Thinking of travelling to Jordan?

With renewed confidence in the present government and the promise of a more vigorous economy, travel inevitably becomes an important part of plans for 2013. Apart from the common destinations like the US, Canada, Australia, Europe and the neighboring Asian countries, travelers are now looking at other interesting destinations.

Did you notice how more and more people are booking pilgrimage or religious tours?

Jordan is one destination that not too many Filipinos have had the privilege to enjoy. Seeking out its embassy, we found out that the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan has no physical embassy here, but rather an Honorary Consulate which falls under the jurisdiction of the Jordan Embassy in Tokyo which, incidentally covers other areas like South Korea, etc.

Our honorary consul is Michael A. Ang, a young and very charming but efficient head of the consulate who readily granted us an audience and a one-on-one interview for Business & Leisure. Though we do not have an embassy here, the consul is authorized by the Jordanian government to issue visas from the Philippines.

The procedure is simple enough:  one sends the scanned information pages of the valid Philippine passport (at least they do not tie down your valuable passport!) to the consular office which is located at Room 315, 3/F Sitio Grande Bldg, 409 A. Soriano Ave., Intramuros, Manila (tel nos: 310-5160; 523-4181). Please make sure the scanned passport copies are very clear, and these should be sent together with the completed visa application documents. Two 2x2 ID photos and a non-refundable processing fee of P4,350. This is quite a hike from last year when they only charged P2,000 fee for visa documentation! The passport must be valid for at least six months with no limitations or annotations on the amendments page.

They also require proof of hotel booking/reservation and reservation for a round-trip flight to Jordan. Note that they do not require you to pre-purchase the airline tickets – just present proof of your reservations.

For travelers intending to live with Jordanian residents, one must present the invitation letter or a letter of intent in lieu of hotel bookings/reservations.

All documents are then sent to the Jordanian Embassy in Tokyo, and processing time is between two to four weeks, unless your visa application coincides with the Ramadan holidays, in which case it could easily run to over one month. Once processed and approved in Tokyo, the documents are then sent back to Manila. The consulate then asks that the actual passport be presented for stamping with the proper visa. Voila, you’re ready to travel to Jordan.

Actually, about a decade ago, the Jordanian government seriously considered having an embassy here because many Jordanian students traveled to the Philippines to complete their tertiary studies.  Since that time, however, more universities have come up in Jordan, and the young population has opted to stay home to study. We do have a full-ranking ambassador in the Philippine Embassy in Aman (the capital of Jordan) though to take care of the needs of our compatriots there. We have somewhere between 15,000 to 20,000 Filipinos living mostly in and around Aman, according to Consul Ang, most of them overseas workers, so it is a pretty sizeable community that necessitates an embassy.  In contrast, there are only small pockets of Jordanian communities in the Philippines totaling about 350 only, many of them Jordanian students who married into Filipino families.  I guess that explains why they do not have a Jordanian Embassy here.

Many Filipino hotel workers are now stationed at the Dead Sea Resorts area which actually has two sides to it:  one lies in the Israel side and one in Jordan. Consul Ang says that the Jordanian side of the Dead Sea Resorts offers more reasonable rates, so budget-conscious travelers should take note of this.

As I mentioned earlier, more and more Filipinos are joining pilgrimage tours these days, and Jordan is very much a part of these religious tours. Consul Ang cited that the Three Kings in the Bible passed through Jordan, and Mount Nebo where Moses stayed in Jordan. Jesus Christ, of course, was baptized by John the Baptist in the River Jordan, and no less than the Vatican affirms this as the factual site of His baptism. More references in the Old and New Testaments mention Jordan, and among them is the Sodom and Gomorra tale when Lot and his family ran away from the destruction.  Lot’s wife was turned into a pillar of salt when she looked back, and Lot and his daughters took refuge in a cave in Jordan.

One of the most popular destinations in Jordan is Petra, also known as the Rose City. If you are familiar with the Indiana Jones series, most of the shots in one sequel (I think it was the 3rd) were shot here, and the breathtaking beauty of Petra was gloriously captured on screen.

Petra was carved off the face of the mountain that has a most intriguing and unique rose color. My wife Babes and I went to Jordan about 10 years ago as part of a religious tour.  Back then when we went to Petra, we had to ride those tall, magnificent Arabian horses to go up the mountain, with experienced locals steering the stallions through narrow paths carved on the mountain side. It was a daring adventure in itself, but a most satisfying reward awaited us at the mountaintop where the Rose City unraveled its breathtaking splendor. It is truly an adventure, a visual treat for the senses that is worth storing in your bank of precious memories.  On the way down, though, Babes had a sudden bout of vertigo, so we opted to ride donkeys instead. What a sight we were – we had to fold our legs so as not to touch the ground because the donkeys were so short. Babes’ family, though, went just recently to Petra and my 84-year-old mother-in-law rode more comfortably in a chariot!

If you’re interested to travel to Jordan, just e-mail the honorary consulate at [email protected].

Mabuhay!!! Be proud to be a Filipino.