So, I have a lot to post and even more homework to do, but you see now what my priorities are. I'm worried that if I don't post soon I'll get behind because I just went to Jordan and am on my way to Egypt, and if I had to come back to writing about both, it would seem insurmountable and I would probably give up.
So, I really wanted to go to Petra, but I couldn't commit because of the lack of funds and lack of time to wrap up the semester. So i talked to my parents, who are fabulous, and they agreed to give me an early birthday present (5 months early!) in the form of funds, and encouraged me to go. As far as the latter concern, who am I kidding? Am I here to go to school or to get the bigger education? So I threw working on final papers to the wind and decided to get on down to Jordan.
So my friend Molly and I hopped on a bus to Eilat in order to cross the border to Jordan. We stayed at an awesome little hostel called Corinne, and joked that we had been given the "honeymoon suite" because it was really cozy. The bathroom was also interesting. I was so stoked to have a "private shower"- unusual as far as hostels go. But upon opening the door I thought "Where is the shower?" Then I saw it- a hand held fixture and some knobs on the wall, and a drain in the center of the floor. So the miniscule bathroom pretty much was the shower. A curtian/door is not a necessity, it turns out. The plus side is that you can brush your teeth wherever you like- what are you going to do, get toothpaste on the floor?
Probably the funniest part of the trip occurred before we even got to Jordan. Most of you reading this probably know that when i go places for an extended period of time, I bring my sock monkey, creatively named "Monk Monk" as my most important facet of housewarming. My brother made him for me when I was about 9 and he is pretty important. I know i am far too old for this, but Monk Monk has always contributed a sense of comfort in foreign lands that nothing else can conjure. He has developed sort of a cult following among my friends here, and the night before our trip, we were all sitting around smoking hookah and eating sunflower seeds (pretty much every Wednesday night here) when i was asked who would get custody of Monk monk while I was away, since I never bring him on small trips- the risk of losing him is too great. Molly insisted I take him, and I relented. So he rode along in my backpack to Eilat. As soon as we got into the hostel, Molly informed me that my backpack was agape- I was chagrined, thinking a library book had fallen out, only to be horrified after Molly asked after Monk Monk. We tore out of the hostile as I felt tears welling up - who wouldn't take such a cute monkey? So we re-traced our steps (at about 10pm in 95 degree heat) until I came to an intersection where Monk Monk (barely recognizeable) lay face-down, legs sprawled, and a good deal flatter, in the middle of the road. The poor dear had been run over, as exhibited by a single tread mark running diagnolly over his face. Needless to say, he will not be accompanying me to Egypt.
So after some falafel and a night spent with Monk Monk nestled safely under the covers, we awoke early the next morning to taxi the small distance to the Jordanian border by the time it opened at 8 am. It opened late, in pure Israeli form, and Molly and I were smushed between a Russian tour group and an Israeli one. We paid the 67 NIS boredr tax, were greatly scrutinized, and then allowed to walk the 1 km of no man's land to the Jordanian side, where they did roughly the same thing, just in Arabic. The second-funniest moment came when i handed over my passport. You see, my passport lives in infamy as the worst passport photo ever taken. It in no way even resembles me, let alone flatters me. The Jordanian customs official let out a distinguishable gasp, shook his head at me and rubbed his eyes for a good two minutes before chuckling for another 5 and finally handing it over. Welcome to Jordan.
We grabbed a cab, expecting just to be taken to Aqaba where we would have to get another cab to make the trek to Petra, but the driver offered to switch to a better car, take us to Petra, and back again for 65 Dinar, which is probably $80. Done! Jordan was instantly different- distinct boxy architecture and little multi-colored houses squeezed together to form oases in the desert, rugged, porous mountains look on, and there is a haze lying over everything from the dust and sand. There are also an incredible amount of pictures of the King, Abdullah II, who smiles benevolently from just about every surface.
Our driver, Jamaal pointed out some things to us on the way and stopped twise to let us take pictures from mountain tops over looking desert valleys. Along the way was nothing- just desert and small clusters of the same houses, along with the occasional Bedouin and his herd of goats. We had to stop once on the highway to allow such a herd to safely cross the street. Molly had made a sweet trail mix, so we munched on that and jammed to Arabic music.
After about two hours, Jamaal dropped us off at the Visitor's Center and we began the trail. There were tons of people visiting, mostly Arab women in a kaleidiscope of hijab and differing commitment to religiousity. The police officers wear hats with a spike on the top and short britches that harken back to the Ottoman Empire. The women's uniforms have a built-in hijab.
Petra was declared a World Heritage Site in 1986 and is protected be UNESCO. I saw a picture of my advisor, DRD, there about a year ago and had been dying to go ever since. Ancient Petra is the 50 km leftover remnants of a town inhabited by both Nabaetans and then Romans, and is made up of mostly tombs dating back to the 6th century BC. It may be mentioned in the Old Testament as "Sela" and in the Arab tradition, it is the place where Moses struck the rock to bring forth water, and where his sister, Miriam, is buried. At the start of the walk, only a few djinn (ghost tombs) stare down, lonely, from the mountains. Then we entered the siq- a rock-cut channel that runs for 1.5 km, with 200m high walls of shorn rock on each side. The sheer size of the rock makes you feel as if you're walking in an earthquake's fissure. The walls throw shadows on the niches that once held icons that were meant to hex unwelcome guests. they seem to have done a good job, as the city was "lost" for nearly 700 years- its whereabouts protected by a Bedouin tribe until a Swiss explorer conned them into revealing it. It's also the site of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
The end of the siq is quite honestly the most beautiful and intriguing site that I have ever laid eyes on. All of a sudden, a distinct image floats into view in the gap at the end of the siq, revealing a cascade of orange light and beautifully carved stone. Immediately ahead is the Khazneh, Treasury, the best preserved of all of the buildings at petra. Intricate and impossibly intricate, it is a huge building carved out of a mountain. The stone, multi-colored and dynamic, is a rosy pink in morning, then orange, dusty terra-cota and tan by afternoon, and blood-red as eveing falls. Its sheer magnitude is enough to render one speechless, but it also offers such a startling comparison in it's manmade beauty to the stark, unhewn beauty of the siq. There are bullet holes visible of a scullpted urn. It was thought to hold Pharaonic treasures, so many an ancient people gave it a try. A squal of people, camels, donkeys, and carts pulled by horses all mix around the outside. We spent a lot of time just looking, mouths agape, before stopping in a high cave to picnic and then moving on.
We then took part in one of the many hikes, climbing up around 600 stairs (Dad, it was totally Dipsey, but no one was there to carry me!) to get a better view of more of Petra. The Royal Tombs of Jabal Khuthba peek out, looking like a mix between the pueblos of our text books and broken teeth in the mouth of the mountain.
Next on the list was the Theatre- rebuilt by the Romans and restored now to its 2nd century appearance. It seats around 7,000 spectators. The rest of the trip was made up of the leftover facets of the ancient city- the Urn Tomb, two amazingly carved churches, and a huge temple being excavated by Brown University. Even the columns lining the Main Street remain, everything is just a bit shorn, which is fine- were it as grand as it once was, I would have had a heart attack, it is so beautiful in its current disarray.
The mix of people was amazing- tourists from all over, Bedouins driving goats and selling silver.
The architecture was clearly the draw, and has the benefit of having been built by the ingenious Nabaetans and then rebuilt by the best engineers- the Romans.
I grabbed a super-cheesy t-shirt on my way up before meeting up with Jamaal and climbing back into the cab. Most of the site took us about 5 hours to look at, but were it not for the heat, I would have stayed for weeks (and you could!). As we wove back through the new Petra, a cute little village, Jamaal stopped to get himself some water- and came back with pistachio ice cream for Molly and I- best driver ever! We parted at Aqaba and headed back to Jersualem the next evening.
It was a wonderful trip and I am so lucky I got to go.
The photo above is of the Treasury!
Vote for Petra as one of the NEW SEVEN WONDERS online at:
http://www.new7wonders.com/index.php
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