Day 166 - Wadi Rum

Sunday, December 16, 2018.

Today we set up the alarm to wake up at 6:00am to see the sunrise. We heard that it was amazing. When the alarm went off, no one wanted to get up, it was too cold. But I told myself, how many opportunities like this do you get in life?

We got up and trekked south to see the sunrise. It was already light by then and I thought we had missed it but around 6:35, there it was, the big fireball rising over the desert. It was so beautiful, all I could think was, “thank you God for this moment.” We stayed out there for half an hour and then went back to the camp to have breakfast at 7. The breakfast was simple: tea, boiled eggs, pita bread, hummus, cream cheese, jelly, and lentils.

We ate, said goodbye to our new friends and went back to our tents to finish packing. Our driver was ready and waiting outside to drive us to the village where our taxi driver, Montasar, was going to pick us up at 9:00. He was only an hour late. Luckily, we passed the hour watching the camels and the kids had fun playing with dogs and cats.

It took about an hour and a half to get to Petra/Wadi Musa. It was a bumpy road and not a fun ride, especially for me who was sitting in the middle, squeezed between Daniel and Sunshine. We arrived around 12:30. I didn’t like the street where the taxi was taking us, but it seems that the whole town was like that, narrow, dirty roads. Not much to see, just concrete buildings, some painted and a few touristy restaurants.

We finally made it to the hotel and I was happy to see that from the outside it looked nice. I don’t know why I pictured a nice place, well it wasn’t. We were welcomed with tea but all I wanted was to get to Petra because our tickets were good until 5:00pm. Luckily, I had packed peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and snacks for lunch and we decided it eat it at Petra. We took our luggage to the 2nd floor. I have decided that I will give many things to my mother to take home and I will pack lighter. I’m tired of not being able to lift my suitcases and we have many more destinations to go.

The room was small and smelly. It was a simple room with four beds crammed in. We could hardly fit our luggage. I told myself to let it go but I just couldn’t. The room was ugly and dirty, and we opened the curtains and all we could see was a concrete wall. It was a one-star hotel but we didn’t have time to look for another so we just took the hotel shuttle to Petra.

We got in and… oh my gosh, no words can describe this amazing city. Just walking in to arrive at the main entrance and see those huge cliffs, it was just impressive. We walked and walked. We passed different tombs but nothing can prepare you to see the treasury, that famous facade that it is used in posters and movies. It was just amazing. [Gregory's note: Actually, it turns out the so-called Treasury is really just another tomb, this one belonging to one of the Nabatean kings. But everyone is always looking for lost treasure, so they called it the Treasury.]

We walked about 3 miles in, past these amazing facades built out of solid rock. We walked into some of them, which were still in use by the Bedouin here up until the government kicked them out to establish Petra as a UNESCO site in the 1980s. We made it as far as the Byzantine church before turning around to make it back for the 5pm shuttle. We were hoping to make it to the monastery today, but we weren't going to make it even to the foot of the stairs, never mind climbing up -- and down -- 850 of them. Along the way, we were endlessly accosted with offers of horse rides, camel rides, donkey rides to the treasury, and carriage and horse rides from there to the entrance. We were tempted, but at $25 each for a 10 minute ride, we decided against it.

[Gregory's note: I have mixed feelings about the Bedouin and their removal from Petra. On the one hand, it's sad that they were forced to leave their home. They were not compensated, but they were given a tax break. On the other hand, they had no appreciation for their surroundings -- many of the caves and artefacts were removed, broken, or abused by the people living there. They now live outside of the protected area, some still in caves or hovels, others in the new Bedouin village, which is concrete block apartments a 30-minute walk from Petra, where they now sell souvenirs, camel rides, and snacks. Evidence, such as blackened walls and ceilings, graffiti, and bullet holes in the sculptures can still be seen -- and they still use some of the caves as bathrooms.]

The most disappointing part was coming back to our ugly hotel after not showering the day before and having a moldy bathroom. We were lucky to have hot water and a decent shower (later, I read many reviews that said that they didn’t have hot water at all). I also wanted to relax in the room afterward but it was just not fun because it was freezing. You had to pay extra for the heater and of course, we didn’t! The TV was broken (they said) and the Wifi was only downstairs in the common area.

The only good thing about this place was that everyone was hanging around in the common area where there was heat and free wifi. We met and chatted with very interesting people from all over the world. We talked to Cosmin from Romania, Ralf from Germany, and briefly to Felipe, from Brazil. We chatted until they turned the light off around 10:00pm and then we went to bed since we have an early start tomorrow.

Waiting at th Rest House for our taxi to come to pick us up to take us to Petra.

My artist. We also chatted with the Belgian behind us.

Walking to discover Petra!

1/2KM along the Bab Al Siq, the first tomb

Walking through the 1.2KM Siq

They hired people to clean up after the horses, camels and donkeys.

The treasury, very impressive!

Djinn block behind, tombs to the right

The amphitheater, capacity 6000, remodeled slightly by the Romans

A book that I would like to read.

They were selling this plant in many stands. The Bedouins pull them from the ground and sell them.

The Bedouin were forced to move out of their caves when Petra became a UNESCO site but the government lets them sell all sorts of things in the site.

Bedouin with his cell phone. His "shop" is just behind. They don't even bother to look up, they just say, "Hello, welcome, have a look, very good price for you today."