Petra

Trip Start Oct 20, 2008
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28
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Trip End Jan 31, 2009


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Flag of Jordan  ,
Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Woke up at 5am to catch the 6.30 bus to Petra. It took 4 hours to get down there. 14 Jordanian Dinars (JD) roundtrip. The Jett bus was comfortable and the staff helpful.

Petra was packed with tourists. It wasn't possible to walk around without shouldering somebody. There were even tourists from a Royal Caribbean cruise liner that has anchored in Aqaba. As opposed to Palmyra's newly-discovered feel, Petra felt heavily commercialized.

Petra is a 2nd Century BC Nebatean site of dessert, canyons and caved stone buildings. You walk through a narrow canyon for 20 minutes; a tour guide plays the Indiana Jones theme from his cell phone and finally you are faced to face with a gigantic king's tomb carved into stone. The Nebatean style mixes Egyptan and Greek influences, and adds a bit of originality Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
 . For instance, they have used elephant's head capitals, elongated the prongs of the Corinthian columns and placed a cylindrical structure to the upper center of their tombs. When the Nebateans were annexed by the Roman Empire in the 2nd Century AD, many of their building were used by the new rulers. During the Byzantine era, some were converted to churches and monestaries.

Although I had 5 hours to spend in Petra, I was extremely rushed. From the al-Deir Monestary at the higher end of the site, I had to walk fast for kms, so that I could catch my 4pm bus back to Amman. Thank god I caught the bus, but staying here overnight is a must for a more pleasurable experience.

I'm really happy to see how seriously Jordanians take their tourists. The sellers understand that no means no and there are many heavily armed policemen continously patrolling. This is of course in striking contrast with the situation in Syria.

The native women of Petra are very active. Most of the sellers were ladies. They were both proactive and talkative. At the Visitor's Center, there was a store selling products from the women's cooperation.

Diana picked me up from the bus station. By the way, Jordan needs a proper station. The so-called Abdali Station in Amman consists of a road with bus company offices on both sides. When we got back to King's Academy (where I'm staying), we cooked spaghetti with pesto sauce and skyped our Colombian friend Valeria. Seeing her well made me really happy.
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