From a desert oasis to Petra's wonder walls

Occupying a 2,000-year-old burial tomb in the grounds of Petra Guest House Hotel, it has been carefully re-fashioned into a cocktail lounge and filled with lanterns casting light on to the sandstone walls. Sipping gin and tonics, the sweet scent of hookah pipes swirls around me as I take in its very significant location. It sits at the entrance to Petra, one of the new Seven Wonders of the World.

With caves, tombs and temples carved directly into the blushing pink sandstone cliff faces, this ancient Jordanian city was once a thriving trading centre and the capital of the Nabataean empire.

But following an earthquake in 363, it became "lost" to the western world and inhabited only by nomadic Bedouins who were desperate to keep it a secret.

That was until 1812 when Swiss traveller Johann Burckhardt "rediscovered" it, tricking his way into the fiercely guarded site by pretending to be an Arab from India.

Now a popular tourist hub, up to 5,000 visitors a day stream down the long and narrow gorge known as The Siq to reach The Treasury, Petra's most famous monument.

Featured in the closing stages of Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade, camels rest outside its six-pillared frontage, awaiting their next passengers while Bedouins mingle with the tourists to hawk their trinkets.

I travelled to Aqaba in Jordan on easyJet's brand new route from Gatwick. The first non-stop link from the UK, the port city boasting beaches, coffee shops and souks, is part of the "Golden Triangle" along with the tourist hotspots of Petra and Wadi Rum.

Following the five-hour flight, I reboot with a meze dinner of silky hummus, tzatziki and baba ganoush at the luxurious Al Manara hotel.

Located on the shores of the Red Sea, named so because of its high concentration of pink coral, snorkelling is a popular pursuit here.

If you don't fancy getting wet, take a motorboat from Aqaba harbour, then peer over the sides at the smiling turtles and reefs teeming with fish.

The cast of Star Wars stayed at the Al Manara while shooting Episode IX on location in Wadi Rum, a protected desert wilderness in southern Jordan.

Nicknamed The Valley of the Moon, its spectacular lunar landscape of oddly-shaped monolithic rock formations bearing prehistoric carvings proved the ideal backdrop for the sci-fi adventure.

You can experience its other-worldly sensations for yourself on an overnight excursion to the space-age Sun City Camp.

Sleeping out in one of its 20 luxury "Martian Domes", with very comfortable beds, shower rooms and star-gazing windows, I wake at 5.30am for a jeep ride into the heart of the desert to watch the sunrise.

While still in darkness, Bedouin guides gather scrub desert wood for a fire to make much-needed hot coffee and sweet tea on a chilly desert morning.

Then as the first glimpses of blood orange peep over the furthest ridge of mountains, I sense the primitive wonder the Nabataeans must have experienced more than 2,000 years ago.

On the camel ride back to base camp, I feel like T. E. Lawrence, aka Lawrence of Arabia, who crossed these very same sands during the First World War while masterminding the Arab revolt to overthrow the Ottoman Empire.

From here I drive northwards to Amman to experience the natural phenomenon of the Dead Sea.

With 40 per cent salt density, no life survives in this great expanse of water. Unless that is, you count the tourists who flock here to cover themselves in the mineral-rich mud and float in its tension-relieving saline solution.

Taking the plunge myself, I find it impossible to sink under the surface. The dense weight of salt keeps me afloat as I gaze over to Israel on the opposite shore.

That night I check in to the five-star Kempinski Hotel Ishtar, which boasts the biggest spa in the Middle East and features Dead Sea-inspired treatments.

After dining at the hotel's Ashur Pizza & Grill restaurant overlooking the infinity pool, I stroll down to its pristine man-made beach to dip my toes in the vast salt lake one last time. 

At 400 metres below sea level, it claims to be the lowest place on Earth. But after experiencing Jordan's ancient treasures and natural wonders, I am certainly left on a high.

The knowledge