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Published: November 25th 2006
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Treasury Building
A peek coming through the Siq. Spanish Beer-Pong For my last night in Egypt Tuesday night, I met up with Rosa and Juan Carlos on the Dahab beachfront promenade for a night of drinking, pool, drinking, crazy ping-pong games, and some more drinking. Our night of fun drifted on until the wee hours, me trying to understand their English, and them trying to understand my feeble attempts at Spanish. By the end of the night, we were all speaking that third international language which you can only understand if you have had six or seven beers. I bid them a fond farewell, exchanged emails and we parted ways at about four in the morning.
(Rewind 12 hours) Good travel karma shined down upon me earlier that morning when I met a fellow American from Phoenix, Arizona at the hotel breakfast buffet named Tom Ingalls. Tom was traveling with his wife and daughter through Egypt and Jordan for two weeks, and after comparing notes, we realized that our travel plans for the coming three days were nearly identical. When I returned to the hotel from my all-day adventure in the desert, I had a message from Tom’s daughter Laura inviting me to tag along for their trip
Hola
"Remember this one thing my friend,..us Spanish people are very crazy" to Jordan where they had a driver arranged for the whole deal. Laura was a former CNN journalist and now works for an international non-profit agency helping with elections in new and developing democracies around the world. Conveniently enough, she has lived in Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq, speaks Arabic really well, has an encyclopedic knowledge of the middle east and would prove to be a most delightful and insightful travel-mate.
Checking out of my hotel in Dahab Wednesday morning with a massive hangover courtesy of team Spain,… Tom, Judy, Laura and I all taxied to the Egyptian port town of Nuweiba for the one hour crossing to Aqaba, Jordan. The port was a crazy scene in Egypt, and even crazier scene when finally arrived in Jordan, about three hours later than originally scheduled. Coming off the ferry, we were bussed to the port offices where we were supposed to find our passports somewhere there amidst a sea of hundreds if not thousands of Arabs. Port officers ran around the building with huge stacks of passports in their hands, including ours, looking for their respective owners. In all the madness, it was comforting to have Laura on our side to
Juan Carlo
Life of the party speak with the people and expedite an otherwise confusing border crossing (Thanks Laura!). It’s comedy to watch and wonder how someone hasn’t figured out a better system than this. Maybe I’ll drop a note in the good old “logistics suggestion box” next time. Thankfully, after wading through the chaos, our friendly driver and friend Nasser was waiting for us. It was getting dark, so we drove straight on to Petra where we all checked into the luxurious Movenpick Hotel. Egypt had been taxing on the body, but one night here, a hot bath, room service pizza and a glass of red wine helped soothe all my aches and pains away.
The Petra Monuments Thanksgiving Morning - Waking up refreshed and ready to go, I joined up with the Ingalls in the lobby and we headed out for a half day hike through the beautiful ancient red-rose city of Petra. Petra is the most famous and gorgeous site in all of Jordan if not the world and I can honestly say this is the most breathtaking place I have ever seen. The ancient city is the legacy of the Nabateans, Arab people who settled in the region more than
2000 years ago. They were a refined people who constructed ingenious water systems and achieved an obviously stunning mastery of architecture.
The approach is through a one-mile long siq (chasm), a cool gorge with steep canyon walls so high they virtually block out all sunlight. Suddenly, the gorge opens up to a stunning natural square, dominated by the intricately carved Treasury building (El-Khazneh). One can only stare in awe as you try to imagine how humans could have created this thousands of years ago. Beyond the treasury building, we walked through more canyons which led to an open valley sprinkled with temples, church buildings, columns, carved hillside facades and cave dwellings. About a half mile past the treasury building, we initiated the steep 850 step hike high above the valley to the breathtaking Al-Deir (The Monastery). Here, a chiseled façade is cut into the hillside and is equally impressive (and larger) than the treasury building lower in the valley. To appreciate the true immense scale of this monument you must look at one of the pictures showing a human figure standing at its base, truly amazing! We were one of the first up to the top in the morning
At The Monastery
High above the valley, 850 steps. and we sat here for an hour or so sipping tea and appreciating the grandeur and beauty of the place.
Back at the Movenpick, we cleaned up, checked out and made our way up to the capital city of Amman about four hours away. That night, we went out to give thanks and share a Thanksgiving Dinner together. We ended up dining at a really good Chinese Restaurant Laura knew about, and couldn’t help but think of the funny scene in that movie “A Christmas Story” where the family ends up eating Chinese on Christmas and being sung “Jingrrle Berrs” by the waiters.
Nonetheless, a wonderful end to our first day in Jordan.
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Jim Schroder
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I can't wait to read each Blog.
Mike.. When I saw the photos of Petra it brought back a rush of great memories of an incredible place in the world I visited two years ago. Through your writings and photos we are enjoying your trip as much as you are. The people, places, and experiences are the adventure. Keep sending them and sharing your trips adventures with all of us. Can't wait to read the next chapter.