In addition, Israel and Palestine, Jordan's neighbours to the west, have no monopoly on biblical history: it was in Jordan that Lot sought refuge from the fire and brimstone of the Lord; Moses, Aaron and John the Baptist all died in Jordan; and Jesus was almost certainly baptized here. Event the Prophet Muhammed passed through.

And yet the country is far from being stuck in the past. Amman is a thoroughly modern capital. Government is stable, with leanings towards democracy, under a constitutional monarchy, and manages to be simultaneously pro-Western, pro-Arab, founded on a bedrock of Muslim authority.

Petra, an unforgettably dramatic 2000 year old city carved out of the a red sandstone valley hidden behind mountain peaks in the south of the country. Its extraordinary architecture and powerful atmosphere imprint themselves indelibly on most visitors imaginations.