Shara Mountains Hostel Wadi Musa

... Nabateans were very culturally diverse, and Petra was somewhat of a melting pot, The Treasury contains Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Assyrian, and even Babylonian influences (the same can be said of much of the carvings and artwork throughout Petra). Sure enough, The Treasury was decorated with wine urns, opium pods, various gods and goddesses, and even griffins!

It was astounding to stand in front of this monument. I felt dwarfed in size, and inspired by its genius ...

... like in Egypt, you get a lot of people saying welcome to you in the street. Some of the men are still a bit sleazy but not in the same way as Egyptian men. Egyptian men were more up front and honest about their sleaziness whereas the sleazy Jordanian men i have encountered so far are just really arrogant and you have to watch what signals you're sending out because they need boundaries. Our local guide Zuhair is like this. Nice enough ...

... 2 and**en Stellen und sollen auf ihne warten. Kurze Zeit spät** kaufen wir 2 Zweitagestickets für Petra - Kosten: 26 Dinar.
Danach fahren wir zu Nawafs Haus in dem Dorf., in das die Bedouinen umgesiedelt wurden, nachdem sie nicht mehr in Petra bleiben durften. Das gleiche Dorf, durch das wir einen Abend vorh** gefahren sind. Wir frühstücken gemeinsam (Hummus, Falafel, irgendwas mit Ei und Brot). Nawafs kleine Tocht** scheint sehr schücht**n und wirft uns komische Blicke zu. Als ...

... the morning.

We had fought with our guide to have an early start to Petra, so everyone was downstairs waiting to leave by 7 am. We got to the site and started the 1.5 km walk through The Siq towards the Treasury. We arrived by 8 am and were some of the first people there and able to get some nice pictures before the masses arrived. The standard time to arrive at the Treasury is 9 am when the sun starts to light up the front of the ...

... You walk through this narrow fissure in the rock (the Siq) where the walls are so narrow and so high you can’t see around corners. Every corner you go around you expect to see the Treasury in all it’s glory but you have to walk for a kilometre or two before you get to it. The anticipation builds the further you walk
The Treasury is an intricate facade hewn into the red sandstone. It’s so beautiful you would think it is a treasury or church or ...

... ask if our telephone is broken...he wanted to fix it. Ahhh...family!

But like a family, you take the good (and annoying) with the bad because no matter what, they'll always be there to hold your baby.

Getting lost in cobblestone maze of the Old City was a trip for the senses. People were jam packed in a walled-in area, some selling spices, others smoking a pipe and waiting for people to buy Roman Glass necklaces. In such a small area, it was ...

... laugh too much cause I didn't want to upset the bloke but oh how it tickled. After this and one final rinsing it was time to get change and relax with some Turkish tea and it was lovely. I was very relaxed after that and walked back upstairs with jelly legs and just flopped on the bed.

We rose after a nice afternoon nap, had some dinner and then we were walking back down to Petra for Petra at night! Arriving at the gate we met up with all the other people from the group and the ...

... signs, pictures from along side the road, and lots of chatter.  Surprised? Once we got to Petra, I parked at the Crown Plaza hotel as it is close to the entrance and they have NICE bathrooms inside. :-)  It was a very important stop before going into see the sights.  Matt had Lyle's residency card so it only cost us each 1JD instead of the 28JD non-residence price.  Yippeee!!!!!!!  Off we went on the nice downward path into the Siq that would lead to the ...

... sol es pon. Un parell de dies son suficients per visitar l'antiga capital del poble nabateu. La majoria de la gent venen per un dia, pero com que jo tinc temps i tampoc es questio d'estar sempre anant amunt i avall, he decidit quedar-m'hi un parell de dies: el primer per fer la visita de rigor a tot el recinte i el segon per fer unes rutes a peu a traves del Wadi Muthlim (un barranc que hi ha l'entrada del recinte i que permet fer una excursio fora de les rutes tradicionals que ...

... drive along on the dual-carriage King's Highway. On the way we stopped at Mount Nebo, which where Moses is supposed to have first seen the promised land. He never made it and is believed to have been buried nearby.

After a brief stop at a mosaic workshop, where Cameron again showed his interest in all things manufacturing, we went to see a rather older mosaic at the Greek Orthodox Church ...