Blogs from Petra, South, Jordan, Middle East - page 20

27 Aug - today we visit Petra, an extremely famous UNESCO site and eighth wonder of the ancient world / one of the Modern wonders of the world. We have a guided tour in morning with our guide Ibrahim. Even the approach to Petra is spectacular with out of this world rock formations. Petra is a vast, unique city, carved into the sheer rock face by the Nabateans. Walking through the Siq is like walking through a huge canyon but steeped in history. After a few hours walking, Ibrahim takes us aside and spins us a story about looking for gold, we are so distracted that we follow his every word...it is of course a well-known plot for tourists so that we step back and face the iconic view from the Siq looking on to the ... read more

Patrick and I hired a taxi driver named Moosa to take us from Aqaba to Wadi Rum. He was a really nice guy, but a bit too talkative at times. He took us to his brother's restaurant for breakfast and we ate virtually for free. The drive to Wadi Rum was great. It was through the desert and very scenic. Once we arrived in Wadi Rum, we went into town and Moosa dropped us off at our guide's house. We then met a Swiss brother/sister duo and they joined us for our night into the desert. The four of us rode in the back of a pickup truck for a four hour tour of the desert before arriving at our camp. This is Lawrence of Arabia territory so we saw Lawrence's house (which was nothing more ... read more

I'm surprised at the number of people who have no idea what Petra is. You know, that mystical city that was lost from civilization for 6 centuries. The centre of the great Nabataen civilization; that great Arab force that for some time controlled world trade thanks to its strong control of key east-to-west trade routes. That rose coloured city that was carved 2600 years ago from sandstone drenched in an array of red hues. No - most people look confused. And let’s not begin to talk about the looks regarding the Nabataens - "Naba what?". Of course, then I tell them, "you know that place in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade - that stone temple at the end". And then the sparkle returns to their eyes together with an exclamation of "oh wow!". Of course, ... read more

We made it to Petra yesterday. Didnt do much after the flight and trip except eat and sleep. Today we got up early and checked out the ruins.... read more

MYYYY LAAAAAASSSSTTTTTT DAAAAAAAAAAYYY!!!!!!!!!!!! Soooo I headed back to Diala's house for my last night...tear! Apparently Wednesday nights are dead in Amman so we didn't last long and just headed back home to eat pita and lebanah! (this amazing cheese-like yogurt) It was perfect though because we had to wake up at 6am this morning to catch a ride to PETRAAAA!!!! (yes yes, the lost ancient temple in the 3rd Indiana Jones haha) Petra was amazing!!! THE SECOND WONDER OF THE WORLD!!! Took a few hours to get there but totally worth it! We hiked through the rock to finally get to one of the ancient temples of the 12 kings from back in the day. It was the only house of the 12 kings that got finished and took about 6 years with 20,000 workers..unbelieveable! If ... read more