So, I returned from our little Eid trip almost a week ago. This maybe a long post – be prepared!
So as with all trips, there needs to be some form of drama , initial hiccups – thankfully we got ours out of the way before we had even left the Hayy. The first problem was typically Arab. So I had booked the rental car to be picked up at 7am – thinking it highly unusual that an Arab company would be open at such an hour I decided to ring them the day before to make sure. Well, lets just say that it was a good thing I did. My first surprise was that I was meant to pick up the car from somewhere other than the place they told me to – obviously I was just supposed to “know” this somehow. The second was slightly more amusing. It went like this:
Me: I’ve made a reservation to pick up a car tomorrow morning at 7am.
Car Guy: Yes – I see that Ms X.
Me: I just wanted to confirm that everything is fine for me to come at 7 and collect the car?
Car Guy: Yes yes that is fine.
Me: So you will be open at 7?
Car Guy: Yes yes... *pause* No no no. We open at 8.
Me: So you open at 8 but it is fine for me to pick up the car at 7?
Car Guy: Yes. Wait. No. Come between 8 and 8:30.
Me: OK. *shakes head at Arab mode of operation*
So we turn up to pick up the car at 8am. We wait till 9.15. Finally the place opens. One of the girls with me asks the bloke why we were told to pick up the car between 8 and 8:30 and it is now 9:15 and they have only just opened. To which he responds “Jordanian time”. Well, don’t tell a pissed off Jordanian that is is because of Jordanian time that you are a slacker – she gave him a massive earful and al-hamdoulillah he got the message and we were driving out of the parking lot at 9:45.
Now, as some may have guessed, I was driving. Yes, people drive on the other side of the road over here. It was a little disconcerting. So we got off to a good start – firstly I attempted to drive up the wrong ramp to exit the car park, and then after reversing back down again I mounted the curb (fully) when going out the correct exit. Now in my defence, I must maintain that it was not my fault – it is very difficult to get used to being on the wrong side of a car.
So when we finally got out of the car park, we headed out of the city towards the airport to get on the highway.
Me driving - OMG two hands!
Desert Highway
First stop: Petra! So we drove along a mostly boring desert-surrounded highway and learnt one very important lesson. Jordanian road signs are not reliable. For example, sign would say, “take next right”, if you took said right you will end up in the middle of nowhere when the road mysteriously disappears from sight and you are left confronting sand. So bear in mind – wait a couple of rights before you bother. We stopped for petrol which was great – they still fill your car for you here – and I almost lost the rear-view mirror on the right-hand-side of the car – I swear the pylon moved! The only other issue we had was my problematic drifting. It seems I am unable to align myself with the middle of the road when driving here – I kept running us off the highway which was not all that funny for the girls in the back who were trying to sleep, or my front-seat buddy who thought she was going to die. We thought we were lost no less than 6 times, but al-hamdoulillah everything was fine and we arrived in Petra three and a bit hours later and found our hotel.
Beds...
Window... looks out onto...
Graveyard!!! YAY
So this is our hotel room – it was a budget, but the staff were incredibly friendly and we had a great view over a graveyard from our window! Only downside was that, as with most other budget hotels in Jordan, hot water is only available at certain times of the day. But it was nice, and we got a discount on the rooms when the owner realised that we were “real” muslims (whatever that means)!
Looking out over Petra City
So we dumped our stuff, prayed and headed out to do Petra by day – lets just say there was a LOT of walking involved!
Healthy snacks for hiking!
On entering the Petra tourist site, we payed an exorbitant amount for our entry fees (21JD = A$45 each) – crazy stuff – and purchased our tickets for Petra-by-night (12JD each).
Petra is amazing. Really there are not to many words to describe the insignificance on feels when walking through the Siq with the massive stone walls extending further than you can see, merging with the sky. Or the amazement one experiences when looking at centuries old carvings into unforgiving rock faces that have maintained the minutest detail despite the passing of the years. Subhan’allah. I let the pictures do the talking:
The Siq
Interestingly the Siq was created by tectonic shifts, not water erosion. It extends for about 1.2 km, starting at a (modern) bridge which was built over a dam that was built by the Nabataeans around 50AD. Along the walls there are many niches and carvings, some have been almost completely destroyed, others can still be made out. Amazingly, the water channels either side of the Siq – which were used to bring water into Petra – are almost fully intact! The Siq seemed to go on forever, continually widening, then shrinking again. At one point I turned around to speak to one of the girls, only to find myself face to face with one of my teachers from Amman – quite the unnerving experience! Anyway, eventually we arrived at the Treasury – but not until after we’d almost been killed by a number of horses, donkeys and camels rushing past at high speeds.
The Treasury
As the Siq opened up on the Treasury, we were faced with what is undoubtedly the most common image to spring to mind when one thinks of Petra. The facade of the rose-red Treasury has been preserved in the most amazing way. The smallest details remain to be seen. Although initially carved out of the sand stone to serve as a tomb for Aretas III (a Nabataean king), the Treasury gets its name from the story that the Egyptian Pharaoh hid his treasure in the urn on the second level of the tomb apparently.
The Street of Facades and Theatre
From the Treasury we headed down The Street of Facades until we reached the Theatre. The Street of Facades is filled with about 40 tombs and homes built by the Nabataeans. We were extremely interested in exploring them, but unfortunately in Petra, these days everywhere is used as a toilet by less than respectful tourists (and yes, there are porta-potties available for those who are desperate)! On several occasions I was wandering up to look at something, only to be confronted by a man who was zipping himself up – honestly it was disgusting! On to the Theatre, which, despite its distinctly Roman look, was originally built by the Nabataeans more than 2000 years ago.
The Royal Tombs
From the Theatre, Wadi Musa opens up and along the sides a are whole heap of ornately carved Royal Tombs. The first, which I only noticed because there was a rather sad (and cranky) looking dog nursing a broken leg coming in my direction, was Uneishu Tomb. It is dedicated to a minister of the Nabataean Queen Shafialt II (the wife of Aretas IV) and located almost directly opposite from the Theatre. The second, more obvious tomb was the Urn Tomb, which you climb several hundred uneven stairs to reach, but it is well worth it. The centre tomb is huge, and the Greek inscriptions at the back detail that the space was once used as a Byzantine Church in the mid-5th century.
The Colonnaded Street and Great Temple
After clambering down a rock-face, we rejoined the worn path through Wadi Musa, and wandered through the Colonnaded Street. Built in 106CE by the Romans, on top of an existing Nabataean walkway, the Colonnaded Street begins at the Nymphaeum – which is only marked by an incredibly old Pistachio tree – on the left are the remains of the market area – which was coincidently filled with Beduin women selling their wares – opposite the barely recognisable remains of the Royal Palace, and futher along the ruins of the Nabataean Baths. Eventually one happens upon the most remarkable set of even stairs – the entrance to the Great Temple. Built in the first century BCE, the Temple was in use until the late Byzantine Period.
Unfortunately for us, we did not have enough time to do the climb up to the Monastery (it took our friends a total of 6 hours up, they ran out of water and managed to hitch a ride back with the police). On the way back we decided to see how close to the High Place of Sacrifice we could get.
The High Place of Sacrifice
After hiking up about 800 uneven and steep stairs, we found ourselves at the High Place of Sacrifice. Highly unimpressive in and of itself – it is basically a large square hollow on top of the mountain with a sacrificial alter (not well preserved) and drainage points which were, apparently, to allow the blood of sacrificed animals to drain out and run back down the mountain. The views from the top though were amazing. On the way back down we found some not-so-friendly kittens attempting to sleep on the edge of the mountain path (verrry close to the edge).
It was getting late, so we high-tailed it out of Petra (it closes at sunset) and headed back to the hotel. Thankfully I didn’t get a fine for parking on the pavement and the car was still in one piece – although the pain in my legs from all the walking made driving near impossible.
Odd signage...
Once back at the hotel we prayed, then ran out to eat dinner at an interesting Pizza shop, whose sign told us that we could access the shop either by wandering into the middle of the road or walking into a wall (probably not as funny to those who did not experience it!). After a quick dinner of pizza (which was remarkably good) we headed back to Petra to do the night tour. This was AMAZING! The walk through the Siq and into the Treasury was lit by 100s of candles. I wandered off by myself for the walk down to the Treasury which was nice, easy to think. I believe I mostly was imagining myself as a camel (I know weird eh?) walking with my eyes closed and a strange sway to my walk. Beautiful! When I reached the Treasury I was promptly accosted by a Bedouin whose dialect was completely incomprehensible to me so I sat down to wait for the other girls and watched the stars. No sooner had I parked my bum, I saw a shooting star race across the sky above the Treasury! Anyway, the girls joined me, and our handy Jordanian sister explained that the Bedu bloke wanted us to sit at the back where there were tables. But we ended up sitting on the ground not quite able to figure out where exactly he wanted us to go. There were two beautiful performances – one on a lute-like instrument performed by a Bedouin who sang poetry to his tune about Allah swt, the Prophet saaws, the Qur’an, life, marriage death... the usual. And then a second performer who played an instrument not unlike a flute which was completely enchanting. He played a wedding song and a couple of others, but I can’t remember what they were for. The performances were outstanding and so was the atmosphere – with the exception of the tourists who insisted on taking photos with flash every millisecond and those who tought we’d all like to bask in the stink of their cigarette smoke. Anyway, after the performances, the same Bedouin bloke saw us sitting on the ground and came over. He began apologising profusely saying that we should have been sitting at the back at the tables because it was improper for his Muslim sisters to be sitting on the ground. He was such a nice guy, he practically had tears in his eyes when he found out that we weren’t Arabs, and were indeed Muslims raised in the west. Al-hamdoulillah it was a beautiful night.
We returned to the hotel and promptly fell asleep. No sooner had my head hit the pillow, but I heard my alarm going off to wake me for fajr prayer!
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