DAWN TO DUSK NEWS: middle east country

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<strong>(CNN)</strong> -- You don't often find Jordan splashed across the top of your favorite news site.<br />

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Big on the grand desert 
scenery and ancient monuments you'd expect, but absent from any roll 
call of travel-warning infamy on government websites, this is a nation 
that confounds traveler perceptions of the Middle East.</div>
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Here's why.</div>
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<strong>1. Bedouin culture is at the root of Jordanian hospitality </strong></div>
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Ahlan wa Sahlan ("hello and welcome") follows you wherever you go.</div>
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For Jordanians, hospitality is part of life, founded in a centuries-old nomadic culture.</div>
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Visitors who set their 
itineraries in stone risk missing out on all the spontaneous invitations
 to sit back and drink endless tiny glasses of tea with locals.</div>
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<strong>2. Landscapes are film stars</strong></div>
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If the scenery gives you déjà vu, that's because you've probably seen it before.</div>
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Jordan is a kingdom of blockbuster countryside that's graced cinema screens countless times.</div>
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Yep, you saw Wadi Rum featured in "Lawrence of Arabia." You did see it, right?</div>
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Petra's Al-khaznah (The Treasury) monument posed as the home of the Holy Grail in "Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade."</div>
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The high-rise cliffs and blush pink sands of Wadi Rum played themselves in "Lawrence of Arabia."</div>
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At 89,342 square kilometers, Jordan may be relatively small, but its vistas are the stuff of epic silver screen classics.</div>
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MORE: UAE's most outrageous hotel suites</div>
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<strong>3. It's a regional eco-lodge leader </strong></div>
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Sustainable travel has a long road to travel in the Middle East, but Jordan is leading the way.</div>
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The Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature operates ten protected areas in the country with eco-lodge accommodation options.</div>
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Dana Biosphere Reserve tumbles down the chasm of the Great Rift Valley with Dana Guest House (<i>Dana village</i><i>, +962 03 227 0497</i>) clinging to a cliff edge from where the sandstone hills of the national park spool out below.</div>
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At Mujib Biosphere Reserve -- the world's lowest altitude national park -- you can sleep at Mujib Chalets (<i>Mujib bridge</i><i>, Dead Sea Highway, +962 079 907 4960</i>) for canyon hiking and the Dead Sea on your doorstep at 416 meters below sea level.</div>
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Jordan's most famous 
national park is Wadi Rum, where you can spend the night amid the silent
 desert expanse at a simple Bedouin Beit Shar (goat-hair tent) 
encampment.</div>
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<strong>4. Levantine flavors in Amman</strong></div>
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Amman is Jordan's capital city, as well as its culinary capital.</div>
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Lunch lines outside Al-Quds on Rainbow Street indicate the city's best falafel.</div>
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You can do coffee with one of Amman's best views at the Wild Jordan Cafe <i>(Othman bin Affan Street, +962 06 463 3542</i>), and try Levant's finest dishes amid the opulence of an old Ottoman mansion at Fakhr El-Din (<i>40 Taha Hussein St.</i><i>,</i><i> +962 06 465 2399</i>).</div>
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Beit Sitti offers cooking classes in Jordan's culinary capital of Amman.</div>
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Beit Sitti (<i>16 Muhammad Ali al-Saadi St., +962 079 563 3868</i>) run classes in Arabic cooking that teach you pro skills for your next Middle Eastern-themed dinner party.</div>
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<strong>5. Using the car horn for brakes doesn't cut it here</strong><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMSsnaNk-Ve-rddPKQn1Vzwr7S6WqFfxtwoXr8YO0rR5vUXCIRicMvPaXArUn3He3eXh_W0OWxozyouXLrbsdjzQ-ufqC0N1hr99hVoYbkNBTlKmrBFDPwBMbR_0c779wizrtoWW8xHjY6/s1600/140304200657-jordan-8-horizontal-gallery.jpg" /></div>
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Seasoned Middle East travelers will tell you the biggest safety concern in the region is for your hearing.</div>
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The traffic crush -- and cacophony of car horns -- is a constant stress.</div>
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Not in Jordan.</div>
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With a population of 
only 6.5 million, and plenty of open spaces, Jordanian drivers don't 
feel the need to thump out a constant tuneless blast of beeps.</div>
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MORE: Saving an endangered species, Arabian style</div>
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<strong>6. Cultural tours that make a difference</strong></div>
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In recent years, small 
local initiatives have begun changing the face of tourism by offering a 
look into the Jordan beyond the famous ruins.</div>
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The Zikra Initiative
 operates a tourism-exchange program in which travelers take part in 
traditional village activities -- cooking, banana-leaf basket making -- 
for a small fee that gets funneled into micro-loans to help the village 
community.</div>
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Middle East travel specialist Backpacker Concierge operates a number of cultural immersion tours in Jordan.</div>
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<strong>7. Ruins everywhere</strong></div>
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<strong><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7gJLXIC-fxIBxk-Viv0KBOOo_fOlRGG9lmBvc5q_0HuyD3mToaRNxVclfRGdwhbX7CGMjqylr7r4JaGIcJ4oqspZEVRXpIOErjYyAVt7qlQyw5xtrxDWl-PxOGsa6Zm6W-RsUvh7ac0qq/s1600/140304200956-jordan-10-horizontal-gallery.jpg" /> </strong></div>
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If you want to see megalithic monuments, Jordan won't let you down.</div>
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Jerash is one of the best-preserved Greco-Roman towns in the world.</div>
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A walk along its long 
Cardo Maximus from the South Theater to the Temple of Artemis offers an 
evocative slice of the Classical Age.</div>
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The Greek, Roman, Byzantine and Arab Empires stamped their hand prints across the countryside.</div>
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Head north (or east, on 
the desert castle loop) from the glorious tumble of columns and temples 
at ancient Umm Qais or Pella, and you'll find the Umayyad caliphs' 
country retreats of Azraq Fort and the UNESCO-listed Qasr Amr.</div>
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<strong>8. The Abraham Path</strong><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihcymovQhAl-uVLl-RttFMAetoG3pW7D_zTnis2wih7UxWoeMD8SdZsBMQYq7H_V9UgEsmW8MNm2NmW4ymkTBZc8JfqQmmUJz7XaNt3rTanH3vHaW-5hDqQUHlm4146Y_Y7lwT_G-fTsWb/s1600/140304200221-jordan-4-horizontal-gallery.jpeg" width="640" /></div>
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Jordan's Ajloun region has a five-day hiking trail that's part of the multi-country Abraham Path.</div>
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The shorter, one-day 
Ajloun-Orjan village section starts at the Crusader castle of Ajloun, 
drops in at Mar Elias (said to be the birthplace of the prophet Elijah) 
and finishes at sleepy Orjan, where homestays are available.</div>
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The winding King's Highway is one of the Middle East's most scenic road trips.</div>
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<strong>9. The Middle East's best road trip</strong></div>
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Between Madaba and Petra, the King's Highway winds along the ridge edge of the Great Rift Valley.<img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirwSiI6DIjSoElbebeqfXgXQNftKLKOh57H-GWsL1ekfd6GGLr_E_jvW9oSiPc-7-VYPTxN4CFHCSTzz5wqfkKuW_yEI02AY9v84Md1_XwC1RvcXvUZNKKQMkMcVLo_8PbthORBcy-W5nx/s1600/140304200338-jordan-6-horizontal-gallery.jpg" width="640" /></div>
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It's filled with historic sites and offers some of the country's most startling views.</div>
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Moses saw the Promised 
Land at Mt. Nebo, Salome's shimmying ended with St. John the Baptist 
losing his head on Herod's mountain eyrie of Mukawir, and Reynald of 
Chatillon was defeated by Salah ud-Din at the Crusader castle of Kerak.</div>
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About halfway through 
the trip, a highway turnoff leads to a road that twists and turns down 
to the Dead Sea where you can float in waters so mineral rich that you 
can't sink.</div>
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<strong>10. Petra -- as if we wouldn't mention it </strong></div>
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You can't mention Jordan without talking about Petra.</div>
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By the time you get here
 you'll have seen its famous Al-Khazneh (The Treasury) and Ed-Deir (The 
Monastery) monuments hundreds of times, splashed across tourism posters 
throughout Jordan.</div>
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For a different take on 
the Nabataean's ancient capital, you can get off the main trail to the 
site and onto the Bedouin back roads.<img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinhNSjCdsB06ZxGBcE1a2-8jhJPcFxGgJa70ZzWKWLTMfvrfc-pXXiG7OXfy3-fGozywksisZ2ZGqqzZ431H_hV_0RD5p3MCCauIxZ2-tEyBvNf8ICeDCR39apxnY4MgtfbQJMVcLZtr3c/s1600/140304200556-jordan-7-horizontal-gallery.jpg" width="640" /></div>
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The winding trail up to the cliff ridge of Al-Habees has the best views over the central city ruins.</div>
A stone-cut staircase trail snakes up Jabal al-Khubtha for dramatic views of The Treasury from above.<br />
Source ::CNN </div>

Jordan: 10 reasons to visit the Middle East's most easygoing country

(CNN) -- You don't often find Jordan splashed across the top of your favorite news site. Big on the grand desert scenery and anc...