June 18, Petra and my Milestone Birthday!

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Today we visit Petra, a UNESCO World heritage site. Petra, like many other places on our tour required some preparation, so let’s start there.

It is HOT in the Middle East in June, July, and August. In fact, the tourist season is winding down by June because it is HOT. September and October are great months to go. November and December as well as January and February are the wet season. In the high mountain areas it will snow! So the best time to go is late March through early June.

Shoes. A word about shoes. You are not here to impress anyone if you are on tour so leave those dress shoes home. They add weight and are not at all necessary. Your best friend will be a good pair (I prefer 2) of walking shoes. Something that can take a pounding, is light in weight and has a secure sole to prevent slipping would be perfect. Uneven ground, slippery stones, and hills are the standard fare so you will be thankful for a good pair of shoes. Socks are also very important. You want something that has a cushion, wicks away sweat, and can prevent your feet from slipping inside the shoes to prevent blisters. A well-prepared set of feet with take you miles, and you will walk miles and miles every day!

So, on to Petra. We got there early to beat the heat and the crowds. Today will be a very long walking day. From the bus stop we walked to the Siq, the narrow winding path that eventually opened up to the most amazing site, the inappropriately named treasury. Think Indiana Jones. The treasury is really a tomb, but it is so amazing that many thought it must be hiding a great treasure; it is not. But I digress.

From the bus to the start of the Siq is about ½ mile. From the entry point through the very winding path you will walk just shy of 2 miles. There is another mile walking among the ruins and the same 2 miles back to the bus! (We only saw part of the site. The full site requires days!) Now you know why I mentioned walking shoes.

We were very lucky. There were hardly any crowds. The temperature was a cool 85 with a nice breeze. It made the walk very pleasant.

If you don’t care to walk to the Treasury, you have two options: a golf cart or a horse. I chose the horse! Yup, today was my 70^th birthday and I jumped on a horse, just like Indiana Jones. The horse ride is “FREE,” meaning you do not have to pay to get on but you will have to pay to get off! The locals are very good at separating you from your money. They will engage you, get you talking, become your friend, and keep trying to sell you something. My free horse cost $10.

If you are not into riding, you can take the golf cart club car. These vehicles hold up to 6 people and will set you back about $20. Unfortunately the golf cart just blows through the Siq so you don’t get much of a view of the amazing rock structures along the way.

My suggestion is to walk through the Siq to the treasury to enjoy the grandeur of the place and take the golf cart back. It is mostly downhill going so it is all uphill going back. This way you get the best of both worlds.

Petra was a trading city along the silk road. Here caravans would stop and trade silk, spices, amber, frankincense and myrrh (you can never have too much myrrh). Along the way you will pass carvings in the 80-foot-tall cliffs. These sandstone cliffs show the wear and tear of centuries of rain and snow and have been carved by both man and the hand of God. The view is breathtaking.

When you do finally emerge from the Siq, you will come face to face with the most astounding carving ever. Drawn out of the very living rock itself in the Treasury, an ancient tomb of the Nabataean people. It was amazingly built from the top down and carved into the living rock. It is over 2000 years old.

There are many other tombs throughout the area, and we explored some. As with all places in Jordan, where there are tourists, there were vendors galore, hawking camel rides, photos on a camel, and every king of crapola imaginable.

One vendor offered us some silver earrings for the low low price of 85 dinars. We said, “No thank you” a dozen times, but he was persistent, continually dropping the price. His final offer was 15 denars. My guess was they were fake. So, another warning: be careful what you are buying. Our guide gave us a code. If he said the shops in an area were EXCELLENT, the items were crapola. If he said they were GOOD, then they were genuine. Good to know!

Our next stop was to our “hotel.” Now I put that in quotes because our hotel was actually a tent! Yup, we were glamping.

Our bus took us on another off road ride through the desert sands of Wadi Rum. We traveled deep into the desert until we came to our campsite. Now don’t think tents and cots. Our campsite was indeed a series of tents about 20’ X 12’ complete with a bathroom and bedroom and the associated closets, etc. found in a hotel room. The interior of the tent was well appointed with a silk ceiling reminiscent of Lawrence of Arabia, which they filmed in this area!

When we arrived in our tent, it was hot, most likely over 105 degrees; fortunately, there was an air conditioner on the wall which I cranked up to cool things down. Little did I know that was not necessary.

We checked in and were quickly whisked away for our next adventure, a thrilling Jeep ride (read open top truck) deep into the desert of Wadi Rum. Here we learned about the filming of The Martian, Lawrence of Arabia, and Star Wars. Yup, this whole area looks like we are on another planet.

The goal of the desert run was to find a spot to watch the sun set behind the mountains. We arrived at our look out spot with just our group sitting on the rocks and watching the sun go down. As it got closer and closer to sunset, more and more people arrived.

Since we are in the desert, there is no water in the atmosphere for the dying rays of the sun to reflect off so there was not spectacular colors or cloud array to enhance the sight. Basically, the sun went down behind the mountain and that was that!

After the sun went down, so did the temperature. With nothing to hold the heat, the temperature dropped quite quickly. Remember that tent at 105 degrees? By the time we had dinner, another buffet with the same choices, the room was below 70 degrees! It was perfect for sleeping and sleep we did.



We are getting closer and closer to the end of our tour. Tomorrow, we head to the Dead Sea on our final leg before heading home and back to reality on Wednesday.

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