Petra, Jordan

My first knowledge of Petra was not through the movie "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade", it was a story in National Geographic 25 years ago that captivated my imagination and fed a hunger for all things ancient and archaeological. Since, it has been a dream to visit Petra and experience the ancient city. But I had no idea there were other gems in the country of Jordan.

I landed in Amman and stayed at the Firas Palace Hotel. Its nothing fancy but has all the basics for 35 dinar a night. The desk staff helped me arrange for transportation to the various sites I wanted to visit. My driver was a Jordanian named, Ali. The initial agreed upon amount was 70 dinar a day. I made the mistake of not getting this on paper, so once you agree on a price, have the driver write it for you. The price for 4 days of travel was a total of $500 USD which was not the agreed upon amount.

Ali, or Abu Mohamed, as I came to know him, was gentleman enough and knowledgeable of the various sites I wanted to visit.

The first day, I visited the three desert castles, built by the Umayyads: Qasr Amra, Qasr Al-Harraneh and Qasr Azraq. Each one different in architectural style and history.

My second day I visited the Dead Sea and Mount Nebo. Afterward, my driver suggested we get a coffee before heading back to Amman. sounded good to me. The "coffee shop" was a factory/store for mosaics. They offer you free tea or coffee and then try to talk you into buying an expensive handmade mosaic. I let abu Mohamed know that I didn't appreciate these type of stops.

Finally, the next day, we left at 6:30 a.m. and drove 3 hours to Petra and to spend the night in the Wadi Rum with a small band of Bedouins.

Arriving at Petra, first impression is like many sites of its status, borderline cheesy. Peddlers and souvenir shops overwhelmingly surrounding the entrance requiring a strategy of not looking anyone in the eye and concentrate on the ticket booth.

The price was 20 dinar. You can choose to walk, or pay an extra fee for your choice of a carriage, camel or horse. I wanted to enter on a horse, which was an extra 8 dinar. I didn't take into consideration that I hadn't ridden a horse for several decades.

Actually, once you hop on the horse, a bedouin pulls your horse to Petra, and in my case, it was a grouchy bedouin, especially after he learned he wasn't getting a tip. I began arguing with him as a young, handsome man on a horse came up offering to take me the back way to Petra on horse. I asked his price as I was shooting the evil eye at my grouchy guide and he said 70 dinar. Whooo, pricey. But I soon subcumbed as I was loosing patience with the old guy pulling me.

So, Mohamed and I set off through the canyons of Petra. It was one of the most terrifying experiences I have had. I was not experienced enough to guide my horse through this mountainous terrain that had 200-300 hundred foot drops. Mohamed took over and guided me and my horse through. It was still quite scary, but the scenery was exhilarating.

The horse guide ends at a point when its too treacherous for horses and I had to trek it down about 200 feet to the ancient city. On my way, I stopped to have tea with a souvenir seller, Hanhan, a vibrant, beautiful Bedouin woman. She was kind enough to dress me in traditional dress while I sipped my tea and bargained a price for a bracelet.

Hanhan walked with me down the trail to Petra and on the way, we stopped to have lunch with her friends.

One of my travel philosophies is that I will not turn down an offer of drink or food as these offer opportunities to get to know the locals. However, in this case, I should have drawn the line as I was sick from food poisoning the rest of my time in Jordan. One point of advice if you follow my philosophy of not saying 'no'...never, ever travel to foreign countries without immodium.

Petra of course, was everything I expected. The beautiful red stone buildings carved in the cliffs by ancient Nabateans really sparks the imagination. As I was walking through the site I was often approached by young Bedouin men wanting to talk (and flirt). By the time I left, I had four phone numbers. One memorable encounter was with a Bedouin man named Picasso who was wearing a Bob Marley t-shirt, with dreadlocks and followed by a dog named Rasta.

I lingered at the site of the ancient Treasury (the building most famous in Indiana Jones and Terminators) but had to meet my driver to leave for the Wadi Rum camp site by 5:30.

The camp site was about an hour and a half from Petra, a journey next to the train tracks and vast desert. When we arrived, we were met by the owner of the camp site, Madullah, by a store named "The Seven Pillars", a take off of the famous book written by the famous British soldier, T.E. Lawrence, i.e, Lawrence of Arabia (cue the music).

Madullah took us in his Toyota 4x4 to the campsite where we had a dinner of bbq chicken and various other dishes of vegetables and potatoes, cooked by Madullah's brother, Abdullah.

There was a small group of people there from Croatia, Australia and I was the only American. After dinner, there was traditional music while we sipped tea by a small campfire. Abdullah invited me to smoke sheesha with him and I accepted. We smoked a fruity tobacco on a mattress under a star saturated sky. It was the most beautiful night sky I have ever seen.

I didn't sleep much as I just wanted to lay in my open room and stare at the sky. But the next day was scheduled with a two hour camel ride and a two hour tour on a 4x4, so I gave into necessity and fell asleep.

The next morning everyone in camp woke early to watch the sunrise, so our guide took us out into the desert to watch it. Afterward, we returned to a breakfast of omelet, sesame cookies and tea.

The others in the camp were moving onward and I was moving toward a camel named, Saweya for a two hour ride in the desert, followed by a stunning ride by 4x4 with Abdullah to canyons, cliffs and the ruins of T.E. Lawrences home. I recommend both, however, if you choose to ride a camel for two hours, be prepared for some residual pains. Its not as easy as it looks.

The night at the camp, the camel ride and the 4x4 all together cost 95 dinar and it was worth every penny. I would go back to the Wadi Rum anytime as it was one of the most incredible experiences of my life and I will never forget the scenery or the people I met there.