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Published: December 27th 2010
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Merry Christmas! Yes, we are spending Christmas not that far from Bethlehem, but this time, it's Petra!
Petra is on the list of the 7 Wonders of the World. It shares the honour with Angkor Wat (done 3 times, Mari and Leslie visited the place too), the Great Wall (went there with Leslie when he was 18th months old), Corcovado in Rio (been there few times, the last one last summer with Mari), than Matchu Pichu (twice), Chichen Itza (done), as well as Taj Mahal (done).
My first visit to Petra was 30 months ago on a small stop-over. And you guess what, I was amazed. On the list of the 7 above, I think the only ones which should be on the list with Petra are Angkor Wat, Matchu Pichu, Chichen Itza and maybe the Taj Mahal...the others should not be there I think.
So this time, it was time for Mari and Leslie to share the adventure. We slept at the Movenpick Nabatean Castle hotel. It is 10km outside of town, but what a view from our room, simply amazing. We had a nice big room for a very decent price for a Christmas Eve...and the
best, they had the great idea not to organize one of these over-priced "gala dinner" which I really don't fancy these days.
On 24th of december, our taxi driver brought us from Wadi Rum to our hotel. We knew that on 25th, the wake up call would be at 6am to make sure we had a first "private" glimpse of Petra. So we decided to have an easy Christams Eve. Do not worry for us...we plan...and we already had our proper Christmas dinner at home in Bangkok on the 18th of December. For our 24th December Eve....we ate a simple dinner at the movenpick restaurant, having some "average" Jordan wine. As the waiter said...sir, this one is very good...ok, maybe for him, but not really our liking. No worries...we do travel with our bubbles. As our bubbles are travelling light with us, no vintage for this Christmas, but still nice time to cheer with french bubbly on our little terrace before a very early night!
So here we are on Christmas day. Early wake up call, filing breakfast, dropping our bags at the "other" Movenpick, and on to Petra. My little problem is that all these "good" hotels
start their breakfast way too late...and trust me,you need food ahead of the adventure! A breakfast starting at 6.30am...means you do not reach Petra visitor center before 7.30am...and the doors do open at 6am. But hey, this is ok, it's winter time...and Christmas day! Not many tourists...till 10am.
So we made it to the entry. The price have hiked solid... to a seriously hefty 80usd a head...the only good news...children go for free...thanks Leslie! I had visited (and blogged) about Petra before. My initial visit was great, so the plan was to simply do the same thing.
We rushed down the Siq. This is the narrow canyon going down nearly a full mile to the Treasury. We stopped the time we needed to enjoy the Treasury. At 7.45 am, you have less than 10 tourists at any time here, perfect. Well, last time I was there at 7am and I was on my own, lesson learnt! But after the Treasury, the aim is to rush before the crowd to reach the Monastery. Here you have to keep in mind, Mari and I may be "kind of" fit, but we have a little 10 years old Leslie with us.
Guess what...with a little bit of pushing, the little guy is making it up the 800 steps pretty well! So we did managed to enjoy the Monastery with only 6 other fellow tourists...great!
Once you've reached the Monastery by 9am, you know you have all your time to wonder back all the great sites of Petra. Our JETT bus to Amman was only at 4pm, so we took our time. The only thing we did not do is to climb to the High Place of Sacrifices. This is another serious little climb, and Leslie was simply not up for it, but I will not blame him for it...next time...
We spent a lot of time enjoying the Royal Tombs, as some parts are still not invaded by tourists even around lunch time. One of the funniest experience may have been to sit again at the Treasury for 30 minutes around 1pm. By this time, the place is infested by tourists, the most comical ones being the "cruise types"...have you ever seen a couple riding a camel for 300 meters asking his "camel guy" if he was speaking hebrew...come on! You can guess where the "cruise type guy" was
from...smile!
Last but not least, little lunch in town and we were ready for our ride to Amman. Could have taken a taxi, but the bus was half the price dropping us 400 meters from our next hotel.
Petra, I'm so happy to have been able to bring my little family here. I guess next time Leslie will come here, he may be on his gap year in a few years time, but it will be on his own terms...
We are now based for few days in Amman to explore the North of Jordan, few more entries to come in this wonderful land.
One more last point...the weather. You see the pics, it's full sun here! I was expecting way colder temperatures, but it is actually a vnice warm during day time, no really need for a pullover...and at night, well, we have our jackets, but are not using them so far...nice!
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liliram
liliram
Great memories
You are doing real good for Leslie. He would remember this trip next time he visits, as with many other adventures he has had with you at such a young age. Lucky fella. And you are lucky too, my friend, to have him and Tiffany. Plus Mari of course! Happy new year!