Petra

Thursday, April 02, 2015
Ma'an Governorate, Jordan
After leaving the desert we headed toward Petra, winding through precarious mountain ranges. This is a very mountainous country with stunning geography but it would be a stretch for Westerners to remotely comprehend the lifestyle of the Bedouins. You can see tents dotted around the countryside. Often the Bedouins will set up and stay with their flock for a month or so before moving the stock elsewhere. Most Bedouins now have a small house which has been provided by the King. Jordanians have a deep respect for the Bedouins and the lives they lead. They have supported the king providing housing, schools and medical clinics for them. Bedouins also receive other benefits such as paying less taxes and other subsidies. There is no resentment from the rest of the community.
It is compulsory for all children to attend school . Jordan is one of the most literate countries in the world. Unfortunately Petra is the least literate area. Here the Bedouins often have their children selling stuff to tourists when they should be in school. A kid can make 100 Jordanian dinar a day selling postcards. We also saw quite a few kids sitting on the side of the track trying to sell small coloured rocks. The rocks are pretty much freely available around the site so I don't think these kids make much. The point is they should be in school so it is the wrong thing to buy from them.
Despite being poor for a middle eastern country (no oil!), the royal family believed education was vital. The standard of living is much higher here than many other countries which do not have compulsory education. There is a definite link there.
On arriving at the town of Petra and we drove straight through to visit Little Petra. It was wonderful and got our mouths watering for our visit to Petra the next day. Little Petra is a great archeological site and is worth a visit on its own regardless of the majesty of the main Petra site . There are many tombs and carvings here, just not on the grand scale that awaits at the main Petra site.
After this visit we arrived at our hotel. All the girls had booked in for a Turkish bath so we headed off there. We had the steam room first. If you stood up your head got hot but not much else. It seemed they hadn't heated the room much before we got there. After the steam we jumped into a rather hot spa bath which took a little getting used to. From here we were called into the scrub room one at a time where we were scrubbed, rubbed and massaged by a lady named Sapurma (I think). Not the deepest massage in the world but it was quite funny. I was naked from the waist up and had been lying on my back and she got to turn over and she said "beautiful, very nice". I have no idea what she was referring to but it cracked me up. She was very nice and did five of us one after the other. After our scrubbing we went back to the hotel and then out for dinner. Food choices are not awesome in Petra and prices are a bit inflated but it was ok . Zuhair had mentioned the Movenpick hotel chain and their ice cream a few times so we went there. I had maple walnut. It was ok but I think way overrated. I've had way better ice cream at home. We returned to the hotel and went to bed. We were getting up at five so that we could start the hike into Petra at 6am. Zuhair wanted us to be amongst the first to get there.
Ta Da!! 6am we walked down to the ticket office. No one there! Had to wait about twenty minutes for them to arrive. It was freezing. It was raining. We were all thinking this is crazy!
There was no one around at all. We started on the walk and it's quite a way down a long path. The Nabateans who constructed the site were very clever with their water systems and you can still see their channels very clearly. We continued downward until we got to the Siq. Zuhair got us to turn around and offered a prize to the first person who could spot a carving but it was all a trick! When we turned around to continue, there was the iconic view of the treasury through the gap in the gorge/Siq . Absolutely takes your breath away. Magical moment and there was only two or three other people around so we really were lucky. The carvings are beautiful, incredible and stunning. We continued along the path, totally awestruck by what we were seeing. We saw a few other major ruins along the way. All of us except Julia opted to do the monastery hike. It involves a lot of stairs - about 800 or so. It's fairly challenging but it sure as hell ain't Mt Sinai! Some people rented donkeys to go up. Felt sorry for the donkeys - I suppose that's what they are built for, but some are not treated very well. As we neared the end Zuhair had us all looking at something and when we turned around there was the monastery of Petra! Wow! Indie was impressed. The monastery is bigger and more majestic the the treasury! Definitely worth the hike.
It is interesting to note that the Bedouin tribes who are from this area are allowed free access in the park from dawn till dusk. This means there are lots of little souvenir stands along the way . The Bedouin tribe from this area love their eyeliner and headgear like a 'do-rag'. This means that they look very Jack Sparrow like. Apparently they hate being told this. The truth is that Jack Sparrow looks like them, not the other way around.
I bought a book. There is a New Zealander woman - Marguerite - who married a Bedouin and lived In the caves for thirty years. She wrote a book called "Married to a Bedouin". Unfortunately Marguerite wasn't there (currently in Amman), but her son Rami was. We chatted for a while. He was very nice, so now I have a signed copy of the book.
If anyone has watched "An Idiot Abroad", the camel guy that looked after Karl while he was here was at the site with his camels.
We spent seven hours at the site. What a wonderful, glorious day, especially when the weather improved. We eventually meandered back out. What a difference a few hours makes! There were people everywhere, there were camels and horse carriages and horse piss everywhere. Part of the ticket price apparently includes a horse ride out of the last section. We were advised against it. Luckily we listened. The horse ride is free but you are expected to tip very well. Mike saw an American family get bullied into paying $21 US dollars to get off the horses.
It was a total circus coming out so thank goodness Zuhair took us in early. We were so lucky and all of us appreciated it.
It was a fantastic day. After a late dinner we all crashed.
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