh — pastry, stretchy cheese, pistachio — and an immediate verdict.
• [15:51] His first churro.
• [16:21] The staring, raised directly, and Sofia’s answer: hold your own, dress appropriately, and she would tell no woman to stay away.
• [16:52] Her distinction — everyone they actually interacted with was kind.

Extracted pages

• Jordan
• Aqaba
• Wadi Rum
• Mac
• Cover up in conservative countries