In most cases, I fly abroad on regular flights. I prefer Aeroflot, I like their service, plus I am pleased with such a program as Aeroflot-plus. :)

But last winter, the only direct flight from Moscow to Jordan was a charter from Pegas Fly. I had to buy tickets. This was my first trip on an airplane of this class. The flight took about six and a half hours.

Did I like it? I was left with good impressions, despite some issues.

Two days before the planned trip, I received an email about rescheduling the flight. During these two days the clocks changed frequently. Even after the schedule was approved, the Moscow airport announced an hour delay. Well, we couldn’t fly out normally. :)

Regarding the condition of the plane, I often read on the Internet that the transport in Pegas Fly was simply falling apart. He didn't seem like that to me. Of course, the plane was not new; judging by the inscriptions in German, it was simply written off from some flights in European countries. Well, the plane was more than sixteen years old (I looked it up by its tail number on Wikipedia).

The rows are arranged according to the following pattern: 2-4-2. There was enough space between the seats, not cramped.

The pilots were very pleased. In addition to the fact that they flew the plane professionally and skillfully, they often got in touch with passengers, for example, telling them which countries we were flying through and reminding them that they should not drink alcohol.

Among the pleasant moments on the charter were:

• free sandwiches, tea and coffee;
• small gifts for the youngest passengers;
• blankets

To sum it up, I was satisfied. The flight was good, we got through the turbulence, and we picked up our luggage without any problems.

Reminder for tourists traveling to Jordan

General information:
Before the start of the tour, you receive a full package of documents (air ticket for each passenger, voucher for accommodation, meals and transfer, insurance policy). A package of documents can be obtained from the agency where you purchase the tour.

Having received a package of documents (air ticket, insurance, voucher), check that the data is written correctly. If any discrepancies are found, contact the person who issued the documents. Please note that up to 3 (three) errors in spelling of last name and gender are allowed on an air ticket.

To leave Russia, all tourists must have a foreign passport with them (for children over 5 years old who are included in the parents’ passport, a photo pasted into this passport is required). Children under 18 years of age traveling abroad unaccompanied by their parents (or accompanied by one of the parents or guardians) must have a notarized consent of the second parent/parents for the trip and a birth certificate for presentation at passport control. Please take into account that you are responsible for the correct execution of documents, the validity period and authenticity of your passports. If you fail to pass passport control, no claims regarding this matter will be accepted by the travel agency.

Check-in for the flight begins 3 hours and ends 40 minutes before departure.

In accordance with the rules of international air transportation, if your flight is delayed, the air carrier is responsible for the flight delay.

Children under two years of age (infants) are not provided with a seat on the plane, i.e. they travel on the lap of their parents.

Debtors:

Please keep in mind that if you have an outstanding debt (including fines), confirmed by a writ of execution issued on the basis of a judicial act, your trip may not take place, since a copy of the bailiff’s decision on the temporary restriction of the debtor’s departure from the Russian Federation sent to border authorities. Elta Travel is not responsible for the impossibility of carrying out a tour on this basis.

You can obtain additional information on the issuance of permits and the procedure for crossing the state border of the Russian Federation from specialized government bodies - the Federal Migration Service of the Russian Federation and its territorial divisions (http://www. *****) or from the Border Service of the FSB of Russia and its territorial divisions (http:/fps. *****).

You can export from Russia, without issuing a bank certificate for export and declaring, currency in the equivalent of up to 3,000 US dollars per person. When individuals export foreign currency and/or currency of the Russian Federation in the amount of 3,000 to US dollars, the entire amount must be declared in the passenger customs declaration.

Jordanian cuisine - "a note for gourmets"

Contrary to popular belief, local cuisine is not as hot and spicy as is commonly believed. But mint, various greens and herbs, lemons of all kinds, onions, pickled olives, pine nuts, etc. are added to food everywhere.

Among the popular appetizers are all kinds of salads, meat and vegetable stews, pastries with various fillings, pickles and pickled vegetables, as well as the famous dishes of finely pureed peas and herbs - “falafel” and “hummus”, “mutabbal” eggplant pasta, spicy peas Thenia paste, as well as various greens.

A lot of bread is consumed at the table, mainly in the form of flatbreads "kmazh" (they, as elsewhere in the east, are often used instead of spoons), more traditional bread "ragyf" and various varieties of lavash.

The basis for meat dishes is chicken, lamb and veal, usually served with rice or potatoes. The most popular are the unique flatbreads with meat and herbs “shawarma” (real “shawarma”!), stewed lamb “mensaf” with a sauce made from fermented milk products “laban” and with a side dish of rice, lentils “adas” with chicken and onions in lemon juice, thick meat soup with garlic, rice and lemon juice “mlukhiya”, chicken “musakhkhan” fried in olive oil (served with flatbread and onion sauce), vegetables stewed in a special way with meat or poultry “makluba”, charcoal-fried meat “shish kabab” , cold cuts “mashavi”, etc.

Sweets produced in Jordan are considered some of the best in the Arab world. Here you can also find cookies sprinkled with sesame seeds, “baklava” (baklava) with pistachios, the famous “kanafah” (knafeh) with cheese, “Gataef” pies, “Javafa” guava dessert, excellent ice cream, various candied fruits and hundreds other types of confectionery products!

USEFUL TIPS

Since the majority of the population professes Islam, we ask our lovely ladies to choose their clothes wisely and, if possible, not to walk the streets in too revealing outfits. The religion of this country does not welcome this. In hotels on the Dead and Red Seas, looser clothing may be worn.
Holidays in Jordan on the Red and Dead Seas are considered one of the safest. Thefts practically never happen at resorts in Jordan, but we recommend storing money, valuables and documents in safes in your room or at the reception. In most hotels, using a safe is included in the list of free services.

Be careful when storing your valuables, since the hotel administration, your host in Jordan and our company are not responsible for ensuring the safety of your money, valuables and documents!

Jordan is a country of oriental bazaars. When purchasing any item, we advise you to first bargain and try to bring down the price. Inflating the original price is not an attempt to deceive the buyer - it is a national trait to bargain.

In hotels in Jordan, it is not recommended to drink tap water, and you should not even brush your teeth with it. We recommend buying mineral water in 1.5 liter bottles (0.5 dinars, almost 0.7 dollars).

With the HALF BOARD system, free drinks are only included with breakfast. You must pay extra for dinner. On average, a can of juice in restaurants costs $3.

ATTENTION! Checkout time in hotels in Jordan is 12 noon (unless otherwise specified in the hotel reception). This means that on the last day of your stay (the day of departure) you must vacate your room after breakfast before 12.00. If the checkout time is overdue, you yourself pay for an additional day at hotel prices.

PHONES: (COUNTRY CODE + 962)

Embassy of Jordan in Moscow :
Mamonovsky lane 3
phone: +7 (4, -2845, -4344, -9564, -3430
fax: +7 (4

Russian Embassy in Jordan :
Jordan, Amman, 3-d circle, Zahran street
phone: (8-10-96, 64-1229

Thank you for understanding the traditions of the country, We wish you a wonderful holiday, interesting excursions and good shopping!

Hi all! We have just returned from Jordan and I would like to talk about the trip based on fresh impressions))

Tickets to Jordan, by the way, is not a cheap country at all, are expensive. Since there are no charters, and there are no direct flights due to the war in Syria, we flew in Turkish flights through Istanbul. The company pleased us with brand new planes, no flight delays and very decent food on board (Aeroflot-Airfrance-Lufhansa are on vacation)

By the way, if you speak English well, you can safely ask for a seat at the emergency exit, where you will fly with greater comfort

The first impression of Jordan was not clear. The morning at the airport in Amman, the capital of Jordan, greeted us with the same +17 as in Moscow, but little by little the air began to warm up to +34. But Amman itself did not at all resemble a capital city in the usual sense.

Since we didn’t take a tour, but booked everything ourselves, we rented a car, drove around the capital and stopped for breakfast.

Imagine my surprise when it turned out that the cafe does not have cutlery, and here it is customary to eat everything with your hands! But hunger is not a problem. Somehow, having gotten the table dirty, they tried to pick up food with flatbreads and had a snack. By the way, on the third day of our stay, we perfectly mastered the use of flatbread spoons and realized that eating with our hands tastes better. It’s actually cool to take a piece of meat and dip it in sauces!)))

The first point of our trip to Jordan was a trip to the place of the baptism of Jesus Christ in the sacred Jordan River.

Having chosen the road to the Dead Sea according to the sign, we moved towards the Land of Baptism

The path to the baptism site is very well organized. The canopy provides shelter from the scorching sun:

The water in the Jordan River is brown and very cloudy due to the fast current, which erodes clay and carries silt. But if you put water in a bottle and let it sit for a while, the impurities settle and the water becomes clear.

By the way, earlier the place of Christ’s baptism was considered to be Eizaria on the bank of the river on the Israeli side. The photo below clearly shows the Israeli bank of the Jordan River (the river is narrow). However, archaeological finds have confirmed that it was here that Jesus crossed the Jordan River, where he was baptized.
Writings written by pilgrims to the Holy Places during the heyday of the Byzantine Empire often mentioned a Greek column with a cross on its top, marking the place of baptism and erected during early Christianity. She can be seen in this photo

Jesus Christ was baptized by John the Baptist in the waters of the Jordan River. The border between Jordan and Israel runs along its modern bed; over two thousand years, the bed has shifted and the historical site of the baptism of Christ remains on the territory of Jordan.
Orthodox and Catholic pilgrims have different attitudes towards this place. Catholics are generally calm, but Orthodox Christians are especially zealous in their veneration.
The river itself is about ten meters wide. One bank is Jordan, the other is Israeli. In fact, this is a border zone, and all contacts with people on the other side are prohibited. It’s funny to watch this at a time when there are predominantly Russian tourists on both sides.
It is customary for Orthodox Christians to climb into the water and plunge three times, imitating biblical events.

While on the Israeli side only a small paddling pool surrounded by buoys is accessible, on the Jordanian side the entire river area is open for water treatments:

Greek Orthodox Church:

All hotels in the Dead Sea are five-star and quite expensive. At the beginning, we were given a tour of the territory, describing the already obvious advantages, and then they offered us to choose a room

This is the view from our balcony))

Sea, sun, strong tea and detective Dontsova - I'm on vacation!))

Yes, on the very first evening we went for natural spa treatments - the Dead Sea and healing mud. They say that you can’t swim in the Dead Sea - this is not entirely true. I swam great)). But you cannot linger for more than 20 minutes in warm water, which feels like vegetable oil, otherwise you will get a salt burn. After the sea - a mud wrap for 15 minutes, in the sea you wash yourself - and the skin is like a baby's - I won't exaggerate.

By the way, the Dead Sea perfectly removes water from the body (which promotes weight loss). They say that here one German decided to swim to the other side and... died of dehydration.

More defamations to the Dead Sea: It is called dead because not a single microorganism or bacterium can survive in this highly concentrated water with salts and minerals. People with skin problems come here to kill all sorts of problems with water, people with bone problems, because the ability of this water to draw out everything unnecessary, relieves joint and other pain. And oncology is also treated for the same reason.

The next day we simply spent at the hotel - Sea, SPA, water park

Yes, for the first 2 days we were ALONE in the hotel!!! My husband and I were served like kings))

There were cutlery in the hotel restaurant, hooray!))

The next excursion was to the city of Nebo, located on the top of a rocky mountain. “And Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho.”

When we drove along the edge of the cliff to the top of this mountain, I sat with my eyes closed, because I was sure that they would bury me here. The part-time driver and guide drove up, telling my husband the history of this mountain, desperately gesticulating and periodically letting go of the steering wheel. I remembered all the famous prayers so as not to fall into the abyss. Our ears were blocked, our arms and legs were frozen with horror, and in the end, oddly enough, we made it to the top alive!

A few words about the place where we arrived. Mount Sky. Height 833 meters above sea level. It was from here, according to the Bible, that God showed Moses the Promised Land, and this same place is supposedly the place of Moses’ death. Therefore, it is no coincidence that pilgrims from all over the world flock here.

Pope John Paul II was also no exception and visited Mount Nebo in 2000. The first monument that we saw in the complex was dedicated to this memorable event

To his right is the Franciscan Guardian of the Holy Land, on which is written “Mount Nebo. Moses Memorial, Christian Shrine."

Mount Nebo is a place of pilgrimage for representatives of various faiths. According to unconfirmed information, the monastery complex located on the mountain has existed for more than a thousand years. From the height of the mountain you can see the panorama of the Holy Land that was once revealed to Moses: the Jordan Valley, the Dead Sea, Jericho and Jerusalem.

Here, on the top of the mountain, a memorial to Moses has been restored, including a temple with mosaics from the 6th century built by the Franciscans on the site of an ancient sanctuary.

During the first decade of the 7th century, the western doors to the baptistery were walled up, three rooms of the cloister were destroyed, and the floor was leveled with that of the rest of the basilica. This provided the basis and foundation for the construction of the chapel of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Mother of God).
Moving further, we find ourselves at the observation deck. In its center is the so-called tablet of Moses, which shows the directions and distances to famous places in the Promised Land.

At the highest point of Mount Nebo, the Staff of Moses (Snake Cross) was erected. It symbolizes the copper serpent erected by Moses in the desert, and at the same time the cross on which Jesus was crucified.

There, on Mount Nebo, there is an archaeological museum that confirms the dates given during the excursion.

I’ll write a separate post about the trip to Petra and vacation on the Red Sea, otherwise this one turned out to be very long. Overall the impression of Jordan is excellent. Everyone reveres and sincerely loves their king, who manages to keep the local currency (dinar) above the dollar and euro, does not get involved in political games and is free from imports. And they are simply delighted with the queen - well, simply Miss Universe!

For many, the Muslim woman is seen as passive and oppressed. The fallacy of this view of the place of women in Islam is proven, for example, by Queen Rania of Jordan, who leads an active political and social life, and in 2003 Rania was recognized as the most elegant woman in the world according to the results of a survey conducted via the Internet by the British magazine “HELLO!” . In addition, Queen Rania is one of the most beautiful Arab women and the most beautiful queen of modern times.

Good, isn't it? By the way, they say that the king himself can easily be met on the street, in a cafe, at the bazaar - he specially goes out into people in order to know how his country lives!

Even in Jordan, we bought cosmetics based on Dead Sea water, creams, muds, etc., which were expensive compared to Israeli prices. For comparison: in Israeli shops on the shores of the Dead Sea you can buy creams for 5-10 dollars. In Jordan it is 25-40.

My husband says, let’s dial from here for free. I nodded rashly, forgetting my husband’s penchant for gigantomania. He took a package (a solid one, like Globusovsky), and went with a beach mud spreader to the place where this dirt is collected. I see a plastic bag of dirt rushing by. I say: why do we need so much happiness? They’ll take it away at the airport anyway! He says we’ll buy an extra bag and put it in our luggage. Then he grumbled dissatisfiedly, “at home you’ll regret that you didn’t take everything,” displeasedly watching me put the black, greasy property of the Dead Sea into a small bag. Well, they also grabbed a small bottle of sea water.

Nastya, I’m sorry we didn’t meet, we extended our stay at the Dead Sea, it was just too heavenly a vacation! We ended up in Aqaba only on the day of departure. Next time we'll definitely see you!!!

I usually avoid relationships with travel companies and agencies (especially Russian ones) and almost always travel on my own. But then I really wanted to go to Jordan. Look at Petra, and the beach-sea in Aqaba in the cold St. Petersburg autumn. Of course, there are no direct flights from St. Petersburg, where we live, to Jordan (thank you, Pulkovo!). There are also no direct non-charter flights from Moscow to Aqaba. You can get to Amman, but either direct Royal Jordanian for a very high price tag, or with a transfer and also not cheap. And then from Amman either fly to Aqaba again, or travel by land. Well, in general, everything is not good.

I thought for a long time, doubted it, and three months ago I bought a week’s tour to Aqaba from Pegas Touristik. Well, what do you think? The tour is cheaper than traveling by regular bus, plus the hotel is paid for and some food is provided. And there are fewer transfers! I can get to Moscow inexpensively, I’ll use the same Aeroflot miles, but damn, they’re not good for anything serious. Moreover, Pegas has its own airline, Nord Wind. We flew with them 1.5 years ago to Egypt in Hurghada, everything was without problems. And here is a direct flight from Sheremetyevo. So I bought us, for 1,500 rubles one way per person + 20 thousand miles, round-trip tickets from St. Petersburg to Sheremetyevo by Aeroflot so that the reserve was good in time (“there” 4 hours, and back we had to budget an overnight stay). And I sit happy.
Yesterday, less than three days before departure, the valiant company Pegas Touristik changes
- departure airport from Sheremetyevo to Vnukovo;
- the departure time is exactly 12 hours earlier (and the flight from a convenient daytime becomes a trashy night one);
- a/k "North Wind" on iFly, which has four lousy planes and a reputation like a wounded cat.
P####ts! There are no other words.
But not only that: there is no flight on the Vnukovo board! And iFly actually doesn’t fly to Jordan and never has. Well, that is. There are already deep doubts that the flight will be carried out at least close to schedule.
It’s simply impossible to get the fucking Pegas Touristik to tell you what’s going on. The contact center mumbles by rote that everything is fine and “check the information on the website.” On the website, dates, flights, airports are changed in the application on the website and a new voucher is sent.
It’s clear that ALL my tickets to/from Moscow fly by, since they are under a single booking code, and if you don’t use the ticket there, then it’s a fig, not a ticket back. I frantically buy tickets to Vnukovo and back again from Sheremetyevo (they haven’t changed the return flight, and even if they change it, there’s a huge amount of time on the way back, I’ll get to Sheremetyevo and the hotel is booked there, we’ll spend the night and fly home in the morning) . 11 thousand rubles for three, like a cow licks it with its tongue.
And the most important thing is that, of course, there are no guarantees!!!
Well, what kind of hoopoes are these Pegas Touristik??? The vacation hasn't started yet, but the mood has already been ruined.
I swear I will not get involved with Russian travel companies.

UPD 1. Pegasus explains that the plane broke down, there is no replacement, they agreed with iFly, which canceled the flight to Tunisia and put it in Aqaba. The flight has just appeared on the Vnukovo website.

UPD 2. At night we flew away on time. Tourists from the same Pegasus were toiling nearby: the flight to Tunisia was delayed for a day (!), and to Antalya for 12 hours. People have a great vacation