Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Petra and Wadi Rum, Jordan


We spent the last two days wandering through the ancient Nabatean city of Petra. What an amazing place! Despite all of the tourists, it is still possible to wander off and find a beautiful mountaintop all to yourself. We arrived in Wadi Moussa (the town right outside of Petra) the day before yesterday and immediately set off to spend the day hiking the beautiful canyon. Vivianna only had one day here so we really spent the entire day hiking and seeing as much as possible. We met some bedouins on our way up to the monastery and had tea with them on top of the mountain. There is a beautiful panoramic outlook point, not too far above the monastery, and this is where we sat, drank tea, and watched the sunset. By the time we made it down it was already getting dark and this worked out perfectly because we got to see Petra by Night without paying the fee for it. So we walked through the canyon in the dark, with nothing to guide us but the burning candles on both sides of us. It was incredible to walk through Petra this way, in particular because it was completely devoid of any human life.
This morning we packed up our stuff and arrived in Wadi Rum. One of the bedouins we met in Petra took us here and now we are relaxing at our nice little camp in the desert. It is too hot to go for a walk right now so we are just lying in the shade, reading, and taking naps. Tonight we will take our blankets and go sleep under the stars.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

We “me and family” made a trip to Petra in Jordan in April 2007. it was a piece of art and  fabulous.


We flew from Berlin to Amman- Jordan. We traveled at modern buses with a guide/driver.



Our route was Amman, Jerash, Ajloun , Petra , Dead Sea.



On the way we experienced architectural, archaeological, historical and cultural places: noble mosques, interesting museums, ancient castle, unique ruins, stone paths, the lowest point on earth with mineral salty water at Dead sea. Also we went to see how nomads live in their tents.

 


Before our trip we got a lot of warnings and surprising comments on Jordanians' hostility toward Westerners. Anyhow in every city, town and village we felt ourselves very welcome and every person was polite and hospitable to us.



Our guide was the best possible guide. His knowledge of Jordan, the past and the present is enormous and his driving style is convincing, A trip with him was like a trip with a friend not with a formal guide.

 
From my experience, http://libertytourism.com/Programs.html is one of the best tours at Jordan where all you may need and ask on one place.  
 
Hans Herrman