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Greetings Everyone, hope you're well. For the past two days we've been exploring the ancient city of Petra.
We stayed in a great hostel; Petra Gate in Wadi Musa. The town kinda sprang up out of nowhere, it's located at the top of the hill, before you get to Petra. A buffet dinner for just 5JD, what a bargain! The hommas we've had in Jordon has been the best ever.
Back to Petra. Our days started early. On the first day, we took a guided tour for two hours. Mohamed took us through the Siq, which lead to the Treasury. There are amazing formation, such as a caravan of camels, aqueducts and cravings. Finally through the cracks, we see it the Treasury aka the last scene in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. It was amazing, the detail that remained. So beautiful, breathtaking. Leading into the opening, we both had the theme song going through our heads. We continued through for a bit to the Roman Amphitheater and the Bedouin Village.
From there we high tailed it through the Columnated street to the base of the monastery. What stood ahead of us was 800 steps and at 11am
Michelle and the Treasury
Here I am in Petra, the first temple we come to is the Treasury. Its completely carved out of rock. there was little or no shade, so we opted once again for our trusty steeds. Once again our lives hung in the strength of a donkey, the only problem was they did always walk up the stairs, the jumped. Stephen and I had to hang on for dear life, our knuckles white from holding on so tight. Once we arrived it was amazing. The monastery is bigger than the treasury but unfortunately not as well preserved. The size is mind blowing, to think like most of the attractions in Petra, it was cut out of the stone still attached to the wall. There is only one free standing temple in Petra, and it's basically in ruins. We made the hike down, it was hard but not as bad as the ride up!! I got to do some shopping, it was great. It was great, so amazing to think it's just so much more than the Treasury, the face of Petra. We headed back to the hotel for some rest before we experienced "Petra by Night".
"Petra by Night" is open to the public on Mondays, Wednesday and Thursday. We were lucky enough to be there on the correct night.
They light the path with candles from the entrance to the Treasury, about 2km. It was magical. Once we were there, we sat and enjoyed some traditional Bedouin Music and sweet tea, a tribesman's let us know about the Bedouin life style.
Our second day started early again, this time we headed through the Siq, past the Treasury, this time with a little less people and onto the stairway up to the High Place of Sacrifice. It was only 600 steps, but it was certainly high.The view was amazing, it was of the whole of Petra. From there we made our way down the hill and was lucky enough to come across a number of other ruins. And that was our time in Petra. It was great, as it was so much more that I expected. The whole town goes for ever and it's very hot and no shade.
The next day we headed back to Amman. Sightseeing in Amman was easy. The only problem was again, it was either walking up hills or steps. I took steps. Amman only has three attractions, the Roman Amphitheater, the Citadel (and museum) and the Mosque (which we didn't see). Jordan
has been a great country, the people are so friendly and the food is so yummy and cheap. It doesn't feel like people are going to rip you off, like previous countries. The best falafels we've ever had!!
Off to Israel on the 25th of May, that should be an adventure.
Missing you heaps,
Love to all.
Michelle and Stephen.
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