Jordan, Day 3, cont. - Petra

I knew Thursday would be a long day - little sleep in the desert the night before, a 3:30am departure from Amman that night, 5+ hours in the car, and seeing as much of Petra as possible in the middle. We were in the car leaving the desert by 8:30am Thursday, and set out on our hour and a half drive to Petra. Thankfully the road signs were clear and there actually were road signs this time, so we found it without difficulty. We had been told that you need a full day, even two days, to see Petra adequately, so we were in a hurry to get going.It really is quite spectacular - you walk through the crevice/canyon/whatever you want to call it for about a mile, and come out and see this:That is the Treasury. 2000 years ago, an Arab people group called the Nabataeans found a jungle of rose-colored rock and started carving. The place wasn't known to the western world until 1812. It's a huge place, stretching for miles, with much that lies undiscovered still. There are temples, facades of palaces built into the rock, tombs, a theater, city gates, hundreds of thousands of caves all over the area that are still home to some Bedouin families. The colors in the rock are unreal:Caves:Tombs:The colors on the inside of one of the rooms of a tomb:By lunch time we were exhausted and dragging. We had only made it three hours and were considering calling it a day. After fending off another little guy offering us donkey rides (the camels and donkeys abound!), we grabbed some lunch, hoping for a pick-me-up. We got that, indeed - and then the fun began!

So, "If you haven't been to the monastery, you haven't been to Petra," we were told. A mere 800 steps separated us from this ancient wonder, so we weren't exactly jumping with excitement. But a little Bedouin guy named Mahmoud offered us a good deal for some donkeys, and after getting him to throw in a trip to some nearby springs as well, we agreed to the ride.
What fun! Mahmoud was 18 and wanted to marry me before he found out how old I was; then we settled into a friendly companionship for the rest of the afternoon. :) Some parts of the trail up to the monastery were quite treacherous by donkey, but thank goodness for their sure footedness!Look out, pedestrians!Halfway up we heard very loud, drunken-sounding singing coming up the mountain behind us. It was this guy, who we had seen at the bottom, riding his donkey and moseying his way up:
This is Abraham, a friend of Mahmoud, who joined us at the top. Once at the top, after meeting Mahmoud's mother who was selling jewelry and figurines (a few feet away from Abraham's mother, also selling jewelry and figurines), we encountered the monastery. Wow.
Almost a replica of the Treasury far below, but wider and not completely encased by the rock around it. You can see how huge it is by the people in the photos. I spent much of the day in awe at how these things were all carved directly into the rock - how much work, time, and energy must have gone into it.
There was a great view from up there, a sign calling it "the end of the world" - looking into a huge valley with Israel on the other side. After we finished hiking around, we went back to the boys who were lounging around drinking tea. (Don't you think Abraham - on the right - looks like Jack Sparrow? It's the eyeliner, which most of them wore, to fend off the bright sun a bit.) Mahmoud and Abraham led us back down the mountain on the donkeys, which at times was even more treacherous than going up, Abraham singing all the way. He has a special mixture of Bedouin tunes and other favorites like "Happy Birthday" that just echo all the way down the canyons.

The spring they took us to was not so spectacular, but it was one of the most fun parts of the afternoon. Traveling by donkey down a dried up rocky riverbed, the rocks rising high all around us, listening to Mahmoud's plans for me to come live with his family for a month to learn Arabic "real good," and Abraham's intermittent riddles, songs, random information about the Bedouins living in the area, and his opinion on various tourists ("I love the Japanese, they just come and take pictures - Conichiwa!") was priceless. "Two Bedouins and two tourists!" he shouted to the cliffs around us.
On the way back, as the sun was going down and the park was clearing out, they hopped on the donkeys with us so they could race each other. We felt like helpless passengers as we bounced along, but I don't think we've laughed that hard in a long time. What a memorable afternoon - so glad we stayed around after lunch! :)

The rest of the night is kind of a blur - we reached the park entrance after dark, had a yummy dinner at a local restaurant, and hopped back in the car for the 4 hour drive back to Amman. We were so exhausted after our night in the desert and all day at Petra. Andrea didn't fly out until the next morning so she had a hotel room near the airport, where I crashed for about an hour before going to catch my 3:30am flight (ugh!).

'Twas a fabulous trip - the best visa trip thus far - and now here I am back in Athens, making lists of the endless things I need to do before I head to the States in less than two weeks and still trying to get work done. Ack!

(I love "Ack")