this is what jordan is really like 🇯🇴 the ultimate travel vlog

Auto-captioned from the film, lightly cleaned. Elena's words, not edited prose.

oh my SA I've always been fascinated by Jordan for one probably because of the countless movies it's been a part of but also it's really unique geographical location and the rich history that's found in every corner of this country and finally the time has come and I'm about to spend the next 10 days essentially circumnavigating Jordan to see it all from the major cities to its small Coastline to the vast deserts and an ancient town so let's see what Jordan's all about hello hello from from am man Jordan I can't believe I'm here I flew in from Paris to explore the country for the next like 11 days I'm actually here at the tourism board there's a group of us of some creators and journalists so going to make some new friends it's going to be an amazing mix of seeing so many different sides of Jordan from the city to all the natural beauty to the adventures to the culture to the cuisine to the history my dream so yala let's go see Jordan hello from the citadela coming to you with a little history lesson for one this like region of the world is kind of the cradle of civilization so for anyone who's interested in history come to Jordan so this used to be the Royal ancient city of the ammonites which is where Aman actually comes from and the Citadel had so much history linked to it from so many different civilizations from like the ammonites to the m to the Romans and it's interesting how how has lasted throughout so many different periods of civilizations War earthquakes you name it I've always amazed at how the architecture stays intact after all of that very fascinating trying very the eyes oh my God we accidentally ordered a lamb's foot and there's a like my FL and I'm usually adventurous with food but this is this is pushing I'm a little freaked out was good interesting Che all right out of 10 seven seven before we leave am man to explore the rest of Jordan let's talk a little bit about the history of this country Jordan which is situated in the heart of lant has truly seen it all this land was ruled by just about all the big players syrians Romans byzantines various Islamic caliphates all the way up to the Ottoman Empire where it served as an important point on major trade routes in the pilgrimage to Mecca around the time of World War I the Ottoman Empire largely disintegrated and the region was then split up by European powers it was at this time that colonial leaders drew some basically random lines on a map and created what we know as today's borders in 1921 as a result of negotiations made during and after World War I notably the Sykes pigo agreement the British established the semi-autonomous Emirate of trans Jordan under the hashimite dynasty so throughout the 1920s and 1930s Amir Abdullah the first worked to consolidate power while negotiating greater economy from the British this laid the groundwork for the modern state of Jordan which finally gained full Independence in 1946 during the 1948 Arab Israeli War Jordan annexed the West Bank significantly changing local populations as Palestinian refugees fled or displaced in 1967 Israel recaptured the West Bank forcing even more Palestinian refugees into Jordan today well over half people living in Jordan are Palestinian and in 1994 Jordan signed a peace treaty with Israel to this day Jordan continues to face the tricky balance of foreign policy with its neighbor the reality is that the economy of Jordan which is home to half a million syrians and 2 million ion Palestinian refugees relies heavily on tourism not surprisingly the tourism sector has taken a serious hit in the last several months so I want to use my platform to encourage travel to Jordan and in turn ideally support the local population along the way and of course if you're interested in supporting migrants in Jordan more directly I'm including specific links in the description below today Jordan faces challenges of limited natural resources overcrowding and unemployment but it is a beacon of stability in a region often marked by conflict from the bustling C capital of Aman to the Serene deserts of the WTI rum and the therapeutic Waters of the Dead Sea Jordan is truly one of the most stunning places in the world good morning we just left Aman this morning and we are in the small town of salt come on hello checking in from madava I think I just had one of the best meals of my life that is not exaggeration I am in shock of how incredible this restaurant is called carop house the food comes from regenerative farming it's super sustainable everything is locally grown clean organic there's zero food waste anything that isn't finished is put back into the compost we actually got to visit the local Farm of the owner I don't think I've ever been so inspired learning about food I will be dreaming about that meal it was so so good and now we're finally heading to Petra we've been slowly making our way from Anan to salt to nadaa and then now we're going to pet which I'm so excited about it's been like a dream of BU forever so let's go CSH look at you hi hello how's it going I just got to the hotel after quite a long grad trip but I'm so excited to be here and it's getting pretty dark I'm running out of lighting um and I can't wait to see Petra in the morning and I want to talk about a travel tip that I don't think I've ever mentioned but has changed the game of traveling for me and that is AO so I a frequent traveler I obviously need to stay connected abroad it's kind of part of my job and it's always been such a pain I either one end up with like a really huge internet bill after the fact or I don't have service and I'm stuck in like some sticky situation where I need service to like figure out where to go or maybe to get into an Airbnb Etc and I don't have access and in the past I always hated dealing with regular SIM cards cuz you either have to like wait in that really long airport chaos client or honestly my least favorite part was that you'd have to change your number and you'd have some random number and it was hard to contact friends and so I finally have a solution for that through AO this has changed the game for me if you're unfamiliar it's the world's first eim essentially helps solve the problem of having that painful High roaming bill by giving you a digital Sim and with it you get to keep your phone number which is probably one of my favorite Parts all you do is essentially download the app and you can purchase different SIM cards and they have over 200 countries and regions covered from local to Regional to Global eims and it's trusted by over 10 million Travelers worldwide so it's it's pretty great even Lindsay here on this trip with me is using it as well and if you want to join me you can install aolo everything will of course be linked down in the description below so that you can be connected no matter where you're traveling and you can use my code Alena 3 to get $3 off your first eim so definitely check it out if you're traveling this summer or in general this is truly a game changer I love AO so much all right time for me to get some sleep cannot wait to see Petra in the morning so stay tuned good morning Petra I can barely believe I'm saying that right now I've always dreamt of coming here we are going to see if this place lives up to the hype or not we have our little tour group of few other creators um that are here on the trip and an amazing tour guy who has so much information here we are with Lindsay we're here we made it we met in California once like 45 minutes minutes and our second time hang out is in uh Jordan our third will be on another continent true stay tuned to be determined yeah PE peek this is crazy you guys ready to see the treasury so ready it's a long journey finally here two walls here uh this C and here has we're almost there apparently oh my God this is insane this is real life my emotional baby this is insane okay I'm welcome to Petra it's one of the most iconic archaeological sites in the world located just 150 Mi south of Aman this ancient city of the naans was once a major metropolis and dates all the way back to around 300 BC the naans were Master Craftsmen and Engineers their Innovations enabled them to carve these buildings tombs and temples intricately into the stone Cliffs here they also developed an extensive water management system which allowed for Reliable drinking water public baths and even Lush Gardens so you can picture petre back in the day as this unexpected Garden like Oasis including paved streets mark gets an Amphitheater but then around the year 100 CE the city was taken over by the Romans and then later by the byzantines and then due to shifting trade routes and a massive earthquake by the 7th century pitra was largely abandoned and it remained unknown to the Western World until it was discovered by a Swiss Explorer in 1812 in recent decades the indigenous people who' called the city's home were forcibly relocated by the Jordanian government the area has mostly transitioned into a tourist destination today Petra is not only a symbol of Jordan's Rich history but also really a testament to Human Ingenuity and resilience we've made a friend every cat here is so friendly they are everyone here has been so interest friend helpful so so kind all the way over there and then make your way to the treasury hello from the monastery I cannot believe I'm here right now today has like blown my mind definitely worth the hype this might be one of I've ever been I am completely in a that was me an hour ago and then Elena held my hand oh sh sh go get your baby here here that way over there you did it I'm so proud of you okay all the herds together it's absolute drama okay we're going up to the best view according to this side we have our uh DJ in the back playing us some music you know how to dance uh no you did teach you it's a good lesson greetings new day new me still an all black because I did not pack appropriately but we are unfortunately leaving Petra we're headed to w real let's let's go yeah this is insane where are I can't believe I'm here right now this is definitely the coolest place I've ever stayed let me show you is this a joke excuse me okay the further I get into my time in Jordan the more I am impressed I wasn't sure if this was one of those locations that's just on a lot of like travel lists but sometimes you get there and you're like that was cool but don't need to do again Jordan every location I've been in Jordan has blown me away amazing food fascinating history really kind people beautiful beautiful beautiful epic scenery like this place has it all on that note I just feel like this region of the world is just underrepresented and underappreciated in the travel sphere really is just so beautiful and has the kindest and most hospitable people you'll ever meet I will stand by that forever also everyone on my trip has been so lovely and I've been making new friends and I'm just feeling really grateful you got to check this place out holy smokes we love you forever and ever I'm glad you know it looks like you're just hanging off a cliff hello whatab H we don't go wow morning I've made it to Mars where am I oh wow very cool people hear that if you hear this sound it's me and the coffee today in my house you are most welcome that was sick we here this is the food for animal and the animal will be in the Cor here the goat is waiting us they are hungry here's a lot to say we we still have people live like this and they love to live like this during a traditional Bedwood tent SL home and I see the appeal we're being introduced to the natural makeup the bedwin use it on like their cheeks or their eyes light red color orangey pretty and you can see if it's yeah sh Bea gurus can you see it you can definitely see it yeah yeah honestly Carlos is all the way up there he's going to down oh good job okay Sor good colas look at this Wy rum is probably one of the coolest places I've ever been I mean for one there's been countless countless movies filmed here Dune Prometheus the Martian Star Wars Etc it's just so beautiful like you can't get over like the detailing in the Limestone and we're having a little lunch now with after doing like a full Jeep day of exploring the desert like you could have so much time here and barely scratch the surface new day new location you can go from like the most epic desert exploration like really adventurous type of travel and then just a couple hours later be in akaba which is on the Red Sea it basically sits on the Gulf of akaba it's one like the only places in the world when we take a little boat out later from that boat you can see Egypt Jordan and Saudi Arabia all from the boat so you're in this like really interesting kind of like border hot spot that's very close by but it's this like peaceful Seaside coastal city we are getting on the Dead Sea today it's perfect weather yal great jve hello from the Dead Sea the final stop no it's okay thank you though uh no worries it's the video I'm be embarrassing myself so we're at the last stop of our tour the Dead Sea which currently is the lowest place on Earth it's called the Dead Sea because it's too like we believe salty for any like animals to live so there's no fish or anything here I'm very curious to see how this is it's also fascinating like I grew up studying the Bible like as a kid so there's a lot of Biblical history here too which is fascinating so let's go float