The most common sound any visitor to Jordan will hear is the heartfelt cry of “Welcome!”

Inhabitants of the Hashemite Kingdom are more keen than ever to show the Arab hospitality to tourists, as some have grown leery of the unrest in the countries surrounding this crossroads to The Holy Land.

Most recently, ongoing troubles in neighboring Syria and Egypt have robbed more stable Jordan of visitors. Numbers have dropped on the package tours that once incorporated the three with a trip to nearby Jerusalem to take in the region’s plethora of religious sites.

But Jordanians are quick to stress that their country’s holy, historic and natural attractions are more than enough to merit a self-contained trip.

Pilgrims have long been drawn to Jesus’ baptism site at Bethany Beyond the Jordan, just above the Dead Sea. And the windswept promontory of Mount Nebo overlooking this water and the Jordan River Valley is thought to be the final station in Moses’ flight from Egypt to the Holy Land.

To the south, a near-religious experience can be had on a visit to the rose-red city of Petra. The ancient metropolis was carved by the Nabataean people out of the desert’s red sandstone more than 2,000 years ago, and was once a hub for trading caravans passing through the heart of the Nabataean Kingdom. Its creators’ interactions with the Greeks and Romans can be seen in the stunning temples, churches, theaters and other structures nestled in the desert valley where several scenes from the Hollywood blockbuster “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” were filmed.

Each step along the winding As-Siq gorge feels like a move further into the past as one is dwarfed by 80-meter red cliffs on the 1,200-meter walk to Petra’s pride ― Al-Khazneh. This so-called treasury was actually carved as a king’s tomb and its intricate frontage is breathtaking on first glimpse.

New tombs are being found in the vast city almost every year, with most of the domestic residences yet to be discovered.

History buffs can spend hours on guided tours or wandering freely from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. in summer, if they can bear the heat and a ticket price almost as steep as the surrounding mountains at $70 for a one-day pass. A more reasonable $84 is charged for those who can stay for three days.

Thought to have had a population of 20,000 at its peak, the “Lost City” was only rediscovered by the West 200 years ago by Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt. The last inhabitants of Petra and nearby Little Petra finally left the caves around 1975 when the Jordanian Government re-housed them in conventional homes. Many of them now earn a living offering camel rides and selling souvenirs to tourists in and around Jordan’s most visited site. 

While man’s triumph in the desert earned Petra’s status as one of the New 7 Wonders of the World 2007, Jordan’s natural vistas will readily steal your heart with a gust of desert wind.

Bedouin guides at the 720-square-kilometer Wadi Rum Protected Area offer the perfect chance to explore the wilderness on a climbing expedition or an afternoon excursion. Their jeeps are ready to drive tourists to witness a brilliant sunset amid towering multicolored sandstone rocks before hosting a traditional meal of lamb baked in underground ovens. Guests can enjoy a shisha pipe under the stars before camping out in individual tents.

It is strange to imagine that this desert was once a seabed, especially after visiting Jordan’s most famous liquid asset ― the Dead Sea. At 410 meters below sea level, it is the world’s lowest and largest natural spa. New luxury resorts are cropping up along the otherwise barren coast and at the nearby Ma’In Hot Springs to help more visitors enjoy the health-giving properties of the highly saline water and mud.

The more adventurous can try wet trekking at the nearby Wadi Mujib gorge, known as Jordan’s Grand Canyon. The rocky Dead Sea tributary is an important spot for migratory birds flying between Europe and Africa along the great Rift Valley. Wading upstream through mini-rapids along the wadi (valley) can be strenuous at times, but splashing beneath the waterfall about an hour’s trek from the river mouth makes for a refreshing and exhilarating trip.

Far to the south, Jordan is making the most of its other small share of coastline on the Gulf of Aqaba, with the new Berenice Beach Club catering for guests of hotels without their own slither of Aqaba’s golden sands.

The northern tip of the Red Sea is a popular diving spot where pleasure cruises can also be enjoyed, as long as sea-goers do not stray close to Israeli shores without a visa.

The ambitious $700 million Saraya Aqaba resort is set to expand the city’s waterfront by 2013 with luxury hotels and residences to open along man-made lagoons filled with water pumped from the sea.

Hotel security is high in Jordan following several suicide bomb attacks in the capital Amman in 2005, for which Iraq-based Islamic militants claimed responsibility.

But Jordan is considered one of the safest countries in its region, wedged as it is between the Middle Eastern hotspots of Syria, Israel and Palestine as well as Egypt and Saudi Arabia. While others rose in the Arab Spring, only minor street protests have embodied any unrest against the ubiquitously pictured King Abdullah II since he took the throne in 2009.

It is well worth exploring the length of this stunning country via the historic King’s Highway not only to tick off famous sites, but also to experience its contrasting habitats. The African and desert climates of the south yield to the north’s more Mediterranean atmosphere as barren rocks give way to olive tree-lined terraces north of the Dead Sea. The fertile Jordan Valley region provides a wealth of fresh produce for a lush cuisine of stuffed vegetables, hummus, and baba ghanoush.

Sample this food across the country, but drive a few hours north of Amman for a real taste of the Mediterranean in the well-preserved Greco-Roman city of Jerash where the ruins of colonnaded streets and temples tower as fine as could be found in ancient Rome.

Since 2005, The Roman Army Chariot Experience has been reenacting races and gladiator battles twice daily at the city’s ancient hippodrome ― giving one more exciting example of how modern Jordan is bringing its history to life.

For more information go to www.visitjordan.com.

By Kirsty Taylor (kirstyt@heraldcorp.com)