Lawrence of Arabia, Bible stories and mysterious lost cities-Jordan is romantic and epic. Better yet, it’s one of the most welcoming countries in the world. Where else do total strangers invite you into their homes for a heady brew of tea? lt’s also home to two of the most spectacular sights in the Middle East: Petra, the ancient Nabatean city, and the startling desert scenery of Wadi Rum that enraptured TE Lawrence.

April to May or September to October, when you can dodge the baking sun of summer and the freezing winds of winter

Visiting the ancient ruins of Petra Pretending you’re Julius Caesar at the preserved Roman city Jerash Lolling in the restorative salt, sea and mud of the Dead Sea Diving into the scuba-friendly waters around Aqaba Camping out under the stars at Wadi Rum Finding your inner Richard the Lionheart at Karak, Jordan’s best-preserved Crusader castle

Read Seven Pillars of Wisdom by TE Lawrence-it’s Lawrence of Arabia straight from the camel’s mouth

Listen to Khaliji, a collection of tunes and belly dancing hits featuring Jordanian, Naser Musa

Watch lndiana Jones and the Last Crusade for the climactic scenes filmed in and around Petra

Eat mensaf, the Bedouin speciality-a whole lamb, head included, on rice and pine nuts

Drink tea, because you’ll be offered it in bladder-bursting amounts by hospitable Jordanians

Salam (hello)

Bedouins in keffiyah (head robes); endless tea-drinking; windswept deserts; ancient ruins; bubbling nargileh (water pipes); peacemaking King Hussein

Not everyoune is a Bedouin in Jordan; there’s a majority Palestinian population which arrived during times of war in their homeland

Amman’s Queen Alia lnternational Airport was bright, modern, a 1970s disco film set leaping with so many orange-suited cleaners they almost had to clean each other for something to do.