Petra

PETRA

I didn’t sleep well; not sure of why. I often don’t sleep well when we have an early call for a tour. But I also don’t recall the usual noise of the ship getting ready for the pilot to come onboard and the mooring lines being prepared on the front of the ship.

Immigration

Nothing Nada. All we need is our cruise card. We saw no border officials’ anywhere. We saw a few here and there at Petra and at stops along the way but nothing like the presence we have seen in other countries. You have a sense of a pretty open country.

And we are off!

There are 3 ships in port: a Holland America ship and a Russian ship. Both are larger ships than ours. Our ship alone had 9 busses going to Petra. There was another tour of Wadi Rum but I don’t know how many busses went there. I just know the pier looked like a sea of busses.

The desert

The terrain changes somewhat along the 2 hour journey to Petra. It is all desert of course but near the port it is sharp, high, craggy mountain peaks with winding ways through the valley part. Almost no vegetation here unless it is manmade. The highway is modern and easily travelled but there are occasional police cars to each side. After less than an hour, we reach a customs point. Aqaba is an economic development area where there are no taxes so they control what goes in and out since the prices are lower in Aqaba.

Along the way, we see various herd animals here and there as there becomes some very sparse vegetation: sheep, goats, now and then a donkey (so cute). No dogs ever seen but I did see a very pregnant cat and probably one of her previous litter in Petra begging for food.

We begin to climb as Petra is in excess of 5000 feet. I had feared the heat, but the weather was actually cool which I loved as while my arms were cool, my torso and head were sweating nonetheless.

First stop

For “squeezing the orange” (our guide reminded us to never miss this opportunity) and window shop in this small shop. A few folks bought a few things as our time was very short here.

Then were are off again. We saw more Bedouin tents along the way sometimes with a pick up nearby and a donkey grazing. As we reached the top of these mountains, we did see some areas with new sprouts. It snows up here in January and February and some people now plant tomatoes and grains for personal consumption. And of course occasional herds of sheep or goats tended by a shepherd usually in native dress.

We begin winding up and down mountains with houses clinging to hillsides, usually in a white material. The stones have changed from granite near Aqaba to more sandstone here. These people must be sturdy to traverse these steep hills.

Clothing

You see everything from very traditional to more modern dress (I’m excluding the tourists who do not dress very appropriately for the weather or the treks. Our guide was a small woman, 38, who could not have been more than 4’11”. She has never married: she is waiting for King Abdullah to ask her to marry him. She has her full head covered, her arms and her legs. But she is quick to say any choice is tolerated.

We arrive at Petra

The city has grown and the visitor’s center is far removed from where they now drop you off from the bus. There are now two large bus lots and you must pick out your bus from among the thousands (Ok I exaggerate a little but it does take a while to find yours).

We gather by the visitor’s center, Salam gets our tickets and we go through the turnstile (also new) and we begin our descent into Petra. The landscape looks hardscrabble and uninviting and tough. You see nothing that looks like the Treasury, the landmark façade for Petra. The path is dirt, with rocks everywhere and rifts where the water has cut through. I brought my trekker stick and hang on to Ed, but it is still difficult. And people crowd around you and push especially in the very narrow areas of which there are many.

First we pass

The old Nebatean tombstones and learn the meaning of many of the bas relief. This earth is now sandstone. We pass the horse drawn carriages (now this is REALLY gilding the lily! Surrey with the fringe on top is only mildly descriptive). Those poor horses and mules look very mistreated and in fact there was a sign to report such mistreatment. I fear it goes ignored. There are also horses for hire on the side. A horse ride was included in our ticket but a $5 tip is demanded at the end. We trudged on. Down and Down we go stopping to view some of the water works they made, the bas relief of camel caravans, the rock formation that looks like a fish from one angle and an elephant from another. I had remembered this one.

And then it peeks out of the sandstone walls (think Grand Canyon) and you gradually see the Treasury emerge. It is impossible to descry e it adequately. The worksmanship and symbolism are remarkable and they have never found any tools to explain how it was made.

Weather

We got so lucky as the temperature was cool; still we sweated with the hot sun (long sleeves, scarves to cover what your hat did not) and the exertion. We also carried water and drank regularly but you still get dehydrated. Forget about a toilet: as any regular traveler will tell you: use the toilet every chance you get as you never know.

I decided to sit in front of the treasury and shooed Ed on to take the camera and shoot pics up near the Coliseum and the other sites beyond the Treasury. My back was hurting and I strained a muscle in my upper leg. I saw lots of the ship’s crew here too. And the passengers from the other two ships and other tourists from all over the world. Natives were also visiting with family I tow. I was surprised when a young boy sat down next to me and I saw his father taking a photo so I scooted over. The father signaled for me to get closer to his son so I did. Later a man asked if his daughter could have her picture taken with me. Her name was Amar but she didn’t seem to speak English though the father clearly did. Amar was dressed as a conservative Muslim woman including well made up face and sun glasses. I was used to this in China but it surprised me here.

A couple from the HA ship sat next to me and said the tour guide had not shown up so they rented a cab for the trip to Petra ($70 USD one way) and so they knew nothing about the site. So I gave them a mini-lecture on it including explaining the various things to look at on the façade of the treasury.

The trek back

Soon enough Ed with Frances and Randy in tow, arrived and we began our trek out of the canyon. Randy and Ed drug along way behind us but Frances and I keep up our pace higher and higher. It was less crowded going out (about 1 pm) but you still had to plaster yourself on the side of the canyon wall so the buggies didn’t run over you as they blitzed past. Cost for that 2 scream ride was $30 USD one way.

We stopped now and then to catch our breath and rewater ourselves, and then continue on past the vendors trying to get us to take the horse ride, buy postcards (10 to 4 for $1USD depending on where you were in the trek), purchase silver bracelets: “1 dollar!” Yeah right. It was $1 USD per 3 or 4 grams and I’d it isn’t silver.

(One of our table mates bought a “leather” belt in a souk in Dubai and not until the ship Dubai did he figure out—because it started to crumble—that it wasn’t leather.

Lunch finally

We had lunch in the same Movenpick Hotel as last time and were escorted to exactly the same table in this huge eating hall. What are the chances of that? A full bottle of water was provided. The food, as it was last time, was Arabic and excellent and you could have as much as you wanted.

Back on the bus

We had to wait for one couple who was: one guess here! SHOPPING! And made some lame excuse about thinking the time to be on the bus was 30 min later and thus they were early! I have no patience with people who do that but there is always one everywhere in the world where we have been.

The trip back

No stops this time. The sun was going down and the mountains and desert look entirely different with the low sun on them. Again many goats, sheep and donkeys along the way with traditional herders with them.

Dinner

We were so tired it really didn’t matter much what they fed us but Francis is a superior salesman when it comes to food and we did our part along with rehydrating.

To bed

There was a movie in the lounge for those who were interested but we did manage to stay awake until 10 pm and died right away.