We got so lost driving in Jordan. Our road trip had us so lost from the Dead Sea to Petra that the adventure eventually involved a locked gate, mysterious phone calls, a Jordanian military checkpoint, thick mountain fog, wildlife and a growing concern about running out of gas.

Spoiler alert: we made it to Petra.

But there were several moments when I wasn’t entirely sure that was going to happen.

From the Dead Sea to Petra

This story begins on a high note.

We had just spent the afternoon floating in the Dead Sea and watching an incredible sunset. I was traveling through Jordan with a rental car, and Petra was next.

Petra was the reason I’d come to Jordan in the first place.

I’d been dreaming about it for years.

Looking at the map, getting there seemed straightforward.

Except it wasn’t.

The Dead Sea and Petra look surprisingly close to each other on a map. But the driving directions we were finding seemed to send us in a huge loop — either back toward Amman and then south, or all the way down toward Aqaba before coming back north.

That didn’t make sense to me.

There appeared to be roads going across.

So we decided to investigate.

This turned out to be the beginning of a very bad shortcut.

The Map Said One Thing. The Road Said Another.

We were looking for a road that would take us more directly from the Dead Sea toward Petra.

The problem was that the road wasn’t clearly marked on our map.

We stopped to ask for directions.

Neither of us spoke Arabic, and communication wasn’t easy. We couldn’t quite figure out whether people were telling us there was no way to go directly across, or whether they simply didn’t know the route we were asking about.

Either way, we weren’t getting a clear answer.

So we kept looking.

And that’s when a complete stranger drew us a map.

A Stranger Drew Us a Map

We stopped again, partly because we were hungry and partly because we still had no idea where we were going.

We found someone who seemed to understand what we were asking.

He struggled to explain the directions for several minutes.

Then he did something incredibly kind.

He drew us a map.

Not a quick sketch.

He spent nearly 15 minutes trying to draw a route that we could understand.

It was one of those little travel moments that sticks with you.

We still weren’t entirely sure what the map meant.

But we’d asked for help, and this stranger had gone out of his way to try to help two confused travelers.

So we thanked him and continued.

Unfortunately, we still weren’t sure we were going the right way.

Sometimes You Have to Trust a Stranger

Eventually we decided we’d probably passed the turnoff we were looking for.

We needed to stop again.

The problem was that we were increasingly far from everything.

I’m spoiled by driving in the United States, where highways often have regular exits, rest areas, gas stations and places to stop.

This wasn’t like that.

We could drive for long stretches without seeing another vehicle.

Eventually we found a place where we could stop.

A man at a gate offered to let us in.

He spoke some broken English, which immediately made communication easier.

Unfortunately, he didn’t know where the road to Petra was either.

But he offered to help us find out.

And then things got weird.

The Gate Locked Behind Us

The man invited us inside to use the bathroom while he tried to find someone who could help with directions.

It was a completely reasonable offer.

Except that, in the context of everything else that had happened that night, it felt like the beginning of a horror movie.

We followed him through the gate.

Then we heard it:

Click.

He had locked the gate behind us.

We looked at each other.

Uh oh.

He led us down a small hill, around a corner and toward a building.

At this point, we couldn’t even see the highway anymore.

This was the moment when the audience in a horror movie would be yelling:

“Don’t go in there!”

And yet, everything the man had done had been kind.

He had offered us a bathroom.

He was trying to find directions.

We were lost.

So we kept going.

The King Was Everywhere

Inside his office, there were framed photographs of the King and Queen of Jordan covering the walls.

The whole situation became even more surreal.

We were two lost travelers, somewhere off the highway, in a country where we didn’t speak the language, sitting in a stranger’s office surrounded by photographs of the Jordanian royal family.

We had one question:

How do we get to Petra?

The man made a phone call.

Then another.

Then another.

The calls were in Arabic, so we had absolutely no idea what was being discussed.

One of the calls became surprisingly heated.

He sounded angry or frustrated.

I had no idea whether the conversation had anything to do with us.

And when you can’t understand a single word being said, your imagination has plenty of room to fill in the blanks.

I started wondering what we’d gotten ourselves into.

The Good News: He Was Trying to Help

Eventually we learned what was happening.

The man had called his brother for directions.

His brother didn’t know either.

So he kept calling people.

Eventually he came back with some information about the road.

Apparently, we’d already passed the turn we were looking for.

And then he gave us some advice:

He didn’t recommend that we continue driving that night.

In fact, he invited us to stay there until morning.

That was incredibly kind.

But we’d come this far, Petra was still ahead of us, and we decided to continue.

Looking back, perhaps staying would actually have been the more sensible choice.

The Jordanian Military

Eventually we found the road we were looking for.

It was dark.

The road was quiet.

And then, through the fog that had started to form, we encountered a security checkpoint.

There was a Jordanian military vehicle, soldiers and some very serious-looking equipment. Their military outfits looked purple, and I remember noticing large weapons. Why would they need their weapons out? On hindsight, this is logical, since they don’t know what to expect in my vehicle, but at the time it was scary.

They stopped us and asked questions about where we were going, whose vehicle we were driving and our plans. They asked to see our airline tickets home, and if we know anyone in Jordan.

They also checked the trunk while one person was asking us questions and collecting materials. I assume they were just trying to confirm that we’re just lost tourists, but at the time my heart was pounding, for no reason.

We answered their questions and, after the inspection, they let us continue.

At the time, it was another stressful chapter in an already bizarre evening.

Looking back, I can also understand why a security checkpoint might take an interest in two foreigners driving through an unfamiliar, remote area at night.

Either way, I was very happy when they waved us through.

Unfortunately, the road ahead wasn’t exactly reassuring.

Then the Fog Hit

The road climbed into the mountains.

There were no streetlights.

There were no guardrails.

And our destination still seemed surprisingly close on the map.

Then the fog arrived.

Suddenly we could barely see more than one car length ahead.

I slowed down dramatically.

We hadn’t seen another car in a long time.

Now we were driving slowly through a mountain range in near-zero visibility, on a road we didn’t know, wondering whether we’d made a terrible decision.

I remember thinking that the drive might actually be beautiful in daylight.

At night, in the fog, it was terrifying.

And Then There Were Donkeys

As if the fog and mountain roads weren’t enough, we started encountering wildlife.

Wild dogs appeared.

And then, somehow, a donkey.

A donkey.

We hadn’t seen much vegetation for miles.

We hadn’t seen another car for ages.

And now there was a donkey appearing out of the darkness.

I still don’t understand where it came from.

But it certainly added another variable to the drive.

Running Out of Gas Was the Next Problem

We’d already been worried about getting lost.

Now we had another concern:

fuel.

We had filled up earlier, but getting lost had added unexpected miles to our journey.

And gas stations aren’t particularly useful when you’re driving through remote mountain roads at night.

We started thinking about what would happen if we actually ran out.

There weren’t many cars around.

Visibility was terrible.

And even if another vehicle came along, it wasn’t exactly obvious how we’d explain our predicament. Unfortunately my native english isn’t very useful outside of the tourist areas of Jordan, and I didn’t speak Arabic.

At that point, I was very ready to get to Petra.

Somehow, We Made It

Eventually, we got through the mountains and continued toward Petra.

We survived the shortcut.

We survived the fog.

We survived the locked gate.

We survived the mysterious phone calls.

We survived the military checkpoint.

We survived the wildlife.

And, most importantly, we didn’t run out of gas.

We made it to Petra.

And Petra was worth it.

I’d dreamed about seeing it for years, and when I finally walked through the Siq and saw the Treasury appear through the sandstone walls, I couldn’t believe I was actually there.

Read my Petra story: The Ancient City That Lived Up to the Hype →

The irony is that the actual destination was far less stressful than getting there.

What I Learned Driving in Jordan

Would I recommend driving in Jordan?

Yes — but I’d do a few things differently.

My biggest mistake wasn’t renting a car.

It was assuming that a road that looked like an obvious shortcut on a map would actually be an easy route.

Don’t take unfamiliar mountain roads at night

If I’d known what that road looked like in the dark, I would have waited until morning.

The combination of darkness, fog, unfamiliar roads and steep terrain was not ideal.

Keep your fuel tank full

If you’re driving through remote areas, fill up whenever you have the opportunity.

You never know when you’ll see another gas station that’s open.

Getting lost is stressful enough without wondering whether you’ll run out of fuel.

Ask locals — and listen

We asked several people for directions.

Some couldn’t help.

One stranger spent 15 minutes drawing us a map.

Another invited us inside and made multiple phone calls trying to find someone who could give us directions.

Even when we couldn’t communicate perfectly, people were trying to help.

Don’t assume the shortest route is the best route

This was the biggest lesson.

The route that looked shorter on the map was not necessarily the route we should have taken.

Sometimes there’s a reason the map sends you the long way around.

Would I Drive in Jordan Again?

Absolutely.

I’d just be more conservative about taking what looks like a “shortcut.”

This drive was stressful, but it also gave me one of the best travel stories from my Jordan trip.

And there’s something else I remember about it.

Despite all the moments when I was nervous, confused or wondering whether we’d made a terrible decision, people kept trying to help us.

The man who drew us a map.

The stranger who let us use his bathroom and spent time making phone calls.

The people who tried to explain the route even though we couldn’t speak the same language.

The military checkpoint that eventually waved us through.

Travel can push you outside your comfort zone.

Sometimes that’s uncomfortable.

But sometimes it’s exactly why you remember a place.

And after all of that, we finally reached Petra.

That’s a pretty good road trip story.

More Jordan Adventures

Petra: The Ancient City That Finally Lived Up to the Hype →

Petra was the reason I came to Jordan. After dreaming about it for years, I finally walked through the Siq and saw the Treasury for myself.

Floating in the Dead Sea →

The Dead Sea was one of the highlights of my Jordan trip — although I learned the hard way that jumping into 33% salt water is a terrible idea if you get it in your eyes.

Wadi Rum: Jordan’s Beautiful Desert →

Red sand, enormous landscapes, sunset, sunrise and an overnight stay in the desert.

Dead Sea Mud in Jordan →

The Dead Sea mud became another unexpectedly memorable part of the trip.

Explore Jordan →