petra

The source of inspiration behind Kelsey and I meeting in Jordan was to see Petra. On our last full day in the country, we left our Beduin camp early in the back of a truck and started driving north from Wadi Rum and found this ancient city to be the most easily located and well-marked on every road. In Jordan, it seems, that all roads lead to Petra.

We wanted to catch good light on the rocks in Petra, but nearly any light makes this red and orange rock look magnificent. The path into Petra is a bit long and Kelsey and I were excited to see the Treasury so we dodged tour groups and slower tourists to find the Treasury. Between two columns of rocks the impressive carving come into view. Then entire day I was astounded by how much rock was carved out of the sandstone into beautiful rooms and tombs. Even the women's rooms were situated in the rock and the walls and ceilings were of the textures and layers of red sandstone.

Once we saw the Treasury, our energy dwindled and we moped around the place until we found a place to sit and then we slowly meandered through more ruins. We did take quite a bit in even under the influence of our tired, hungry stupor. There are all sorts of little "holes in the walls" everywhere in the area. We also saw massive tombs and temples, and roads. Bedouins still live in caves in the rock at Petra. Archaeologists are still unearthing more of this ancient city that stretches out through cliffs and valleys.

=We finally sat down and assuaged our hunger with a buffet of food at a restaurant. After our food splurge, we found Makhmoud who loaned out his donkeys to us. This little trip off the beaten path was the best part of the entire adventure.

Kelsey and I determined that we wanted to see the Monastery and investigate the "secret spring" my friend Lauren told me about. The way up was steep and my donkey liked two things; people (as in, running them off the path), and the edge (as in, don't look down). I felt like I had to excuse my 'ass' the entire way up. But 800 steps later, I am convinced we personally saved a lot of energy by riding and we needed that help at the end of our trip!

We were followed by Abraham, who sang all things from traditional Bedouin songs to "Happy Birthday" and would randomly pull words out of his enviable international word bank like "konnichiwa" and then rave about how much he loved the Japanese tourists and did not enjoy the French. He jumped on the back of his donkey and with his cavalier spirit and eyes darkened with coal, he reminded us of Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Carribean. We did not realize that he was going to be with us the rest of the day.

The Monastery was impressive. The structure carved in the rock is much grander than the Treasury and perhaps, the long climb up to this perch is part of the awe, too.

A short climb from there you can see "the end of the world," or at least all the signs point to that. I am sure we saw all the way to Israel, but not quite to the end of the world.

Apparently, on the way down we each had to be led so our donkeys were safe and we did not fall off and down a cliff. Abraham and Makhmoud led us both down and grabbed our arms near the point of no return and steered the donkeys away from the edge where their hooves might slip or trip. I cannot say riding a donkey down stairs is particularly comfortable, but certainly boasts an experience to remember!

At the bottom I swapped out my donkey, "Mike Jackson," for Ferrari, before heading down a wadi to the spring. The spring turned out to be a bit disappointing, but we took the donkeys down textured and carved canyon walls where Bedouins still live and gardens grow their food, and tourists cannot be found often. On the way back, the two donkey owners jumped on the donkeys with Kelsey and I and raced back while we hung on. We laughed a lot and because we had such a great time, I think Abraham and Makhmoud did, too. The two men invited us to enjoy tea and a barbecue with their respective families where we could meet them and begin learning Arabic, but we decline and instead, they brought us as far as they could toward the entrance and said multiple goodbyes as darkness was coming.

And, just like that, we soon found ourselves hiked out of the canyons and back to the car. Our day at Petra was over.

We ate dinner at a restaurant called the Red Cave. They served Jordanian food and Kelsey had found in a Lonely Planet. It was a great meal to end our trip with.

We had to drive back to the miserable hotel we stayed at the first night because it was close to the airport and Kelsey's flight was at 3:30am. I would follow her late the next morning back to her home in Greece.

By the way, if anyone else wants a singing tour guide with donkeys, Abraham told me he lives in a cave by #15 on the Petra guide map. I believe Makhmoud lived behind the Royal Tombs somewhere.