Sunday, July 13, 2008
Petra, Jordan - Days 22-25
First glimpse of Petra
It was no easy task crossing from Egypt into Jordan in order to visit Petra. We needed to take a 2 hour ferry from one country to the other, which seemed like a simple enough task. However, it ended up being an all day affair! In total we waited over 7 hours before actually boarding. At times it was mass confusion--after waiting in a dim, hot holding area for a couple hours, we finally were motioned to load a bus to the boat. At the boat we stood in a herd of people in the hot sun as 8 tour buses were slowly backed onto the ferry. This amounted to about 30 minutes of standing in frustration, and then a man walked over to inform everyone that the ferry was "full." Sooo...after all that, we were loaded back onto the bus and taken back to the holding zone for more hours of fun waiting.
Me in the holding area--the backpack made a pretty decent pillow
Waiting in the hot sun to board the ferry, only to be turned away
At least I finished a good book during the span of this day. Brent got a kick of how I would read even in line.
Finally, though, we did get on a ferry, having bonded with the other travellers enduring the same situation. By the time we got to Petra, it was after midnight, and we had been in transit all day. We went to a recommended hotel, but unfortunately for us, our saga was not through.
Things were not all bad...on the ferry, we met a nice Jordanian family and visited and shared food with them the entire ride.
It's quite a long story, but I will try to summarize. Our room was very hot with no air conditioning and no fan. When Brent went to talk with the man who worked there (whom I didn't like from the start), the man wouldn't give us a fan, and he wouldn't give us even a tiny discount for the discomfort. In fact, he told Brent we had two options:
"Either pay for 2 nights stay and not get a fan, or you can walk right now."
When Brent reported the ultimatum to me, I got quite angry. I am not a confrontational person by nature, but I felt strongly that we must leave at that moment out of principle. So we packed up and with indignation, handed the key to the man. Suddenly he moved to block our exit, and demanded one night's payment before he would let us pass. Voices raised, threats of police (I think I may have actually said, "You cannot hold us prisoner!"), and luckily our taxi driver was there to intervene on our behalf. We were finally permitted to leave. What crazy drama!
Our never-ending day continued as we stepped into the streets of Jordan at 1:00 a.m. with our backpacks. Hotels abounded but all were darkened and appeared abandoned. We were approaced by some guys in the street, and they led us to a hotel nearby. After being taken to a room and discovering that the hotel had no running water, Brent got into a conversation with the guy who had checked us in. Among other things, he confided in Brent that he was quite drunk, and in fact, he didn't even work there! Brent and I had lots of laugh as we lay in bed wondering how we got from our beach oasis in Egypt to this shady, twilight zone hotel in Jordan.
Ten hours later, though, when we set foot in the ancient city of Petra, we knew it was all worth it! Built around the time of Christ, Petra's most unique feature is that its buildings and tombs are carved out of beautifully colored cliff walls. None are freestanding. In order to enter the city, you must walk 1.2 km. through a narrow canyon. I felt full of awe and anticipation as we walked along, anxious for my first glimpse of the Rose City. The first building you come to is called the Treasury, made famous in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. The architecture, size and detail took our breath away. That building is just the beginning as Petra sprawls throughout the surrounding canyons and desert. We spent two days exploring this amazing place.
The canyon you walk through in order to enter Petra is called the siq
The Treasury
Me in front of a tomb--I loved the colorful, swirling rocks
We hiked up to get to the Monastery, which was large and impressive just like the Treasury.
Brent on top of the Monastery (refer to above picture for a better perspective)
Not to be outdone, this local professional climber somehow made it to the pinnacle
We also visited Petra by candlelight. We listened to Bedouin music and drank tea--it was very awesome!
Wedding ceremonies brought about these fireworks just outside our window
As we hiked, you can see the ancient steps carved out of the stone
Us in front of the Treasury
Brent needed a little trimming up
Due to our harrowing ferry experience, we decided to go overland through the southern tip of Israel in order to return to Egypt. So we randomly spent one day in Eilat, Israel--a beach resort for Israelis--before making our way back to Cairo.
Eilat had an MTV Spring Break vibe
We'll try to fit our last bits of sightseeing in before we fly home on the 17th...
--Erika
