Jordan was a magnificent experience and the city of Petra was one of the most wonderful experiences in the Middle East. Here are some pictures. [View Full Entry]

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As usual, I am here in an exotic location on Business and on the last day of work, I decided I should go do tourist stuff. I actually decided to do the tourist stuff long ago, I just never made any plans. On the way from the airport I discuss my tourist desires with my driver, Yanal Bikmerza, and he suggests that I should spend the night in the Wadi Rum when I visit Petra on Friday. He fills my head with visions of the Bedouins and their camp, sleeping in a tent and enjoying an evening of Arab desert hospitality. [View Full Entry]

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After a day or two of Petra, you will have developed a few new skills. You will be able to take on anybody in a camel-and-donkey-shit-dodging relay race. You can say “no” to cute 5-yr old children faster than they can approach you with useless pieces of rock. However your tolerance for fat but scantily-dressed foreigners will have regressed as you probably haven’t seen exposed, cellulited muffin tops in 3 weeks, and you certainly haven’t seen sunburnt man-boobs (yes, some men take their shirts off here...) in too long. I mean what is this, a Six Flags? Your eyes will need [View Full Entry]

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We got back to Amman and walked for supper but as this proved to be far to energetic and mildly scary we gave up after about an hour and got a taxi to the restaurant which was scrummy! The following day we woke up bright and early as we were heading to Petra. We had decided to hire a car as it was not going to be possible to get public transport and hiring a driver was to expensive! Anyhow on getting into the car we checked about petrol and realised that I had no idea where a petrol station was [View Full Entry]

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The ancient city of Petra is set in a grand canyon and the rock formations and gorges are impressive enough, even without seeing the buildings carved into the rock faces. To get to the city you have to walk down a narrow, snaking, high walled canyon; and the anticipation of seeing The Treasury building for the first time felt electric. The Treasury, of Indiana Jones' fame, is everything we'd hoped it would be - imposing, beautiful, breathtaking and a gorgeous rose pink colour. The only other thing we've seen that has had such a profound impression on us are the Angkor [View Full Entry]

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Petra was incredible! I will have to upload some pics later because this computer also doesnt recognize my camera. It is truly indescribable! YOu begin the journey by walking though a gorge/tunnel called a seek that is caused by a shift in tectonic plates and a consequent flash float. It is truly incredible. Just check out Indiana Jones and the Last Cruisader to get a look. I met some cool people at the hostel and talked a group of American/Brit/Canadian guys (5 in total) into joining me for the 6am hike to Petra to get some pics in good light, and [View Full Entry]

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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 [View Full Entry]

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After 7.5 hours over night on a bus which once again failed the climate test, 3.5 hours at the Israeli boarder being interrogated in regards to my American friend who is also an Iranian and my beard-grooming, and an incredibly expensive cab ride across the whole of Israel I arrived at the Jordanian boarder a bit winded. While I could undoubtedly spend a long time discussing my feelings for Israel, I will let the issue go and instead focus on why I like Jordan. We crossed the Jordanian boarder a few miles outside Aqaba, Jordan's only Red City port city and [View Full Entry]

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Boy was Day 5 a big day. This was the Petra day and our tour guide got us up rather nice and early so that we could get into Petra before all the crowds arrived. I have to say that if we were getting there before all the crowds I would hate to see what it would be like with crowds. We were staying in the Petra Palace hotel (yes that is right it was actually called the Petra Palace) which is just up the road from Petra. So bright and early in the morning we all got up and [View Full Entry]

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On the road to Petra Petra is an archaeological site in Jordan. It is renowned for its rock-cut architecture. The approach through a kilometer long, cool, and gloom chasm (or Siq) a long narrow gorge whose steeply rising sides all but obliterate the sun, provides a dramatic contrast with the magic to come. Suddenly the gorge opens into a natural square dominated by Petra's most famous monument, The Treasury (El-Khazneh), whose intricately carved facade glows in the dazzling sun. Make sure to visit the Khazneh in the morning around 9am (the way the morning sun hits the building is marvelous). The [View Full Entry]

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