Petra

Day 8
Petra
Left early next morning to see the city of Petra. It is a deserted city of over 2,000 years old that was a wealthy capital of the Nabataens until the Romans conquered it. The city is hidden in a canyon with only one entrance, which is a narrow passage. It was lost until nearly 1000 years ago. No one is allowed to live in the city so that it won’t be destroyed. They allow the surrounding tribes to rent camels, donkeys and horses and sell food and souvenirs to the tourists. The bus drops you off about a mile away and you can take a horse drawn cart or ride a donkey, horse or camel. I chose the horse, led by an Arabian kid.

It is an unforgettable experience as you enter through the narrow passage. You first see the treasury; a gorgeous huge, pink building that was complexly carved out of the side of a mountain. You then pass by tremendous, carved columns and see hundreds of people. They had a unique coliseum different than other ones that we had seen that were built out of stone blocks. This one was carved out of the mountain. A walking trail went all the way, a climb of about two hours, but was well worth it as the view of three canyons and gorges on the way up was magnificent. The monastery at the top was also carved out of the mountain and was the size of a large hotel. Andy and several of the others climbed to the top of it and the Arabs were having a fit in case they fell. You could see for miles across the Negrev desert. Karen (she is a dwarf) insisted that she do the climb against Omar’s advice so poor Andy had to carry her most of the way up the climb.


The trip back was also interesting. Every so often you would see a cave with Arabs sitting around a fire visiting with each other and they would smile at us. I turned a corner and ran into Tony again. Unbelievable, this is the second time this has happened in two different countries. He is having a great time and is leaving Jordan the next day for Turkey.
When we got to the bottom Andy put Karen on a donkey. She was having a ball when a truck with four police came tearing into the city and grabbed the kid that was leading her donkey and threw him in the truck. It seemed that he had rented his donkey without a licence and someone had reported him. It was bedlam as the kid was crying, Karen was having a fit trying to get off the donkey and everyone came crowding around, all talking at once. Omar took over and calmed everyone down and talked the police into letting the terrified kid go. Walked to the entrance and got back on a horse and gratefully reached the bus.
Spent the night in Aqaba. The rest went for dinner but I was tired so settled for a banana and bed. Andy came up to see if I was okay and said he was proud of me and couldn’t believe that I had climbed those cliffs.