On to Petra, truly and deservedly one of the wonders of the world. Carved into mountains of rock, the buildings look like monumental Greco-Roman structures – in the middle of mountains. I don’t just mean that they are placed in the middle of the mountains in the middle of the dessert, which they are, but that appartently these folks looked at mountains of stone and decided to carve away all the parts that did not create the magnificent buildings they desired – truly mind bendingly awesome. Most likely done by aliens I figure, seems more likely than the history we read of the Nabataeans. There are actually a number of different architectural styles, including Egyptian, Mesopotamian, and other ancient influences, as these brilliant engineers borrowed from all cultures that passed through this very active trading area.
Calvin and I got in mid afternoon from Aqaba. Given that the 2 day passes are not much more than the one day pass, we proceeded to a later afternoon hike. Our hike started past the god rocks and obelisk tomb. We then proceeded through the passage called As-Siq, a long deep narrow gorge with cliffs up to 80 meters, bizarre geological formations and colorful rocks, with water channels cut into the sides. We arrived at the Treasury (Al-Khazneh), which is so beautiful and seems so terribly unlikely – truly a treasure to see. Past the High Place of Sacrifice, Street of Facades and the Theater, lots of elaborate tombs, eventually up the 800 sometimes tricky steps to Al-Deir, the Monastery, and on the Top of the World to see out across the desert mountains.
Actually the first day we got to Temonos Gate, about 3/4 of the way, before turning back because it was getting dark, the second day we did the entire hike all the way to the Top of the World. This is all in some serious heat – I wore my sunproof clothes – thank you Father, along with a big hat and sunglasses, Calvin wore his hat and sunscreen. We drank lots of drinks and cooled in the shade when we could, but that is some serious weather they have – could cook a wimpy NorCal body like mine! Its something like 47 stories down at the beginning part, lots of up and down, and then lots of up at the end – we were seriously hot, sweaty,tired and very happy puppies at the end! Magnificent!
The Bedoins offer camel, horse, donkey and carriage rides, and sell jewelry, trinkets, coffee sets, postcards, etc. They look just like pirates – Johnny Depp move over! Maybe our image of pirates comes from Bedoins – I don’t know, but they are rather dashing! The kids now go to school which will give them more lifestyle choice. We have seen lots of camping Bedoins, and have been told that people can camp pretty much anywhere (except on someones home or business). Some local folks have told us that they are in fact wealthy and not poor – I don’t know the truth.
We stayed at the Movenpick right next to the entrance for Petra – a great hotel, we loved it. Beautifully decorated in an Arab style, great breakfast, and they let us take showers in the gym downstairs hours after we checked out. We had a good Bedouin dinner in a place very close by. A wonderful time!