A caravan adventure of another kind – Petra

Possibly a tenuous link, but I’ve just got back from the most incredible week visiting Jordan, and specifically, Petra.

I’m sure many of you will relate; from the first time I saw Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade when I was a kid, I’ve wanted to visit the site it was filmed at, and about 30 years later – I did it!

The tenuous link to this blog is that Petra is one of the original caravanner routes and home to the Bedouins, who traditionally moved about from one site to the next to graze their animals. Seeing the link now?!

Deep within Jordan’s desolate desert canyons and rugged mountains lies an ancient treasure, the stone city of Petra. A UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the new Seven Wonders of the World, Petra is a giant metropolis of tombs, monuments, and other elaborate religious structures directly carved into sandstone cliffs. Believed to have been settled as early as 9000 B.C., Petra developed into the thriving capital of the Nabataean kingdom.

The prosperity of the Nabataean kingdom and its magnificent capital, Petra, rested on the trade routes that passed through the city. From Yemen came incense, aromatic plants such as myrrh, and aloe—essential ingredients in perfume and medicine. Spices came from India and beyond, while bitumen from the Dead Sea was essential to the caulking of ships across the Mediterranean. Vast caravans poured through Petra on their way to the lucrative markets of Rome, Alexandria, and other great cities of the Mediterranean basin.

(Thanks National Geographic for the succinct description above)

I had a full six days in Jordan (two travel days either side) and the itinerary looked something like this…

DAY 1 – Arrived in Amman, the capital of Jordan after midnight and got to the hotel for some sleep! I can already feel the heat and loving it. Sadly, on arrival at the airport, my friend and I discovered that we are one of FORTY-ONE other people on this touring holiday – not happy about that as it’s far too big a group. We knew the average age of the other people would be higher than ours, but we didn’t expect that number of them!

After all of our hand luggage and suitcases being x-rayed at the hotel (it took quite some time) we were allocated our rooms, and went to bed.

DAY 2 – Today we woke up to a fabulous view from our hotel room – not quite believing our eyes when we saw how far the buildings stretched in each direction!

First things first – breakfast. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but was hoping for some real Middle Eastern food, rather than the tourist food you usually get overseas.

We were lucky – I did start with a bowl of cereal (I have to calm my stomach first thing in the morning before trying anything different) and then went in for the falafel, hummus and breads – delicious!

On to the coach and we were introduced to our local guide for the week, Hassan. He was fantastic and full of information about his country, religion and family. We also met our tourist police member, who would be with us all week, Safe (what a great name with that job!). He wasn’t there because we would be in great danger, just to help with any problems with begging, as Jordan has suffered badly due to the Syrian, Iraq and Saudi conflicts over recent years.

Our first stop was Jeresh, one of the largest and best-preserved Roman cities in existence. You can read more about Jeresh here on Wiki.

My first thoughts as we began to walk around is how similar it was to Pompeii in Italy, a place I’ve been lucky enough to visit previously, and that turned out to be unsurprising as it was a Roman built city! The name we would recognise is Hadrian, as in the wall we have here in the UK, he has a triumphal arch here!

It was incredible walking around and seeing where thousands of years ago people walked in very different situations. The colonnaded streets felt like they could come back alive with shoppers and restaurants and gladiator fights could take place in the amphitheater that evening.

On the way to our next stop, we had lunch at a huge family-run restaurant, which was disappointingly a lamb sandwich with chips! We also tried a lemon and mint drink, that was refreshing, but so tart! No alcohol here, this is a Muslim country so none is served apart from in hotels.

Next we moved back to Amman, where we saw a Roman amphitheater and the magnificent citadel, which towers above downtown Amman. The heat was pretty intense as there wasn’t much shade anywhere we visited, so water was the drink of the day. We also visited a museum of costume at the amphitheater and saw the traditional dress of different areas of Jordan. They were all beautiful, handmade and stitched by the local womenfolk.

Back to the hotel for dinner and an early night – it was a very hot and long day!

DAY 3 – Our first stop was to the King Abdullah Mosque.  As we were entering a Muslim place of worship, we were asked to dress modestly and also wear a full body smock and for the women to cover their hair.

 

We all had to remove our shoes before entering the mosque and remain quiet throughout the visit to not disturb anyone praying inside.

The interior was beautiful and Hassan explained everything we could see inside, including the official times for prayer, the books in there and the direction in which they pray.  He also answered, calmly and respectfully, the pretty weird and at times disrespectful questions some of the group asked! Suffice to say, everyone in the group left having learnt that the Muslim faith is non-violent, respect women and choose to pray that many times, they are not made too and don’t get in trouble at work for doing it!

On to our coach now and we drove to Mount Nebo, from where Moses sighted the Promised Land. And we also visited Madaba, where we saw the centuries-old stone mosaic of the Holyland. You can find out more about these on the internet. The mosaic work we saw was incredible and almost hard to believe the pictures were made up of tiny squares of stone and not painted on.

In between we had lunch at a local restaurant and it was delicious. I seem to LOVE proper Middle Eastern food and enjoyed every mouthful.

On to our next stop (have you noticed how much we moved around? Exhausting!) and the Dead sea to have a float! We stayed in a lovely hotel here and our first activity was walking down to the Dead sea and attempting to float in it! This sea is at the lowest point on earth and the temperature was rising the whole time we were there.

The advice was;

• Don’t shave anything for 48 hours before you get in the dead sea
• Wear an old swimming costume
• Wear reef shoes – it’s not a sandy bit of beach/sea
• Walk in to the sea and turn towards the land. Next, just sit down!

Luckily we did it! Here I am having a float! It felt very strange and the water was very oily. You literally just sit back and your legs float up, so you can’t help but float!

We relaxed by the pool after spreading mud all over ourselves and then had dinner at the hotel and bed.

DAY 4 – The big day is close! Headed south today, towards Petra, where we stayed in a hotel right next to the entrance.

Before we arrived there we visited the ancient fortress of Shobak, and Little Petra (Siq-al-Barid), which was thought to be a suburb of Petra.

Shobak is one of the largest and most impregnable of the chain of forts built by the Crusaders and is an impressive example of architectural military genius. Every stronghold was built to be a day’s journey from its neighbour, and at night, beacons were lit to signal to Jerusalem that each was safe. It was great to wander around on our own (we did get told off by our guide, but we were fed up of walking around like a school trip and hundreds of people getting in our photos) and would never have been allowed to do this in the UK. There were fallen stones, sheer drops and un-even steps – H&S nightmare but really added to the experience.

Little Petra made me very excited for big Petra! It was a great taste of what was to come. The landscape as we travelled there was moon like and you can see why the American studios chose this area to film ‘The Martina’ in.

On to our hotel, so close to Petra, it just heightened my sense of excitement! We then found out that we had the opportunity to see Petra (The Treasury) by night, which only took place twice a week. YES!

We had about 20 mins to get ready and then 20mins to eat our dinner before we set off. Oh my goodness. We walked, in the pitch dark, with only candles lighting our way, around 2km to the Treasury. As we had our first experience of walking through The Siq, huge cliff faces either side of us, the stars above, and as we turned a corner, our first glimpse of the Treasury, surrounded by candles.

We sat on blankets on the sandy floor, drank sweet tea and listened to Arabic music, singing and then a story before the front of the building was lit up in beautiful colours. Spectacular – if a little touristy! A long walk back to the hotel and bed after washing our very dusty feet!

DAY 5 – The BIG day!

I AM GOING INTO PETRA!

So excited for the day ahead, we set off with our group and Hassan and entered The Siq again, but this time in daylight. I don’t think I quite realised what we were walking through last night! I honestly can’t describe how unbelievable this place was. It is breath-taking and a sight I won’t ever forget.

I am just going to put my photos here and let you marvel at the sights I actually got to see in real life.

That evening, after walking over 8km in the boiling sun, we enjoyed dinner in the air conditioned hotel and then sat outside to have a drink. I, stupidly, ordered a Baileys and got a shot of it for about £8! Won’t make that mistake again! A truly remarkable day for me.

DAY 6 – Nothing was ever going to beat my day in Petra, but today we headed off into the Wadi Rum and onwards to Aqaba.

What an incredible landscape. We stopped at a view point over Petra and then moved on to see the original train used in the Laurence of Arabia film. I must watch this now I’ve been there and seen that!

We had lunch at a great camp where you can stay in tents under the stars (sadly, we weren’t) and enjoyed some more lovely Middle Eastern food, surrounded by the most incredible mountain and sandscape.

Our final destination was the Red Sea resort of Aqaba, which we reach in the afternoon. Big hotel with some Middle Eastern food, but catering more for the tourist. I want the breads back! When we walked outside, it felt like we were walking into the air from a hairdryer – it was 40c!

DAY 7 – Rest day! We spent all day by the pool on the roof (away from everyone else!) in the shade, reading and relaxing – bliss. I was reading a book called ‘Married to a Bedouin’, all about a woman who visited Petra and ended up staying there! Was also in prime position  to sit in the warmth nd listen to the ‘Call to Prayer’, a most haunting and exotic sound that will forever remind me of my week in the Middle East.

DAY 8 – Homeward bound today and I was very sad to leave Jordan.

I look back on my photos and still can’t quite believe I was there! A childhood dream fulfilled, another thing off my bucket list and an amazing memory I will cherish forever.