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Hope you find some buddies to tag along, it would make for a more intresting trip. I'm curious as to why the admission into Petra would be different for non arabs? I could see a validity in it if Jordanian residents and citizens got a discount because it being a home country, but the non arab paying more is wrong in every way... and i'm curious as to how they know if your Arab or not?
How much does it cost for Arabs?
OMG! One thing this country needs are some regulations, or someone to enforce them., and then tourism to these beautiful wonders would soar.
My advice would be to pay a travel agent in Amman and pick your ticket up before you go through the gate at Petra. If you can buy a ticket online, even better.

ATTENTION: It turned out that the tickets need to be baught at least one day prior to the trip. I am going to buy my tickets in a couple hours. If I am not mistaken, Jett's office closes at 6 pm.

Again, al-Abdali office is located by the Islamic Hospital by "ad-Dakhleyyah" circle (is that how you call and spell it?).

If you need help getting there, feel free to call me: 0785106595

elaine123 wrote:

I'm curious as to why the admission into Petra would be different for non arabs?

Because it recently became one of the new 7 wonders of the world, and the government had to find one way to exploit that. It's just another valid way to collect money!

I actually just remembered, my cousin's Japanese teacher who lived here 2 years ago also went there and was also charged 50.

elaine123 wrote:

I could see a validity in it if Jordanian residents and citizens got a discount because it being a home country, but the non arab paying more is wrong in every way...

Is that the first wrong thing you noticed here? It's also wrong in every way that when you ship your own iPod Touch from Saudi Arabia the post office would charge you 100JD in order to receive it, and you would end up returning it to protect yourself from the piracy.

The government here is just obsessed with completely valid ways of collecting money!

elaine123 wrote:

and i'm curious as to how they know if your Arab or not?

It's dependent on the nationality. I have some relatives who are Syrian by blood and culture but are legally Germans. Their fee was the non-Arabs' fee.

elaine123 wrote:

How much does it cost for Arabs?

If I remember correctly, as little as 3JD for Jordanians, and is probably the same for other Arabs as well.

elaine123 wrote:

OMG! One thing this country needs are some regulations, or someone to enforce them., and then tourism to these beautiful wonders would soar.

It's a serious problem that this piracy is totally legal and conducted by the government in the first place!

elaine123 wrote:

My advice would be to pay a travel agent in Amman and pick your ticket up before you go through the gate at Petra. If you can buy a ticket online, even better.

I don't think that any of that is a necessity. Travel agents will always charge extra to help you do things that you could do alone. If you feel more comfortable working with them then sure, but I recommend making it on your own at least once! Life is an adventure after all.

I jump into this discussion about the fees for non-arabic. The reason for this is pure political: it seems that many people from Israel (tourists and locals) coming to Petra just for one day. They buyed their tickets from the Israelian touroperators who selling the tickets very cheap.
And this money come not into Jordan so they see this as a lost.
All the people who coming to see Petra for a very short visit (a few hours) and buy nothing cost the gouverment at the end more.

Yes Sinandira, this is a beautiful place and one should visit this place at least once in a lifetime. I have been to Petra, and plan to revisit someday.I am American. I am not sure how much my ticket cost. Nor was I aked to show an I.D. or passport. My ticket was purchased by an ARAB and I doubt that Arab paid more for mine than his and the seven other family members with us. It just bothers me to think even if I had a Jordanian residency.... which I qualify for but must pay for as in any other country... would it be legal for them to charge me more? Can you please do me a favor and ask the attendants at the gate what these regulations are and post them here on the expat site. I think it would be good information and may help future Petra adventurers.
Thanks, have a great trip.
Please share your photos with us when you return. I'd also like to see your drawing you plan to draw at the entrance.

This information was on the Jordans Tourism Board website:

Entry Ticket (JD) ServicesTicket (JD) Total AdmissionRate (JD)
1 Day
   21                 29                        50
One day visitor to Jordan
   21                 69                        90
2 Days
   26                 29                        55
3 Days
   31                 29                        60

Open 06:00 am - close 16:00 (winter time)
Open 06:00 am – close 18:00 (summer time)


Jordanians, resident card holders and students with valid Jordanian University ID - 1JD per entry
All children under 12 - Free

The place here is FABULOUS, guys! I'm staying at least another day as planned, but could easily add on that.

The Jett bus turned out to be a popular transportation method for tourists (the only 2 people native to the country were me and a Jordanian), not to mention how comfortable and clean it was.

Additionally, more than half the passengers came without having had bought their tickets earlier. I myself was cautious when I bought mine a day earlier, but at the end there were a few empty seats in the bus when it moved 10 minutes late.

Basically, if you guys want to come, then you can hurry up and do! The next bus moves in 9 hours.

Elaine, I don't think that the residency changes anything. I asked at the gate and the answer was very simple and straightforward: Jordanians pay 1JD, everybody else pays 50+. Totally sucks to be non-Jordanian! But it's worth paying once in a life time.

elaine123 wrote:

Jordanians, resident card holders and students with valid Jordanian University ID - 1JD per entry
All children under 12 - Free

That's true.

I've just realized legal residents were included with these. Yes, I asked today at the gate and it turned out that the piracy is against tourists, but all residents regardless of the nationality pay 1JD.

Tomorrow is planned to be my last day. I spent all today and yesterday hiking and exploring new places. Tomorrow is when I'm gonna pick a nice spot to draw. The treasury is awesome, but it's the most crowded place in entire Petra and I feel very uncomfortable drawing there.

My husband and I went last yr. after we were married. now I'm not Jordanian  I'm american, but I'm married to a Jordanian. We showed our marriage licence along with our IDs and he was charged 1JD and me 3JD for the entry fee. we had our marriage certificate with us because we needed to show poof of our marriage to stay at the hotel where we were staying at.

so if you can show your married to a Jordanian then you can pay the Jordanian price of 3 JD

This was our experience for going to Petra.

SinanDira.... hope you took lots of photographs.....you could do a drawing of a photo, if you do decide, please share... art is beauty.

elaine123 wrote:

SinanDira.... hope you took lots of photographs.....you could do a drawing of a photo, if you do decide, please share... art is beauty.

Hey Elaine. I did! I took an awful lot actually, over 300 hundred. At some trails, I basically stopped every 10 meters to take a photo.

Unfortunately, my computer is down since I returned from Amman with one of the most annoying hardware problems I've had to deal with so far, and I am not sure if I can sort and upload my photos any time soon.

Additionally, the view I picked was full of rocks that I hadn't tried drawing before, which I eventually had to give up on after a few hours of trying. Drawing from photos sure is possible, but I just wanted the special joy of live-drawing, in addition to the opportunity of meeting other artists on the way (ahem, I like talking to strangers). Maybe next time!

I'll return whenever I get my computer up and running again.