A Wordly Wonder

OK. I'm not afraid to admit it. Before a week ago I had never even heard of Petra. Hell - given three chances I may not have been able to point out Jordan on a map. But we heard from some (drunken?) pirate looking dude on a deserted beach in Egypt that Petra is the biggest tourist attraction in the middle east. We later found out that it is one of the new wonders of the world. Perhaps more importantly - it was featured in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. I'm always telling Jenn: "if something is good enough for Han Solo - then by god it's good enough for us."

(he was actually trying to take a picture of us and his friend, but he aimed the camera the wrong way)

So we started crossing borders having absolutely no idea what to expect* (mom and dad - see footnote below). Petra could well have been the world's largest stone carousel and Jordan may well have been a western hating Muslim hotbed, but how many chances are we going to get to bounce around the Middle East? Onward!

To make a long story short - Petra is an archeological site that houses the stone remains of an 8,000 year old city. Even if you don't see the stone carved buildings, the site itself is just incredible due to the sandstone canyons and cliffs. To get to the city itself you have to walk through tight and winding sandstone gorge - the rocks are many shades of red and everywhere you look is stunning.

(the entrance to the city)

(a close up of the sand stone rocks)

(Jenn in front of the famous treasury building)

(At the top of one of the lookouts -quite a long hike up. We left Jenn's jacket up here and had to climb up here twice. Our butts were sore for two days after)

As for Jordan itself - I think it was far and away the friendliest place that we've visited yet. Imagine what your reaction would be if you knew that someone walking past you on the sidewalk was a foreigner. You'd probably give them a nod or maybe a "hello". In Jordan almost everyone says "welcome to Jordan" with a big smile. You will be asked if you want tea (from strangers) and if you accept you may get stuck for hours trying to insist that you aren't hungry, or that you've had enough, or that gifts or take home food really isn't necessary. There were many times that we were offered a drink or a chat and I refused thinking that there would be some sort of catch as there always was in other countries we had visited. Jordan was truly different, people just honestly want to sit and talk - it was a very neat experience.

(A little girl insisted on helping Jenn tie her scarf around her head the "right" way - and wouldn't take any money when she offered to tip her for her services.)

We made friends with quite a few Bedouins (Arabs that live in the desert) in Jordan and Egypt. One night, we went out to the desert to look at the stars with our new Bedouin and Californian friends. The invitation to go out in the desert in the middle of the night might seem a bit scary - but the Bedouin (and Jordanian) people are the nicest you'll ever meet.
We loved our time in Jordan.

If you'd like to see more photos of Petra check out our Flickr photostream (click on the link in the upper right corner of our page).

**Note to our parents: Just kidding about the "not researching" stuff, we were escorted by security forces the entire time.