1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?

Syria and Jordan are places I’ve wanted to visit for years and I am bewildered still by the immense treasure of both places plus the totally different atmosphere where people have dignity in the way they regard themselves and others. Petra obviously is amazing, the night under the stars in wadi rum where I tried to stay awake and couldn’t, because it was so beautiful, the camel ride and horse ride, palmyra, krak des chevaliers, the black basalt statues at bosra, aleppoe, damascus, all phenomenal and of course the desert extraordinarily beautiful in all its colours and forms.

2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?

If you are coeliac be prepared to starve periodically, there is no understanding of a gluten free diet here. A head scarf is very useful for women as it keeps the wind off you in the desert and the smell from your nose and mouth in the toilets. Be prepared for the vagaries of the plumbing. Remember to drink more water than you thought was possible, and use it for cleaning your teeth as well, not the tap water.
Pack your sense of humour and don’t leave it behind anywhere.

3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, and minimized impacts on the environment?

Up to a point - destroying the coral in Aqaba so people can go snorkelling is not really my idea of benefiting anyone.

4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?

Pretty good, hard and hungry work, very very tiring, you only scratch the surface and it feels like you are racing from one extraordinary site to another at times.

Read the operator's response here:

Thank you very much for your helpful comments, and we were pleased to learn that you enjoyed the holiday so much. Jordan is certainly a remarkable country to visit! Your feedback regarding the problems you experienced with your dietary requirements was very useful, and we appreciate you highlighting this. Unfortunately it can be difficult for our operators in some areas to cater for this, so we will put a note in the Jordan and Syria trip notes to suggest coeliac clients bring some essentials with them just in case.

With regard to the snorkelling trip, we agree that it is extremely important not to damage the environment we are visiting, so your comments are quite concerning. If you could let us know more information on what company you used (as the snorkelling trips are not part of our pre-booked itinerary) and exactly which parts of the excursion you found to be damaging the coral, we will certainly ask our local operator to look into it further.