Petra

We got up at 6, got all of our stuff together (we're leaving the hotel this morning) and went to check out. We have to leave our luggage in the hotel luggage room, as there isn't room in the bus for it. Plus, anything we take over the border is subject to search and therefore delays. 

We first took a quick jaunt down to the Red Sea. We hadn't seen it yet. It was only a 5 minute walk, so we went down before we needed to meet Jeff & Shirley in the lobby.

A driver came for us and took us to the Aqaba border crossing. A lady named Ruth met us there with another couple we didn't know before, Nigel and Jeanette. They're from England. We were all getting ready to go when I discovered I didn't have my passport! I was freaked out, because I had Emma's but not mine. I was in a panic. I had had it the night before, so I knew it had to be in Eilat, but I didn't know if it was in the hotel, the airport, or either of the taxis. I couldn't figure out why I had Em's, but not mine. Luckily, the border is only like 5 minutes from the hotel, so Ruth drove me back. Jeff wanted to go to the ATM,  so he came, too. He didn't realize how much the border crossing was going to cost, and he didn't have enough. I got to the hotel and looked in the bags. Thank goodness, it was right where I thought it would be. I remembered later that I had Em's in my shoulder bag because the tour company had called the night before and needed her passport number. I had just forgotten to put mine back in there after we needed it at the airport. The ATM was out of order, but I had enough shekels to make up for what Jeff needed, and he had more Jordanian dinar than he needed, so we just traded. We didn't actually need any dinar, since everybody will accept dollars and euro, but I really like to have currency from the places we've been. I was really surprised to find that the dinar is stronger than the dollar. It's on par with the euro.

The border crossing was an adventure. It wasn't difficult, though, because our guides helped us. We gave the money to Ruth, and she got us our visas and paid our border taxes. 

There were still many checkpoints and passport checks in the Israeli side, though. Not sure what all of them were for.Then, we had to walk across quite a wide area of no-man's land. 

We met our Jordan guide, Elijah,  on the other side, gave him our passports, and he sorted stuff out on that side. Then there were another bunch of checkpoints and passport checks. 

Then, we met our van. It was a squishy sort of place. I got to know Jeff and Shirley pretty well, though, since we were all squished into the back row together.
The landscape on the way to Petra from Aqaba is pretty dramatic- huge rock formations rising from desert scrub. The rock is so cool, too. It's been formed by wind and water to look unlike any other rock I've seen. My favorites were the ones that looked like they were dripping. 

Pretty soon after we started climbing the mountains, the windows fogged up. Not long after that, the whole outside fogged up. We chatted a lot, since there was no longer anything to look at.

We stopped for a snack/toilet/shopping break at a huge cooperative shop. The toilets were in the Middle Eastern style, where the TP goes in the trash, not the toilet. If you need a rinse, they provide a squirty hose. 

There were stalls with ceramics, stalls with clothing, stalls with jewelry, etc. of course, Em was drawn to the one with the stuffed animals. She picked up a little stuffed camel. We were soon ready to get out of there, because it was freezing! We could see our breath, even in the store. I had not expected that, so Em and I were in skirts and short sleeves. Luckily, we had our sweatshirts, our skirts were long, and our socks were tall, but it was still seriously cold.

Trying to see our breath

Then we continued on to Petra. At first, it's neat, but not awe inspiring. At least not for me. The carvings in the shallow canyon were neat, but nothing to write home about. 

Then, we got into the deep canyon, the Siq. 

The entrance to the Siq

 The walls were so tall, and the canyon was so narrow in spots. The rocks were beautiful,too. They are filled with different minerals, so they all look painted. Not only do the have wonderful colors, but they've also eroded in amazing ways. Some look like drippy candles, and some even look like bacon! 

As you walk through, you see a few tombs here and there. Then, our guide told us to turn back towards the way we had come, and to put our right hands on what was now he right side of the tomb. He said the first spectacular sight was coming. Then, he had us all turn around. There was the Treasury. You know hat building you always see in pictures of Petra? Yeah, that one. It peeks though a very narrow spot in the canyon. If I had a very expensive camera, you would be able to see the contrast of colors. The dark sides of the canyon with this tiny bit of bright pink in the middle. 

As you walk further, you see more and more of the building. Finally, you get to see the whole thing. It's amazing to think that it was all carved right into the face of the rock. 

There's a big open area right there, with a few shops and lots of people offering donkey and camel rides. Elijah had asked us to stay with him for the way down the canyon, and he would give us plenty of time for rides and pictures on the way back. He did give us 10 minutes with the Treasury, though. Interestingly, it's called the Treasury because of the Bedouin, not because it was actually a treasury. Archeologists aren't sure what it really was, but it was probably a tomb, like pretty much everything else in Petra. The Bedouin called it the treasury because they thought there was gold hidden in the carved urn at the top of the building. You can see bullet holes all over the front where they tried to shoot the gold out.

The Bedouin are still trying to get gold, but now from the tourists. The whole way down the canyon are little bedraggled looking children asking you to buy postcards. On any wider ground, adults (and sometimes children) have their wares out on blankets or low walls. Others have bracelets on their arms and walk beside you, trying to sell them to you. You will be called to and hassled at every turn. The ones with the shops won't follow you, but the others will. It's annoying, but I understand that this is how they earn their living, so I don't begrudge them.

When our 10 minutes were up, we met Elijah and headed down the canyon. It opens up into a much wider area, though still lined on either side with rock walls. There were tombs and caves on both sides. In some areas, the decorations on the outside have washed away almost completely, leaving only the carved out inside. But even on there, the colors are amazing. Red, black, grey, green in stripes and swirls all over the fronts and insides of these tombs. I wish that I had a spray bottle to spray on some of the walls to bring out the color, because my camera got a very poor imitation of it.

Elijah set us loose, and gave us two hours to get back to the beginning. It only takes an hour to walk back up the canyon, so we had an hour to explore. We climbed up a rock path to one of the royal tombs (the whole path was lined with shops, of course, as was the ledge in front of the tomb. I'm glad we went, though, because the colors were great, and I was able to get some great panoramas from up there. 
 

We came down a different way, a much rockier way where there weren't any shops. But, several of the tombs in that area are now used for animal storage. It was fun to see caves with donkeys having a rest.

We headed back up the canyon, taking pictures all the way. When we got to the open area at the top of the canyon, Steven decided to run a bit ahead of us. He didn't stop at the meeting place, though, so I went on to find him, while Mom stayed back at the meeting place, in case he had just gone to the bathroom. I found him no problem just a little ways on. I'm glad he want too far, though, because he was near a soda machine, where I remembered that I needed a Jordanian Fanta. I went to the cooler to get it out, when I saw that they had Dew! In Arabic! I love my Fanta labels, but a Dew in Arabic is pretty much a coup for me. I was ecstatic. Plus, it tasted good, not like the Dew in Germany, which tastes like Smarties.

We stopped for a lovely lunch in Wadi Musa, the town at the entrance to Petra. It was a buffet, and it had some really good food. Em and I sat across from the couple from England, so I got to know them, too. Being in a small tour is really different from a big one.

The rest of the drive back to the border was uneventful. When we got to the border, Elijah took our passports, got everything stamped, and sent us to the gate to cross back to Israel. That's where we ran into a snag. The guy at the gate wouldn't let us through. He said we needed to go back to window 4 and pay a tax. So, we went back to the window, and our guide was already gone. After some discussion, the guy at window 4 said that we were a group, and didn't have to pay the tax, and to go to window 7. Another discussion ensued, in which the guy at window 7 said we needed to pay the tax. He talked with some of the other border patrol guys, and finally told us to just go. We went back to the gate, and this time, they let us through no problem. We walked back to Israel, and had many more passport checks and security places. It was kind of funny, because I still had my trash from my breakfast box. There was nowhere to throw it until after the Israeli baggage scanner. I understand why, but it was funny to put trash through the baggage scanner.

Ruth met us on the other side, took us back to the hotel to pick up our baggage, and then on to the Egypt border. I had heard horror stories about crossing between Israel and Egypt - 2 hour crossings, mix-ups with the guides, things being confiscated, so I  was nervous. It was no problem at all, though. I was taking off my jacket to go through the metal detector at the baggage check area, and the guy waved me through and said, "My friend!" Our guide, Wadi, was there waiting. He took our passports, got our visas, and we went to the bus. It was just us and Jeff and Shirley this time.

The hotel was pretty close, so it was just a few minutes drive. The hotel is pretty nice. 

Emma says - Petra was AH-MAY-ZING. Absolutely amazing. I would recommend it to anybody who doesn't mind the cold and long walks.  

Karen's note - The walk will be long no matter when, but it will only be cold if you go in the winter.