Blogs from Petra, South, Jordan, Middle East

From the small town of Wadi Musa we travelled a short distance to Little Petra. It was an interesting introduction to the area. Here we found the old Nabataean structures which had been dug out of the sides of the canyon. These included a collection systems, steps and "shops" . He last section of the area involved a short but steep set of stairs which was an introductory test to the main Petra site. Next day up early to visit Petra. The first section, about 2.5 km long is through the Siq or narrow canyon. So interesting seeing the variety of carvings. Finally a glimpse of the Treasury! Astounding in size. Petra is much bigger than I imagined. Over the day, we walked about 16 km because we went up the 850 steps to the Monastery. ... read more

I apologize as I am a full day behind in the blog, but we traveled so long and saw so much that when I got to the hotel at 10:30 PM (we started at 8:30 AM) I was bushed and went right to sleep. Today we started out on the bus and headed towards Petra. Our first stop along the King's Highway was the city of Madaba. This is a very ancient city and boasts two major sites, The Greek Orthodox Church and Mt Nebo. The church is dedicated to St. George who slew the dragon. The current church is from the 18th century. The church was built on the site of a Byzantine Church from 560 AD. Although the church is relatively new, the builders uncovered a mosaic floor of profound importance. It was not ... read more

The next day started off with another car ride, this time to Petra. After settling into our hotel room, my sister, dad and I went to eat lunch- gyro meat for them and falafel for me- before adventuring through the ruins of Petra. We rode horses a part of the way there and continued on foot after reaching the start of the impressive towers of rock. Contributing to the magnificence were the carvings on the rocks- the broken pediment of that famous Petra temple, the rendering of a camel, and the tombs scattered throughout the mountains overlooking tables of knickknacks. We left by mode of a go-cart and went back to the hotel. We ended the night by eating at the “Cave Bar” which is supposedly the oldest bar in the world. The next morning we ... read more

21 mars à …. Je travaille en hôtellerie depuis longtemps, et des chambres de grands hôtels, j'en ai vu et revu souvent. Mais jamais j'aurais cru qu'un jour, je passerai autant de temps confiné à l'une d'entre-elles: la chambre 811 du Marriott Petra en Jordanie. Rideaux fermés, je pourrais tout autant me trouver à Melbourne qu'à Ouagadougou. Au centre de la pièce se trouve un lit king pour m'échouer en ange et devant, un téléviseur plus long qu'à la maison où tournera sans s'arrêter CNN ou Al Jazeera en bruit de fond. J'accroche ma casquette, mon masque et mes gants de caoutchouc refoulés sur le coin d'un cadre présentant le trésor de Petra au loin, en sépia. J'ouvre mes sacs-poubelle contenant mes affaires personnelles et reclasse par terre mon butin. Mélangé à mon linge, les cannages, ... read more

19 mars (Deuxième Partie) Dans le bureau de la Tourist Police, l'interrogatoire s'organise comme un film noir alors qu'on nous observe sans mot dire, Eugène le russe et moi-même. Les agents se démasquent parfois, le temps de tirer une bouffée mate de cigarette qu'ils évacueront rapidement en soupir. Assis sur un divan mou et déformé par l'attente, on me cloue quelques questions sur mon arrivée en Jordanie, puis mon arrivé à Petra, puis sur mon logement et mes transports. Les policiers anonymes parlent peu anglais: leurs demandes se feront très souvent en un seul mot. ''Where? When? How?'' Derrière son cabinet, le policier en chef, sans camouflage, parle au téléphone en laissant perler une goûte de sueur le long de sa tempe grisonnante. Dans le cendrier, transformée en bâton d'encens, sa clope se consume en un ... read more