Jordan

Jordan was amazing not only for the history but also for the landscape. The first stop in Jordan was Wadi Rum, which is an old caravan route and is mostly famous for Lawrence of Arabia. We spent about four hours in the desert climbing hill, sand dunes and exploring the terrain. That night we bushed camped in the middle of the desert and passed the time by making pyramids and doing other stupid tricks, it was a very fun night.

After Wadi Rum we continued onto Wadi Musa, which a small town where Petra is located. The group spent the evening having a movie night which is a very treasured activity while traveling. The next day we went to Petra.

I am going to try to describe Petra to you all, but I don’t think that my words can ever give this location justification for how amazing it is. I first need to introduce you all to my friend Simone, an Aussie that is passing through the Middle East with the truck before she heads back to Australia after a year and half of traveling. She is very laid back, really is always up for whatever and I have enjoyed so much getting to know her and about her life for the last month; now that you know a little about her let me being my story.
We each arrived at the gate of Petra around 8 am with nothing but one liter of water, two bread rolls, and one piece of fruit; this is important because of how long of the day it was. We began the stroll down the As-Siq, the entrance of Petra. Even if walking through this gorge was all we did all day, it would have been worth it. The trail is at the bottom of a gorge, is very narrow and about 1,200 meters long on either side of us were these huge cliffs that are about 80 meters high. It was very easy to get caught up with the sheer magnificence of these cliffs when all of the sudden we walked right into this group of people that had just stopped to take pictures. At the trail with these huge cliffs on either side there was this opening where all you can see while still inside the gorge was a huge building carved in the side of the mountain. This building is called the Treasury, and is famous not only for the sheer beauty of it but also because Indian Jones was partially film there.

Simone and my journey continued only for about a five minute walk through the tomb area when we stopped for coffee in a Bedouins cave shop/house. There were three guys there brushing each other hairs, cleaning their teeth, just sort of getting ready to start their day. We decided on this place because the Turkish coffees were the cheapest, and I am sure glad we did. They had the cutest two month old kitten there that I named Killer because he either cuddled or went to town playing. The guys also gave us some great advice and recommended we walk a few minutes back the other way and head up some stairs and see Petra along the top and then walk back down the main road. Simone and I finished our coffees and began on the trail they recommended.

It took around twenty minutes to get to the top of this mountain to a place called High Place of Sacrifice. We sat at the top of this mountain taking in the view while we enjoyed a bread roll, fruit and water. We then began the descent down the backside of the mountain toward some more tombs. At almost the bottom we saw a sign that indicated a Lion Monument. We wanted to stop there and take a look. There was this little old lady there setting up shop on the side of the trail and she must have seen that we were looking for this monument because in her very high pitch old lady voice she goes “Lion”. I think Simone got what she was talking about but I was still missing it and looking very confused. The lady then repeated her direction of the lion and finally I saw this huge lion carving in the mountain, which was literally right in front of my face.

From there we continued with our journey down the rest of the mountain where this little girl jumped out of these bushes and scared the crap out of both of us and then she tried to get us to buy from here little stand on the side of the road. At this point Simone and I went completely off the path and went through the back country of Petra. We found this hill that we climbed up and ate some more of our food, at this point we were both almost out and it was only 10 am. We sat at the top of this hill and enjoyed watching the Bedouin families that still live in Petra take care of their goats. After this point we stayed off the trail for a while longer and climbed up another mountain, which at the top we found this random café looking house that had so many beautiful flowers and was very green; it was completely unexpected. We then made our way around the front of this mountain, which dumped us right into tourist central. We sat at a view point right by the museum finished the rest of our food, and took a quick nap in the shade.
We had made the decision around 12 that we were going to hike up the Monastery, the must see of Petra, and then have lunch after and make our way out of Petra and then go the Cave Bar, the oldest bar in the world, for a cocktail and more food.

Around 12 we began the hike up the trail to get the Monastery. This trail is about 5 feet across at the widest points and is shared by people going up, coming down, and the donkeys that can be hired to take you to the top. It was not the easiest hike and I honestly was already very hungry and I had almost finished my water. Not the best conditions for me. The Monastery was worth the 800 stairs. I can tell you how big the building was; about 40m by 40m, but that can never really describe how amazing and huge this building carved in the side of the mountain really is. Wow, wow, wow! From the Monastery we continued up the trail to a point called the End of the World, where we were able to enjoy the view of the Rift Valley. This is the same Rift Valley that I saw in Kenya back in June. So I have seen the start and the finish of this valley, which I think is pretty cool.

By the time we made it back down to the bottom it was close to 3:30 and the sun sets around 6 and at that time there was still a ton to see. At this café there was a group of Bedouins sitting at a table and one of the guys asked if we would have a beer with him that night, and we both declined, little did we know where we would end up. We quickly went down the main street, saw some mosaics and then made our way to the Royal Tombs.

We hiked up to the top of one of the tombs and enjoyed the view. We met a Bedouin that offered to show us the stairs that went up the back side of this mountain to see the sunset and a view of the Treasury from the top. Simone and I both agreed that even though at this point we were absolutely starving, barely had any water left, that there was no way that we were going to leave Petra with a mountain unclimbed.

Right before we went around the back side of this mountain to begin the hike up the stairs this guy, Abraham, came riding up on his donkey, Jack, and took over guiding us up the mountain. Abraham happens to be the same Bedouin who early had asked us for to have beers with him. I was dying during the climb up. All I wanted was some calories to burn. I kept taking breaks and Abrahams famous saying was “Take your time, but hurry up.” Finally, we made it to the top started to enjoy the view of the sunset, and then continued along the top of the mountain to see the view of the Treasury. When we got there, there were already two other Bedouins and two other female travelers enjoying some tea and the view. We happily joined the group and devoured the tea that was given to us.

We had to make the hike down the mountain in the dark, scary. At the bottom, the group of the Bedouins invited us to their town for dinner and we accepted. We rode the donkey and horses from Petra to the town up this mountain in the dark, even scarier. In the town, we met Abraham’s full family; mother, brother, sisters, nieces and nephews. It ended up that two of the wives of Abraham’s father lived in this house so there were a lot of people there. When Simone and I agreed to come to the town we were told that we would eat with in an hour, which is how long it would have taken us to hike out of Petra in the dark. This was a lie. After Abrahams house we went to another Bedouins house and enjoyed tea with a wife and her four children. She was 26 and her oldest child was 8 and the youngest was 3, I just couldn’t believe it. Finally the guys came back and picked us up to take us to Little Petra where we were going to cook dinner over a fire. We finally ate dinner at almost 11 pm and it might have been the best meal of my life at that point. We made it home a little after 1 am.

I am going to have to say that going into the community was a highlight of the Petra trip. The whole day was truly amazing and I am going to have to rate in one of the top ten days of my life. It was truly a great day.

In addition to Wadi Rum and Petra the only other significant thing our truck did in Jordan was go to the Dead Sea. Being able to float in water like that is another experience that can never really be described. The experience was great, but I don’t think that I would ever go in again, that much salt burns.

In my opinion, Jordan is a must do for anyone wanting to travel in the Middle East.

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