Petra Praise

With our travel batteries more or less charged, and motivated by the encouragement of other travelers criss-crossing through Dahab, Danica & I decided to act on our impulse, leave the shores of The Red Sea, and cross the border into The Kingdom of Jordan to explore the ancient city of Petra (one of the 7 wonders of the world) for a few days! Entailing a minibus ride to the port, boarding the international ferry, and then a taxi on the Jordanian side of the border, it was to be a full day of traveling but the route was fairly straight forward.... Then again, as our previous experiences should have indicated, THIS IS Egypt...

We had been warned that our little ferry excursion was known to be plagued by delays but what transpired was another installment in the saga that has become traveling through this region. Here's a brief synopsis: the ferry was officially scheduled to leave at 12:30pm meaning that our day began when we caught a minibus at 9:30am from Dahab (putting us at the port 2 hours later and, in theory, giving us more than enough time to buy our tickets and board the ferry in time for departure)... Upon arrival we were informed that the ferry was now not scheduled to leave till 3pm, meaning, we were very early and had some time to kill (no problem - early is better than late)... A few hours of reading, talking story with some fellow travelers (Aussies Michael & Tori), and snacking and suddenly it's 3 o'clock; perfect... Well no, the ferry now isn't going to leave till 4pm!  Approaching the 4 o'clock hour and it is deja vu again when we we are told now the departure is not till 5 (by now we are wondering if we are ever going to make it out that day)... At 5 are hopes are reignited when they pull a bus up to the terminal, load up the foreign travelers, and get ready to drive us the short distance to the boarding zone. After the chaos of getting everyone aboard and, just as the last person takes their seat, the driver kills the ignition because, why not?, the ferry is now not leaving for another hour (reasons unknown). Ok, this is getting old. By this time we've heard no less than three of the five daily Muslim calls to prayer being announced through the loud speakers of the towns Mosques... You know you've been in the same place to long when you've heard three calls to prayer without moving! At 6:30 they finally start up the bus and usher us to the ferry... After piling everyone aboard we set sail and are finally on our way! The ferry motors us towards Jordan and we arrive in the port at Aqaba well after dark but with enough time, again in theory, to catch a taxi and arrive in Wadi Musa (town adjacent to Petra) at a decent hour... Wrong again! We proceed to float just off the coast for another 90 minutes for, what we theorize to be, nothing more than good measure!?! It is now 10:30pm (8 hours later than we anticipated arriving in Aqaba) and still a 2 hour taxi to get to Wadi Musa/Petra... after weighing our options we decide to forge ahead and complete the day traveling so as to preserve the next for exploring Petra (and not waiting in a terminal, on a bus, or aboard a ferry). Michael & Tori join Danica and I at 1am we finally get to our accommodation, find our beds, and pass out knackered from the days events!         

If our travel day was a nightmare then walking through the entrance and into the ancient city the following day was a sweet dream! After all the monuments, temples and ruins across Europe and the Middle East I have to admit I was reluctant to commit the time and money to travel to yet another site.  However, once there, I was thankful for Danica's persuasion and the previous days events were well rewarded..... After bonding during our ferry escapade, Michael & Tori (you can check out their blog at http://www.hhh600.com/) and Danica and I were now unofficial Petra pals and spent the next two days exploring: We tramped through the ancient city and its colossal structures carved into the sandstone mountain sides, the tombs of the nobles that resided there, witnessed a spectacular sunset from atop one of the cities peaks complete with some native Beduin music, hiked down & out of the park in the dark afterword, enjoyed a showing of Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade (partly filmed in Petra), and got lost the second day trying to find an 'alternate route' through the canyons of the less traveled part of the city (if not for stumbling across two young boys, their mother and herd of goats we would have been camping... Fortunately, for 3 dinar and a snickers bar the older boy showed us the way!).

Petra is part ruins, part national park and, as their brochure states, has 'something to offer everyone from the Archeologist to the Architect, Architect to the Anthropologist, Anthropologist to the Adventurer."  I must say, that of all the sites I've visited, I consider Petra to be the most spectacular. You don't just see Petra... you actually experience it!

After a couple expensive days (Jordan is not cheap) it was time to rewind back to Egypt for some scuba diving and relaxing before my jump to Asia... Hopefully the journey back would be smoother sailing...