The Rose City

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Well I was planning on doing a single blog for all of Jordan seeing as we are only here for 4 nights, but the combined scenery of Wadi Rum and the city of Petra have put a spanner in the works for that. For anyone considering Petra, it is worth it. It was absolutely amazing, and if I seem t be repeating those exclamations, I will cover my bases and say the day at Petra is the highlight of the trip thus far.

We rocked up there and started our tour with the guide and it was a 1.2km walk along the narrow passage you see in all the photos until you come to the 'Treasury'. It's only named that cs the British thought there was gold hidden in the top urn. They shot it down, and there wasn't. Smart soldiers. We also saw many tombs, but the undoubted highlight was what we were advised to do first.

As soon as the tour finished we made the 7km trek up 850 steps to the top of one of the mountains where the Monastery is. Now this place is stunning. Turning that final corner and seeing this huge building all the way up here was a fanastic feeling. We spent a couple of hours up here and on the clifftops while Michelle tested out the acoustics singing in the Monastery. The for the rest of the day we went around various other ruins and over the day, we guessed we must have covered 25km. It will be good to come back in 20 years or so as they still have only excavated 20% of the city!

The fllowing day was a travelling day as we headed up to Amman via the Dead Sea. We did the obligatory swim there and despite us all knwing we would float, we were still surprised we we did. A very wierd feeling and personally I felt like one of the buoys in the harbour.

Apparently there is not alt to do in Amman, so we were only there for the night, and we did what everyone does when they go to Jordan. We went straight to the Irish pub. It was an interesting night which resulted in us carrying the driver home after he fell asleep at the bar. Good fun though and sort of a bonding night.

We next day we were off to another country and into Syria, where we would be staying at Damascus, the oldest city in the world, over 5,000 years old. Just slightly over New Zealand's......

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Photos

Narrow entrance
On the way into Petra.

Treasury
In all its glorious early morning light.

Me playing on the edge
It was only a 50m drop. Honest.

Monastery
Artistic shot through a rock.

View towards Israel
From above the treasury.

Monastery 2
As you will read, thıs ıs at the top of a mountain. Good work to the builders!

Petra
Overlooking the site, you can see various buildings carved into the mountain in the distance.

Dead Sea
From the bus

Superman?!?
No, but I can see how you would be mistaken. It's me floating in the Dead Sea.

Dead Sea 2
Just chilling, reading a book.