Thursday, August 11, 2005

The Ancient City of Petra

Since Egypt's Red Sea coast is very close to Jordan, it was hard to pass up a chance to visit the ancient city of Petra, so we arranged our itinerary to pass through Jordan and then fly to Europe out of Amman. The travel connections from Dahab to Petra seemed relatively straightforward - take a 10:30 am bus out of Dahab, catch an early afternoon fast ferry across the Red Sea's Gulf of Aqaba, be in Jordan by mid-afternoon, and then find a bus or other transport for the final two hour trip to Petra.

Well, if we've learned anything by now, it's that things aren't always what they seem. We soon discovered that this was destined to be another interesting travel day. First, Lisa and I arrived at the bus station at 10 am to find a variety of individuals telling us there was no bus that day and offering to sell us a minibus or taxi ride to the ferry. We'd seen enough of these scams by now to stick to our plans, and the bus did indeed show up, just a half-hour late. We made it to the ferry port at Nuweiba easily enough after that - except that no one seemed to be available to sell us a boat ticket. Eventually, a tourist policeman herded us and eight other travelers into the departure hall, where we had our passports stamped and were taken to the boat. There, we discovered that the fast ferry wasn't running on this day (for real) - and only the slow ferry was available, which meant a three-hour ride instead of a one-hour trip . Oh well. We were finally able to buy tickets on the ship and so we settled in at about 1 pm for the journey.

Actually, no. First we looked for seats, but saw that there were none available. We wandered the decks for a half-hour, stepping over entire families who were sleeping on the floor or crouched in the corners. We learned there were 900 passengers on the ship - Lisa and me, two other Americans, four Europeans, two Korean girls (we know - we met them all), and apparently 890 or so Egyptians, Jordanians and Saudis. Eventually, we managed to find a table in a self-service restaurant. And so we waited. And waited some more. The ferry didn't leave at 1 pm, as we were told, but at 3:30. And it wasn't a three-hour ride, but a four-and-a-half hour trip.

We met an older Danish couple on board who had done this ferry ride before. "It's just Egypt," they told us. "Everything runs a lot smoother in Jordan."

O.K., so instead of arriving in Aqaba, Jordan in mid-afternoon, we actually got there at 8 p.m. And by the time we got off the boat and through immigration, it was 8:45. All the buses to Petra were long since departed, so our only remaining choice was to negotiate a taxi ride. Surprisingly, this was the easiest part of our day. In about 30 seconds, we were able to book a ride at exactly the lowest price recommended by Lonely Planet. As we set off for the two-hour drive to Petra (or to Wadi Musa, the village nearest to Petra), our taxi driver joked with us.

"Look, our streets our clean and orderly. Not like in Egypt. Look, I'm stopping at a red light. Not like in Egypt. Hahaha."

Actually, I thought, he's right. Other than Singapore, this was the first time in two months we'd seen anything resembling orderly traffic. Interesting. Then, a half-hour later, the taxi driver even stopped at a roadside drink stand and bought us a cup of tea. For free. I was beginning to like Jordan. Two problem-free hours later, we were at our hotel.

Lisa and I spent the next two days exploring the ancient city of Petra, which was originally constructed two millennia ago by the Nabateans. Although not nearly as well known as the Egyptian Pyramids, Petra is still one of the more remarkable sights you're ever likely to see. The temples and tombs of this vanished city are cut right out of the rock walls of mountains.

Here is a photo of the Treasury, which is the most spectacular sight at Petra and is only reachable by a half-mile walk through a narrow gorge. Fans of the Indiana Jones movies might recognize this place, which was featured in "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade"...




















Here is a view of the Treasury from above, reached after another 45-minute hike...
















The sights of Petra are spread over a wide area, so Lisa and I did a lot of walking in the August heat during those two days. But it was well worth it. There is another structure similar to the Treasury (called the Monastery); countless tombs, from the spectacular to the mundane; a large amphitheater; a colonnaded street built in later centuries by the Romans, and various temples. Once again, we were left to gaze at the talents of people who preceded us by two or three thousand years, and to ponder the centuries-long emptiness of yet another ancient city.

Meanwhile, the time we spent in Wadi Musa was also notable, particularly because of the friendliness of the people. After three weeks of travel in Egypt and Jordan, we had yet to hear an anti-American sentiment and, in fact, most people we met were unusually welcoming. One night at a restaurant, two local men moved to a different table so that Lisa and I, as guests in town, could have the better seats. In Petra one day, we met a teenage boy who asked where we were from. When we told him, he said, "Ah, U.S.! U.S. is cool!" And another day, while hiking at Petra, I came across a Bedouin shepherd who offered a cup of tea from the pot he was boiling over an open fire.

When it was time to leave town, Lisa and I headed to the local bus station in order to find transport to Amman. The only problem, we learned, is that there was no schedule for buses from Wadi Musa to Amman. Sometimes a minibus was available, sometimes not. On this day, there was no bus. But we quickly found a service taxi (a shared ride in a private taxi) and so headed off on one more three-hour road trip, this time with a driver who spoke no English and an opthalmologist from Amman. Once again, though, both of them were incredibly friendly. When he dropped us off, the elderly taxi driver gave me a high-five. It was perfectly emblematic of many of the people we had met in this region.

But now this part of the trip was over. The journey was winding down, with just a few weeks left, and we were off to Europe. Next stop: Prague.

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