Day Eleven--Petra--January 3, 2011

Not having the best nights sleep due to the unsavory cold weather (and no heat in the “chalet”), at 5:00 a.m. I was awoken by the call to Allah.  It didn’t last long and/or I fell asleep again until the next call at 7:00 a.m.  O.K. time to get going.  

Packing is always fun, just kidding.  I’ve shifted things to where I put the toiletries in my backpack, then I have the electronics bag, my suitcase, I put my camera in my fanny pack and then all my money and passport in a purse that goes over my shoulder.  
It’s not so easy to move quickly.  I definitely failed in my goal of having one carry on.

Anyway, after breakfast (very modest pretty much left overs from dinner) it was 8:30 a.m. and Yahia said the bus would be coming around 9 ish (you know there aren’t any bus schedules in Jordan).  I decided I’d better go to the bathroom since the ride might be up to 2 hours.  Right when I was finishing, Yahia was calling to me that the bus was waiting.  

I’m not sure what I expected with the bus, but when I got out in the parking lot I saw a mini bus packed with people suitcases and backpacks. It didn’t seem as though there would be room for me.  However, all my things had been put on and I got the last seat.  The suitcases and backpacks were all in the aisles so there was little room for movement.

5 minute photo stop

The bus ride was fine and about 20 minutes from the town of Petra, the bus driver said, “o.k. 5 minute photo stop”.  

the seller

The view was fabulous, but really I  think we stopped because his friend was there shoveling slocky souvenirs .  It was also at this time that the driver collected the 5JD fare.  

As we continued on this incredibly windy mountain road, I watched with much hesitation as the driver spoke and texted on his phone.  Clearly it’s not illegal to talk or text here.  The roads are incredibly new but with lots of hairpin turns.

I could tell we were getting closer to the town because I started to see hotels.  I saw the Marriott and asked the driver to stop and let me out.  (O.K. so this is one of the good parts of the lack of structure in this part of the world).  
He said, “Here, the Marriott”

“Yes please,” I answered.

“O.K. make sure you take all your things.  People sometimes leave things on the bus.” he said.

Oh not to worry.  I got all my things off the bus and crossed the street to the Marriott.  I was able to use reward points so I thought this would be a good option for the one night in Petra.  The location was a bit out of town but the view was incredible.

I walked up the driveway to the entrance and had to put all my bags through security.  It was only 10:30 a.m. and I wasn’t sure they would have a room ready but they were able to find one.

I asked if it was possible to walk to the Visitor’s Center and I was told “No it is 5 miles”.  

“O.K. how much is a taxi”, I asked.

“10 JD return.  Would you like us to get you one.” the man asked me.

“Yes, please.” I responded.

So I went to my room, left my bags, got my camera and was ready for my journey to Petra.  

I was glad to have taken the taxi because not only was it a bit of a distance, the roads were very hilly and windy.  It wouldn’t have been bad going, as it was all downhill, but that meant coming back would be all up hill.  I had no idea how long I would be at the site.

The taxi driver was quite nice, trying to sell me a tour of “little Petra” then “big Petra” with this guide and that thing.

I just knew it wasn’t what I wanted.

“No thank you, just take me to the visitor’s center.”  I said.

“O.K. as you wish mame,” the driver responded.

He continued to try selling me anything.

“So how long will you be in the site?  I can be here to pick you up at  4:00 o.k.?” he asked.

“No, thank you I don’t really know how long I’m going to be here”. I said.

I tried to pay him the 5JD for the ride and he said, “no you pay me later”.

“No, I don’t know when I’m going to be done so I want to pay you now.”  I insisted. 
I gave him the 5JD and got out of the cab.

You’ve got to be tough here.  They are used to working the tourists.

I must say the Jordanian government has done a nice job for the tourists.  They have a very nice visitor’s center and I didn’t want to waste anytime since it was about 11:30 a.m. and I knew the sun set at 5:00 p.m.

The entrance fee nearly killed me.  I had no idea, the price was 50 JD nearly 70 US dollars.  I guess it’s their Disneyland.

the main street once you enter the site

At the end of the day I will say it was worth it.  I’m sure the fee is to keep the site in it’s incredibly clean state (you don’t see trash anywhere), even with all the bedouin hacklers selling souvenirs and trying to get you to take a camel ride or a mule ride, especially up the 800 steps to the monastery; there are tourist police everywhere, so you feel safe.
  

the bathroom lady

And for me the best part was there were bathrooms (port o potties, for a fee of course).  The first time I stopped, I asked the woman how much it was to use the port-o-potty.  She had a little tray with lots of different kinds of money and the one I recognized was a dollar bill.  O.K. for one buck I’ll do it.  I’ve used worse but I got her photo also.  Not such a big price to pay.  

Walking around was amazing.  It’s difficult to describe and even the photos that I’ve added here can’t tell the entire story.  It’s one of those things where you really need to see it for yourself to believe it.  All I could think about was the movie “127 Hours” and of course the ball rolling after Harrison Ford in “Indiana Jones”.  This is where “Indiana Jones” was filmed.  

Mostly I was awed and amazed at the ingenuity of these people who thousands of years ago designed, drew, engineered and built this city. 

can't you just see the ball rolling down the street

afternoon prayers

The detail was incredible.  What tools did they have? There had to be someone that had lots of money as well because it couldn’t have been cheap to build these things.  Not to mention that it’s still intact 1000’s of years later.

The Treasury Building

always need a camel ride

What will they unearth from us?  Ever see the movie “Wall-E”? That’s what they will get from us, broken pieces of technology.  Sad.  

I think these ancient civilizations were far ahead of us.  What happened?  Many questions filled my head while I walked through this historical place.  Apparently this city was lost for 1000 years mostly because of it’s location in the middle of no where. 

Enjoy the photos

coin seller by the tombs

The Great Temple
(being worked on with Brown University)

a fallen column in the temple

Elephant head on top of column in Great Temple

 top of column of Elephant head

I walked around by myself for several hours until I ran into a group of Aussies.  I was just starting my assent of the 800 steps to the Monastery and they were too, there were 11 of them.  Somehow I started talking to one of them and then I was talking to all of them and before I knew it I was joining them in the climb.

I stayed with them all the way to the top and walked back down with just two of them.  There’s always someone to talk to.  The Aussies are so friendly they’ll talk to anyone too.

The climb was not so easy and I was beginning to understand why there were mule rides.  Navigating up and around the stairs was dicey because you had to not only maneuver around the mules going up and coming down but also all the shit they left behind.  Mostly people took the mules up and walked down.  I was in it to walk up these stairs, but then I started to say, it better be worth it.

There were lots of tea and souvenir stands all along the route run by the Bedouins.  They wanted you to stop and have tea.  No stopping, I just wanted to get to the top.  

I guess it was about 2:30 p.m. or 3:00 p.m. by the time we got to the top.  The walk must have taken about an hour.  I don’t remember exactly.  I kept thinking we were there but no each time we came to a corner we had more stairs.  Shortly after I had said I hope it’s worth it again, one of the Aussies said, “take a look out of the corner of your eye on the right” and there it was.  

The Monastery

Oh my god, it was worth it.  Again, I’m not sure even the photo can give you the full experience.  Maybe it seemed better after all the work to get there as well but it was incredible to see this perfectly intact building.  There was another hill to climb for another view but I passed on that.  Instead I went and had a coffee and cookie and sat down for a few minutes.

Since the sun sets so early I couldn’t really dawdle too long.

Walking down was much easier and the views were fantastic.  The light on the mountains was lovely so of course we stopped many times along the way back.  I stayed with one man and his daughter all the way back to the entrance.

the tombs as the sun was setting

What a day this was.  When I got back to the entrance I found a taxi and bargained with the driver to take me back to hotel.  He wanted 10 JD and I said “No”, it only cost me 5 JD to come here.  


Oh he had some story as to why now it was more expensive to take me back to exactly the same place I'd come from.  In the end I won and he took me for the 5JD.  


He (Mohammed) turned out to be very nice and told me he was born in Petra and that everyone who lives in Petra is related somehow.  He told me a story about his grandfather who predicted that Petra would outgrow itself. He told me that he had two children; a five year old daughter and an 8 month old son.  He told me that not many outsiders can come to live in Petra because it’s hard to fit into the “family”.  


Anyway, I thought he was nice and I asked him how much he would charge to take me to the border the next day.  We agreed on $60.  The hotel had already told me the same price and I knew it was farther than Wadi Rum was from the border so thought it was an o.k. deal.  I arranged for him to come at 10:00 a.m. the next morning.

Remember I said the hotel was up on a hill with a great view.  The sun was just setting when I returned and it was incredible.  I went outside to take a few photos.

I was beat and wanted nothing more than to have a bath and relax.  I thought a turkish bath was included with the room but it turned out that only the sauna and steam were.  The turkish bath was an hour long thing and given by a guy who was in his 20’s.  I decided not to take the turkish bath and went to my room and took a bath there.  It felt great.  After being on my feet for 5 hours it was nice to relax.

Once I was dressed I went to have something to eat.  Not very exciting.  I had the salad bar.  The food was rather expensive and I knew it wasn’t going to be very good.  

Oh well, I went to my room and wrote on my computer.

Here I am at a “5 star” hotel and they want me to pay for the internet.  Wait, wasn’t I just in the middle of the dessert and had it in my room for free.  Is there something wrong with this picture?

Go figure.