I've gotten into the very bad habit lately of only writing about my last trip when I'm about to take another. Well this time is no different. Actually, I've already been to Munich for Oktoberfest, so naturally you're just now hearing about my trip to Jordan this past May. Better late than never! Enjoy!
I firmly believe that when one is about to embark upon a journey to a place featured in a movie, the best way to start your trip is by watching said movie. In this case, "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade". You may have never heard of Petra (I know I hadn't until I went to Jordan the first time), but undoubtedly if you have watched the Indiana Jones movies, you'll recognize it as the temple where the Holy Grail was hidden. Its real name is "The Treasury at Petra", Petra being the nearby Jordanian city. I could spend this whole blog and more relating the history of the place, but since this is about my trip and since I am no archeologist, I'll stick to what I know and leave the rest to the professionals.
So on my first trip to Jordan, my company put us on a little local airline called Jazeera Airways. It was everything you'd expect of a small airline, and some of my co-workers were less than enchanted with the service, but there was one BIG plus in my opinion: online check-in for carry on only. With any other airline, you have to go through an extra security checkpoint just to check-in - even if you have no bags to check - which can take an extra hour. So yes, I chose Jazeera. Plus, their rates are by far the most reasonable between Kuwait and Amman.
Upon arrival in Amman, I had a car service pre-arranged to take me to my hotel in downtown Amman. If you're traveling to Jordan, I recommend this option simply because its at least a 30 minute drive from the airport to the city, and you can never tell when taxi services will try to rip you off. My driver's name was Shadi, and it turned out he was my driver for my tour to Petra as well. (Let me know if you want his contact info to arrange your own transportation.)
Now, when I book hotels in unfamiliar areas, I typically turn to Travelocity. They haven't let me down so far and with a lot of other discount travel sites, they'll list any and every hotel without discrimination. Well once again Travelocity had my back. I took a chance on a hotel that I knew next to nothing about except that it was one of the cheapest deals for Amman at the time, and it happened to be a 5 star hotel: The Kempinski, Amman.
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| Yummy! |
The Kempinski actually had security scanners and metal detectors at the door, but it wasn't painful like at airports. Needless to say, if I didn't feel safe traveling on my own in the Middle East, that made me feel a million times safer. The staff at the desk were all polite and helpful to the point that I felt a little like a celebrity. It didn't help that on the way to my room, the attendant that was carrying my bags asked if I was with the United Nations here for the conference. I think my jaw literally dropped before I laughed and told him that I wasn't. Yeah, that was awesome. The cherry on top of this hotel was the room itself. Mint on the pillow? Oh no, they went a step farther and had a platter of little treats waiting for me - yum!
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| View of the Petra canyons from above. |
After a great night's sleep, Shadi came to pick me up for my tour at 7 AM. It was a really long drive down to Petra - almost 4 hours I think. On the way down we stopped at a little gift shop/café for a rest and a bathroom break. Aside from that most of the drive was through barren desert lands - not sandy, but nothing really to see - so I slept most of the way. As we got close to Petra though, the road started winding more and trees started to appear. There were a couple of little villages a few minutes away. When we got to the edge of Petra, Shadi pulled over to let me take pictures of the Canyons where the ruins at Petra are hidden.
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| Ancient Guard Reenactment |
At the entrance to the ruins, I met my tour guide, Josef. Josef actually grew up in Petra, so he knew a LOT about it. At the entrance of the caverns a guard reinactment takes place every few minutes, so I stopped to take pictures.
The walk down to the Treasury, which is the iconic image associated with Petra, lead through a long and winding canyon. Lining the edges of the pathway were excavated remains of an aqueduct system, and all along the walls were carvings of a wide range of ancient gods made by several different generations and vastly different cultures that had occupied Petra at some point in history. There was even a sacrificial site where Josef explained that animals were slaughtered in a cave above the idol, and the blood was allowed to run down to the idol. Looking at what remains, I can almost picture that... almost.
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| Walking down to the Treasury - aqueduct lower left. |
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| The blood idol |
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| The lower entrance to the Treasury |
When we were just around the bend from the Treasury, Josef stopped me so that I could take pictures of the slow reveal. It was epic! The Treasury itself was so much bigger than I imagined! The main entrance must've been almost 20 feet high! At the base, a cave in a few months earlier had revealed that there was actually an even lower entrance in front of the steps leading up to the big door. It hadn't been fully excavated yet, but I got a picture through the grate over it keeping people out. Also, because of this and probably also in order to preserve the Treasury, I wasn't able to go inside. That's alright though. This way, I can still manage to believe that there's a huge temple inside leading to the Holy Grail, rather than what is actually just a large carved out room that was likely a tomb. Yeah, the grail bit is definitely better.
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The Treasury
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Sometime later I may go into the significance of all the details of the Treasury, but that's a history lesson for another time.
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| A Treasury-style tomb without a facade |
Admittedly, I didn't know much about Petra when I signed up for the tour. As I mentioned before, the Treasury was likely a tomb of someone very very important, and its not the only such structure at Petra. Josef led me further down the canyon past many many more tombs. This wasn't just a city of the dead though as evidenced by the amphitheater midway down.
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| Roman Temple |
Finally the canyon opened up and it became overwhelmingly clear just how many different cultures were represented here. There was a Roman temple ruin and road. There was an Egyptian temple, and a Byzantine chapel with a mosaic floor. And of course there were dozens and dozens of caves that Josef told me may have actually been used as dwellings, or as stables for livestock. Awe is the only word to describe how I felt.
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| Roman Road |
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| Egyptian Temple |
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| Mosaic Floor in Byzantine Chapel |
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| Cliff Dwellings? |
Shadi had mentioned that I had to be back by a certain time so we could depart for Amman and at the time, I was thinking all there was to see was the Treasury, so I thought nothing of it. Ha! I realized that I could've stayed at Petra for at least another full day, and there were still a couple things I didn't get to see, but I had to get back. Josef offered to take the back way getting back to the main entrance, so I agreed since I had already seen everything on the way down. It was quite a little hike, and stupid me wore sandals. Not my brightest moment to say the least. There was a little bouldering on the way, but we made it.
Shadi was waiting at the entrance as promised to take me back to Amman, and I'm not ashamed to say I slept the entire way back. Note to self - expect the unexpected and wear shoes next time!
This was a very short trip - only 2 days - so I didn't really have a chance to get out and see anything else in Jordan this time, but I think I've hit the high points so if I do go back to Jordan, it will just be to relax. Maybe at one of the many spas and health resorts at the Dead Sea? Hmmm...
Anyway, the next trip (which I've already taken) is to Munich for Oktoberfest! After that its looking like I'll be going to Ireland, and I have a few small 2 day trip ideas... Cairo, Muscat, Rome... though Jerusalem is probably the most shiny of the bunch. Until then!
