Petra-You want a horse? You wont make it five feet

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  Amman, Jordan
Monday, September 1, 2008

This was the advice of a young man who is part of the "horse mafia" that operates here in Petra. If you go into Petra as a group you have to pay an additional 7 JOD on top of the large sum of cash you already dished out. This money goes directly to the horse mafia in order to keep them off your tail and to allow you to ride a horse if you wish. The horses are not always treated well and our travel insurance doesnt cover horse riding accidents, so we decided against it and were told we wouldn't last 5 seconds. We were glad to see that sarcasm does translate well across languages :)

The hike into Petra was awesome!! At first it doesn't look like too much, fairly open and over a recently made bridge/path....and then you reach towering rock cliffs that engulf you completely for a good 10 minutes. And then you see it. A rich rose colored structure carved out of the rockface as you turn a right corner....you are at the treasury which was a gift to the people at the time, and a gift to us all now as it still stands in wonderful form. We will post pictures as soon as we find a fast enough computer as we found our camera cord today!!

We hiked a bit longer and further into the valley where we encountered endless tombs on the mountain sides and a view of the theatre. We were told which way to the Monestary which is where we will hike to on our own tomorrow. We left the valley again on foot and had to rest a couple times as we practised "involuntary Ramadan" today as all the shops were closed for lunch.

Tombs

We hiked about 10 km (maybe more) on a couple danishes and some pop!

I am happy to say that Heath is back to normal today after about 15 hours of sleep yesterday. He went to bed at 3 pm and woke up well this morning at 6:30. I had to check on him throughout the night to make sure he was still with us and to force him to drink water. I dont think he remembers all the times I woke him up (thank goodness) as the last time he was NOT impressed to have me shoving 1/2 a litre of water down his throat as I sat there looking at him sternly with my best nurse frown. Not happy AT ALL. But he claims I only woke him up once so we'll leave him thinking that :)

We had the BEST pizza for dinner today, really good on its own but probably tastier X 10 due to our lack of food today and yesterday. Did I mention I had a Mars bar for dinner last night?? We are back to eating veggies as of today and we have never appreciated them so much!!

Off again tomorrow for another look around Petra, this time just the two of us so no Horse Mafia to satisfy. We will try to get some pictures up tomorrow at a different cafe before we go for a big buffet dinner (much needed) and Indian Jones featuring Petra with the group. If we miss our time to post tomorrow then we won't be around for a bit as there are no real stops for good internet until Cairo.....so about a week. We're thinking about you all lots as usual and love yous!!!


Day 2 - Hiked many many many miles and many many many stairs cut out of the mountain to "The Monestary" which was just as spectacular, if not more so due to the lack of tourists, than the Treasury. Sat at the top of the mountain with some bedoins and drank black tea with cardamon and sage before looking over the Jordanian valley over to Palestine/Israel. Hiked down in the blazing heat, didn't think we'd make it....ran out of water and took plenty of breaks, Jess got sunburnt just a little. MADE IT! Devoured pizza, pop and arabic salad and passed out in the hotel room until now! Have finally found internet fast enough to add photos! LOTS of photos if all goes well :)

Will blog again in a few days...

Post your own travel photos for friends and family More Pictures

People on the cliff with a donkey	1-Tombs	2-Tombs	3-Tombs
Inside a tomb	Pyramid tombs	Getting there	one at a time
The first glimpse	The Treasury	The Treasury again	Jess at the Treasury
same	Wycks at the treasury	Wycks at the Monestary	Leaving the monestary
Bedoin hospitatliy

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