Old tales of Petra

Today was my last day with my parents in Rodos. I want to tell you all about everything, but I will start by giving you a post I have been meaning to post for awhile now. I have had to finish this post, and now I am tired and feel I can’t continue with stories from Greece or, as you will see, even with stories from Egypt.
So far this trip has been so amazing. I feel the gods are truly on my side and everything thus far has worked out so nicely.

Tomorrow I am alone again. I am going to hop a ferry to a small Greek island, Tilos, where I can hopefully spend some time reflecting on all that has transpired. I kind of doubt this will result in much public material, but hey, you never know. I won’t have a computer anymore though, so unless there is a good internet café on this remote island (known for bird watching) it seems unlikely that any of you will hear from me until I reach Turkey (which is a new addition to my trip).

Anyway, this piece was started in Dahab either on September 8th or 9th, I’m not too sure now.

Sitting in a beach side restaurant in Dahab, Egypt- it is time for me to attempt to relay my stories.

Friday Sep 3rd, Mego, Huda, and I left for Petra. We drove the 3 hours to Wadi Musa where I had a room booked at the Cleopetra. We arrived and found the place without too much ado. My room was a clean, small room with adjoining bathroom - it was perfect.
Petra was spectacular. I have no words to describe the experience of being there. I will post some pictures, but even these really do not do the experience justice. [edit: actually, you'll have to just look at my facebook album for these photos since I don't have access to them presently]

Walking through the siq, which is a canyon with rock walls on either side, was so moving. When the treasury came into view I felt my heart swell and my eyes fill- it is honestly so awe inspiring. I climbed up many stairs (and rocks) to visit tombs scattered all over. The moment I was separated from Mego and Huda, I met a Bedouin man who gave me a cigarette and we chatted awhile until Mego and Huda found me (to save me?). Later, I went exploring again on my own. I think that experiencing this place requires some solitude. The grandeur of the space makes you feel so incredibly small…

Mego, Huda and I decided to climb the stairs up to the monastery on foot, despite the constant appeals to take a donkey. I thought that perhaps this would be a great ordeal, akin to the Grouse Grind [for those of you not familiar, this is a grueling stair climb up Grouse mountain in BC], but really it was not so far. During our climb we were told so many different numbers as to how far it was ah, such a hard sell!

The monastery was astounding. From there I hiked up to the sacrifice point where there was a Bedouin tent set up. There was a young man there who fed me tea and while I sat there with him, Mego and Huda came up. The view was spectacular!

Mego, Huda and I meandered out of Petra just as dusk was approaching. Tired and happy, we grabbed a bite to eat at a nearby hotel and then went to Cleopetra. Mego and Huda also decided to stay for the night, since the drive back to Amman was quite far and it was already dark. We had tea with the owner, Mosleh, who arranged for me to go on a tour of Wadi Rum (a desert) the following day. When I told him that I wished to go to Dahab, he asked me to bring some Jordanian coffee to a hotel owner friend of his in Dahab. I agreed, so we went to the store to pick up the coffee. I said my goodbyes to Mego and Huda, as I would be leaving early the next morning.

Later that night, while I was trying to sleep, amid the sounds of the night streaming in through my window, I was suddenly afraid that I was actually asked to smuggle drugs. I quickly got up and turned on the lights to inspect the “coffee.” It was, indeed, just coffee. Phew.

The next morning I got up early and packed up my stuff. I met these 2 German girls who were to be going on the tour of Wadi Rum with me. We drove to the desert town, Rum Village, where we were met by a Bedouin. He took us to his house to drop off our bags and told us to take a walk up this mountain to a spring and then to come back to his house. We were a little confused by these directions, since we were under the impression we would be doing a jeep tour. Also, we had all been to Petra the day before, so we were quite exhausted and looking forward to sitting in a jeep passively. Alas, we did the hike, since it seemed we really had no other choice. It was incredibly hot already, and so we reticently climbed up the mountain. We were pleasantly surprised to see that there was a nice spring up there, where we sat and laughed and got to know each other a bit better.

While we were making our way back into the town, we were met by another man, our guide, Audi. It would appear that we had taken a little too long on our hike, so he had come to meet us.

Audi took us in the jeep to see where the camels get water and some inscriptions. The inscriptions did not look very old, so [privately] I thought that perhaps this was actually just a scam. I was not overly impressed. Then he took us to this siq where hiked through and then climbed up further and further into the siq. I was completely terrified, luckily, the other 2 German girls, Louisa and Tami seemed equally scared so I did not feel so ridiculous in my trepidation. The rock climbing really brought us close together and I made fast friends with the 2 girls.

We saw many other sites that day, including hiking up a huge red sand dune, which was absolutely beautiful and so serene. That night we all slept outside under the desert sky. The stars were mesmerizing and I had a hard time sleeping lest I miss some of the changes in the night. That, and also because there were desert foxes noisily fighting and playing all night long.

The day had been so great, I decided to stay another night. Louisa and Tami left to go to Israel and I went into town to meet some of Audi’s family. At his family’s home I hung out with all these children. I let them listen to my ipod, while I sipped tea and napped in their home. Audi went to go get some supplies and I had lunch with his cousin and his wife.

That night, while I was watching the sunset with another group of tourists I got the phone call from my mother, which I mentioned in an earlier post. Originally I had decided that I would head to Egypt the next day, but upon hearing the news, I felt like I was not prepared to deal with the chaos which I knew Egypt would entail. I decided to stay one more night to collect myself. Also, when your family is so far away, it felt especially nice to spend time with someone else’s family. After all, family is family.

So my last full day in Wadi Rum I helped Audi give a quick tour to this girl, Fiona, from Australia. It was super fun! Then I spend some more time with the kids dancing and generally being silly.

Finally, on Tuesday the 7th of September, 2 days after I was supposed to go, I made my way to Aqaba to catch the ferry to Egypt.

I’m afraid I’ll have to leave it at that, because I cannot possibly regale you with all that has happened. Egypt will have to be its own chapter, when I have some more time and access to internet.