Petra and Wadi Rum

11-11-11, Friday: Happy Veterans Day back home! They have said special things on the ship about this and also Canada’s Remembrance Day.  They even played moving trumpet music over the ship intercom and had a moment of silence, quite nice.  

We are off to Petra & Wadi Rum!  7:00 our dynamic duo of guide Mohammad and driver Kusain (sp?) met us even before the appointed time so we will be one of the first to arrive at Petra. We made just one stop on the way for the restroom and of course it was also a great overview of the Arava valley. There was a small gift and souvenir shop there as well.  This young woman tried hard to sell me the scarf for my head.  The way my hair looks I am sure she thought I needed it!  The red and white check is the common and popular color used here. We were told the drive was 1.5 hours but it was on the other side of 2 hours, which was fine.  The weather was fantastic and not too hot.  It took us about 1.5 hours to walk down to the Treasury location.  There were multiple and interesting things to see along the way that Mohammad explained in detail to us.  On thing that always amazes me is the Roman roads still in existence from the 1st century.  We also saw these Roman roads on our Rick Steves Europe trip in 2009.  To know you stood where others did so long ago gives us a connection to our past.  “Rome” was the “world” to them at that time as they controlled so much of it.  We also saw Greek inscriptions along the way, just amazing.  Finally Mohammad told us to get in a single line and keep going.  This was at the exit of the Siq (a narrow gorge) where the amazing rose red rock city Petra slowly came into view.  Believe me, it was a dramatic moment.  It is amazing and seeing the first glimpse of the Treasury is breathtaking.  First it is a just a tiny slit of a view and as it opens up to the full view it really is an unbelievable site.  There was dust rising from the feet of so many people along with horses, donkey, and camels.  The roar of the noise of the people gave it an eerie feeling of going back into time when it was a busy and lively city in ancient times.  I briefly felt somewhat transported to the past.  I really cannot imagine what things were like from 900 BC to 1400 AD when this Treasury and the Theater area are believed to have been carved, it is past the imagination!  From here we continued our guided tour along the Street of Facades, the tombs, and the guided tour ended at the theater (that held 5000 people) leaving us about 1.5 hours of free time.  Instead of venturing further down to view the Royal Tombs we decided to further explore the areas we walked by.  Due to time constraints we either have the choice to walk back now or explore more and take one of the “chariots” back.  We decided the later.  We were able to explore the inside of a large tomb and other inside areas.  I probably took 100 photos on the walk down and in the ancient city.  It is an amazing place. We are thankful it is not hot today.  I might add the ride back up was the most jarring experience ever.  I am sure it would be easier on the body to have walked but by then we didn’t have time at that point.  No wonder they tried to stay in the established “ruts” on these Roman roads!  And to imagine we even have rubber tires on this little vehicle!  Horseback was another option but slower and perhaps as hard on the back as the jolting ride we had.  We are thankful our visit began early as hordes of people are heading down about the time we are heading back, hundreds of people on ship tours. 

We had a buffet lunch at local restaurant The Heritage, which compromised of a first course of humus and small vegetable salads.  After that was a large platter of white seasoned sticky rice with lamb on top, served with a milky liquid (I think goat milk not my fav) but the meat and rice were delicious.  We even had dessert, which was a sort of bread pudding made with cake crumbs and not bread, very sweet with a rather floral perfume to it, quite amazing!  I guess what amazed me most with this meal was the care given to us.  The owner and staff kept asking if we liked this traditional lunch, if they could get us something else, and seemed so concerned that we were happy and liked things.  After the meal we went out to the restroom in the back and I had the opportunity to peek into the kitchen.  We were told the women do all the cooking so I wanted to tell them how delicious it was.  The cooks were so sweet and happy we liked it.  I talked to his one and asked for her photo.  She was happy to and took off her apron and checked her lovely face to be sure she was camera worthy (this crosses all cultures apparently).  She asked where I was from and I told her CA and she said I have an Arabic face!  She thought I was from here!  Our driver confirmed, I do!  lol  At 1:30 pm we left the restaurant for our 1.5 hour drive to Wadi Rum.

Wadi Rum is a unique area here where the landscape it so unusual.  So we arrived and boarded our, shall we say rustic vehicles, to experience during a short jeep tour of this amazing desert.  Our first stop was not far and we got out and walked up to the rocks and over a ledge to view ancient inscriptions. The sand in this one location is bright orange (they call it red) and coating our shoes.  The next stop was a huge sand dune where only 3 of the men made it to the top.  The  rest of us really only went a few steps and then decided we didn’t want to go up there anyway.  I actually got a marriage proposal, from one of the drivers of the jeeps.  He only has one wife, he can have up to four wives as a Muslim man.  Of course this was a joke, like the elderly guy who wanted to trade 5 Roman coins for me down in Petra! Anyway, he is a young man with just one wife and one 10 month old child.  He wanted to talk with all of us on some level so he apparently said this to our guide Mohammad and that is how the different discussions began.  You would think he was of low income due to driving one of these rustic 4X4 vehicles but he said he is doing very well, owns more than one home, and many businesses.  On second glance, he actually had the nice truck and  Who knows for sure.  Anyway it was an interesting conversation and it was clear he is proud of his life, family, and country.  All the Muslim people we have met have been kind, gentle, and so very nice and just wanted to know more about us as well.  As we drove on to the last stop for the night, the well and watering area for the animals of the Bedouin people, we met yet more local people.  This couple had 4 children and were soon moving to the USA.  Some of her family is already in there; her sister and family, an uncle, and others I cannot recall.  Anyway, she was very talkative and said she did not like the idea of more than one wife and her husband agreed, good for him, he knows what I noticed right away – she was the boss of their family! 

The moon is lovely now over the desert but it is time to leave this lovely place.  Now we just have our 45 minute drive back to the cruise ship in Aqaba. I can’t say enough about Petra Night Tours, they are excellent, on time, and delivered exactly what they said they would or more.