Post-Birthright Day 10: Petra (part II/II)

I was awoken just before my alarm the next morning to the sound of the first call to prayer - there must have been a mosque right around the corner from the hotel, because it was practically playing straight into my window. The combined sounds of other mosques throughout the tiny town was eerily beautiful, and I didn't mind the half hour or so of sleep I missed because of it.

We had wanted to get down to the site when it opened at first light... we were running a little late and didn't quite make sunrise, but we were early enough to enjoy a lot of the monuments all to ourselves before the crowds showed up. Here, I'll finally show you the Treasury - named because according to legend an Egyptian pharaoh stored his treasure here sometime after it was abandoned; the original function was probably related to worship of some sort. Harrison Ford enthusiasts may recognize it from a little movie called Indiana Jones (The Last Crusade)

The Siq.

Me in the Siq - I don't know why my leg is up, that wasn't an intentional pose.

A clip I took of what it was like to wind through the Siq and come across the Treasury.

The Treasury with no crowds in front - the only time you'll ever see that! (Yes, there is still one solitary worker cleaning).

Clip from the movie, showing the scene when you first see the Treasury.

We moved on, anxious to try to climb to the Monastery first thing before the crowds arrived. This was, again, a silly plan to attempt, as at every turn there was something new to discover and get us sidetracked. That wound up being the theme of the day, and the Monastery wound up being one of the last things we actually got around to seeing... which, crowds and all, was fine. We had a fantastic day exploring and playing on the rocks and ancient tombs.

Roman-style amphitheater.

Climbing up on some rocks, looking back at the Roman-style amphitheater, Cali.

After getting distracted in some fun little caves by the amphitheater, we head on towards the Monastery and found ourselves on the colonnaded street, lines with ruins of columns (put back together with original materials found lying on the ground)... passing by one tall-ish wall, I saw a staircase and a sign.  Upon further investigation, I discovered this was the ruin of an ancient Great Temple, and when I figured out that the steps actually went somewhere I took them and suddenly found myself on the platform of a gigantic site, completely invisible from the path level down which we had been walking. Having recently taken an art history course, this was an incredibly exciting find, and I'm excited to e-mail some of these photos to my art history professor at LBCC.

View down the Colonnaded Street towards the Arched Gate - the random-looking columns to the left are part of the Great Temple complex I accidentally discovered.

First view of the Great Temple complex upon ascending the almost-hidden stairs - there's me!

Self-portrait to show size of columns.

View after climbing all the way up to the top/back of the Great Temple complex.

Entire Great Temple complex, completely invisible from the path below.

Still attempting to follow our plan to find the Monastery early, we pressed on, stopping briefly at the Qasr Al-Bint Temple, the only freestanding stone structure in Petra still standing (the rest are cut into existing rock).

Qasr Al-Bint Temple

Me inside the Qasr Al-Bint Temple

Inside the Qasr Al-Bint Temple

Pressing on to the path we thought was towards the Monastery, we climbed up into the rock mountains and around the back of the ones we had be immediately facing.  Realizing we had made a wrong turn, but interested in the different pathways lying before us, we asked a local Bedouin where the paths lead, and were told the longest one in front of us lead to the "snake monument." It wasn't on our map, but there was an unlabeled monument graphic that made sense, so we decided to take a change and go explore. The path went almost off the map we had, but it was nice to go down a road seldom traveled. Definitively leaving the tourist part of Petra, we passed countless more tombs that local Bedouins had made into homes, and were invited into several for tea. We didn't stop, much as I would have liked to (how crazy a story would that have made?), and continued until we found what had to be the Snake Monument. It was a small but interesting tomblike structure up on a semi-open, semi-gradual stone slope, and after scrambling up to it, we stopped to eat some lunch we'd brought with us and enjoy the incredible view.

First view looking back before going around the mountain.

Walking around that first mountain - can you believe the view?

Me and some random tombs. They were everywhere, just ancient ruins scattered about, so many most weren't even worth a mention on the map. The path we took was through that little gorge there next to me.

The view from next to the Snake Monument where I ate my lunch.

Me in the Snake Monument.

Full view of the Snake Monument and little outcropping on which it is perched. Not pictured: chickens belonging to the family in a little house just to the right of the frame.

After lunch and hiking back the long path we'd taken in the opposite direction, we finally made it back to the correct starting point for the climb up to the Monastery. The climb is over 800 steps up uneven stone stairs, past harrowing cliffs that the local animals climb with seeming ease (though we did see someone fall off one at a particularly scary spot and refuse to get back on or I assume pay the owner leading them)... we decided to feel personally invested and do it 100% by foot. Cali and Jonathan are in much better shape than me, and I had a gigantic backpack with all my valuables including my computer inside, so I told them to go ahead and not wait up for me. It probably took me about a half hour longer than them, but it was fine - as you shall soon see, there was plenty to see and do at the top.

The Lion Triclinium on the way up.

The Monastery is a massive yet relatively simple structure cut directly into the rock, and obviously served a very important function with such an intentionally removed location. The simplicity and lack of intricate detail adds to the effect of its overall size and impressiveness, and the difficult climb was definitely worth it.

That's me with my arms out, well in front of the Monastery - you can see people standing on the threshold for a more accurate depiction of size.

Looking up at the Monastery from up close.

There were paths leading away from the Monastery leading to other spectacular views of the surrounding area, and we spent some time exploring those pathways - at every turn, a new spectacular view.

Looking back at the Monastery - the path up enters the area at the bottom right of the monument, so this path is a sort of continuation.

Me!

Continuing along that path you come across these signs. Of course we followed the signs / path.

Looking back at the Monastery farther along the path.

Panorama from where the previous picture was taken, 360 degree view.

Cali chilling with a Bedouin offering tea to weary travelers, looking out over Wadi Araba, aka "the end of the world"

A look out over the mountains and, beyond, Wadi Araba.

Panorama from next to the tea-offering Bedouin's tent.

We finally decided to head back down, which was MUCH easier than going up - it seemed to take no time at all. Before I knew it, we were back on the Colonnaded Street, passing again the Great Temple complex, retracing our steps back towards the Royal Tombs. After stopping at a little tent for some Arabic coffee (I was getting that all-too-familiar caffeine headache from not having any for too long), our last hurrah of the day was climbing up into the Royal Tombs, taking a peek around, and casually browsing the many stalls selling handmade jewelry and crafts.

On the Colonnaded Street, looking straight back at the Royal Tombs.

Shop up on the Royal Tombs terrace - this scene very strongly evokes a scene from Aladdin to me, I'm not sure why.

Shops at the top of the Royal Tombs complex - this one is where I bought Loren's little Bedouin teapot.

Panorama from the top of the Royal Tombs complex - including the shop where I bought Loren's teapot from a Bedouin that I'm almost positive was wearing eyeliner, and almost positive was attempting to look like a Jack Sparrow Johnny Depp.

Finally, we were all Petra'd out and decided to leave and get some real food and restock on water and rest our weary weary feet. On the way out I took a few more obligatory photos at the Treasury before we ran into some American Jews that struck up a conversation with us as we all walked out of Petra together.

Camel and tourists in front of the Treasury.

Me!

We elected to walk back up to town this time around (much to my chagrin), and stumbled our way back to the same restaurant from the night before. I ordered the same dish as before, too exhausted to even attempt to read the menu and find something new. That restaurant does a lot of good business with tourists - it sure got a boost by being named in that Lonely Planet guide that Cali had. Dinner was delicious, as it had been the night before.

We then went to the bakery around the corner, and I had my first taste of kunafa - and it was one of the most amazing things I have ever tasted! It's a sweet cheese pastry, made a variety of different ways, served / known in Jordan and Palestine. I'm still thinking about it, it was SO DELICIOUS.

All different varieties of kunafa - I had the one closest to the camera.

After another short Skype, my hotel owner arranged for one of his cab driver friends to pick me up in the morning to take me back to the Eilat border. Cali and Jonathan were heading on to Amman, so they were taking a bus later in the day. I went to bed early, since I had an early morning ahead.

As always, I do not include all (or even close to all) of my photos here in my blog.  To see all my photos from my post-Birthright travels, see my Flickr album:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/mtashalocke/sets/72157628990457609/

Post-Birthright Day 9: Petra (part I/II)

Finally, it was time for my adventure to a new land: Petra, Jordan. I met my new American friends in the hostel lobby at 7am, and we took a taxi to the border. I committed the biggest faux-pas a traveler can make, and didn't double-check that I had my passport... and, as it turns out, I had left it in my bunk at the hotel! I told Jonathan and Cali to go on without me, took a quick cab back to the hostel, found my passport (whew!), took the cab back, apprehensive to be journeying to Petra alone... but by us all having to go through so many beaurocratic processes to get across the border (change money, pay border fees, passport check, exit, etc...), I actually caught up with my travel companions before crossing into Jordan!

After walking across the no-man's-land between border gates, we got to Jordan, got through passport control, walked through the gate, and were immediately accosted by the Jordanian mob - they have a monopoly over the taxi drop at the border, since it's a popular place to cross and go to Petra. Unfortunately it's the only option unless you lie to them to take you to a specific place in Aqaba, let them drop you off, then get a local cab there. They know what they're doing though, and can pinpoint exactly who's planning on going to Petra and talk you out of the go-to-town plan no matter how much you insist. They charge a "government price" because, well, it's the mob, and they're tied to Jordan's super corrupt government, and in a way it IS the "government price." We were splitting it 3 ways, so it didn't hit so hard, fortunately.

We got to the hostel I had booked, the Orient Gate Hotel, after a 2 1/2-hr cab ride through the Jordanian desert. The hotel was kind of run-down, but service was top-knotch, the owner was very attentive and wanted to be sure everyone was always happy... despite Jonathan and Cali's horror stories about their room, my single $25/night room was wonderful.  The Hotel was on top of another business, so here is the view from the front door of the hostel / roof of the next door building looking out across the town of Petra:

The view from the roof/front door of the Orient Gate Hotel.

After settling in, the three of us headed down to the site itself. The hostel is very well situated, and it was an easy short walk down, but we didn't really know the lay of the land yet, and our hotel owner fixed us up with a free taxi down to the entrance. We bought a 2-day pass, and entered the site for our first day (half-day, really) in Petra.

You need to be in good shape to visit Petra, or else have a LOT of discretionary spending money and a love for harrowing animal rides. It's a 2km walk to the Treasury (the most famous site in Petra), and though along the way there are still interesting things to see, it's basically a 1-km walk down an open path, then another 1-km walk through what is called the "Siq" - the beautiful rock canyonlike pathway that leads in to the Nabetian city itself.

The first stretch, with a separate pathway for mules and horses, and every few feet another Jordanian trying to get us to take a ride.

Obelisk Tomb - you can see the Egyptian influence on Nabataean architecture.

Walking through the Siq.

Jonathan in the Siq.

Old road still visible in the Siq.

Finally, we made it to the Treasury, which marks the entrance to the core of Petra. I'm saving that monument for the next day's post, since we had to cover the same ground again to enter Petra on our second day.

After being completely awestruck by the Treasury (see, now I'm just building up the suspense, hah), we turned down the Street of Facades, made up of many tomb structures. The size of everything was what was most astonishing - every structure just seemed larger-than-life. It was easy to imagine 2,000 years ago this being a bustling city, with small homes and market stalls lining the impressive newly-carved stone structures - since the bustling part was already in place (Petra is a really popular place to visit), and there were Bedouins with camels and mules everywhere.

Street of Facades

Camels and ancient stone tombs. Oh, am I in the Middle East? I'd forgotten.

Our original plan was to see the Monastery at sunset, as my well-traveled friend Mara has suggested, and because that particular monument takes a long time to get to and would be good to have done on our half-day. However, we got distracted, and decided on a different loop that took us the rest of the daylight hours that Petra is open... but it definitely worked out.  We took a path following a sign up to the High Place of Sacrifice, a beautiful high plateau that's incredibly well-preserved and probably was used for such purposes well before the Nabataeans.

Exploring on the way up to the High Place of Sacrifice

Me, on the edge of the High Place of Sacrifice, overlooking some beautiful desert.

Jonathan, on the other side of the High Place of Sacrifice.

On the way down there were a lot of really neat things to see... my eyes just could not get enough of the beautiful desert, the constantly shifting shades of red, the old tombs and monuments scattered almost everywhere you look... it was amazing.

Strange rock stacks, vibrant colors.

I didn't know the path would take us down to the base of this shortly, but that's me looking down on the Roman Soldier tomb.

The Lion Monument - originally a fountain.

Harrowing flight of stairs that yes, took us all the way to the bottom.

Jonathan in the Garden Temple Complex.

Down at the Roman Soldier Tomb we'd looked down on earlier - me in the photo for size comparison.

Beautiful landscapes of Petra as the sun set.

Back at the city center, somehow on top of the Street of Facades. We eventually figured out how to get down.

The sun was almost down, and Petra closes at sunset, so we decided that was a good stopping point for the day. Our feet were not happy with us, and we decided to take a cab up to a restaurant Cali knew about through her Lonely Planet book called Al-Wadi. There were no more tables downstairs, so we were taken up to the second story, where we had the entire room to ourselves. We sat by the window and looked out over Petra as we enjoyed our first taste of local Jordanian cousine. We all ordered versions of Galayet (Tomatoes sauteed and stewed with garlic, olive oil, and salt) - I got "omelet" (scrambled egg), served with pita bread. We were exhausted and incredibly hungry, so it was an excellent meal.

The view from our private table looking out over Petra, Jordan at sundown.

My Galayet Omelet, and a very excited Cali.

That evening, after we stopped to pick up a couple snacks and things to take with us to eat in Petra the next day, I got to Skype with Loren for a while, which was great... it had been difficult to coordinate with our time difference. We all eventually said good night to each other, and I settled in to my super cold room (with a floor heater and a billion blankets, so I was fine) for a good night's sleep.

As always, I do not include all (or even close to all) of my photos here in my blog.  To see all my photos from my post-Birthright travels, see my Flickr album:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/mtashalocke/sets/72157628990457609/

Post-Birthright Days 7 & 8: Eilat!

The next morning I left the Heritage House early, free from my large luggage (since I was returning in a few days, they were nice enough to allow me to leave it there) and ready for my trip down to the south.  While waiting for the bus, I called Loren to wish him Happy New Year since it was just about midnight in the U.S. The bus was almost half filled with soldiers, and the views were wonderful the entire way down - we went by the Dead Sea, then straight through the Negev with the Jordanian mountains to our left all the way down to Eilat.

The Dead Sea - you can see the Israeli shore, the salt deposits, and the Jordanian mountains in the distance.

The Dead Sea - here you can see the Judaean mountains on the Israeli side, and also how far the sea has receded since the 1950's.

The Negev, with Jordan in the distance.

I arrived at my hostel around 2:30pm. I was in a 6-bunk room with ensuite bathroom and a refrigerator, but when I arrived I was alone. I proceeded to put my Shabbat leftovers in the refrigerator, get settled, and set out to explore the city.

It is an extremely small city, easy to see most of it on foot in not too much time. I was at the shore in 10 minutes, and stayed there to watch the sun set over the Red Sea.

Those are my feet! In the Red Sea!

A child playing on the water, the shores of the ritzy hotel area on the North Beach, and then Aqaba, Jordan, the city at the base of those mountains.

Panorama view of sunset on the Red Sea - As I pan left-right you see four countries: the rest of Israel across to Jordan, then out to the farthest land you can see on the left is Saudi Arabia; across the sea to the right is Egypt, and back to where I'm standing still in Israel.

Sunset on the Red Sea in Eilat, Israel.

I was pretty tired from nonstop touring, and didn't really know what to do in a tiny beach town at night, so I spent the rest of the night in my hostel relaxing and checking up on the internet.  I called a tour company I'd sent a request in to climb Mount Sinai, since I hadn't heard anything and it was supposed to leave in the middle of the night, and found out that the situation in Egypt has spread to the Bedouins in the Sinai desert and they are no longer being courteous to tourists... so tour companies are no longer offering the sunrise Mount Sinai hike I had wanted to do the next day. Disappointed, I started reading up on what there was to do in Eilat... not much besides relax, it turns out. I took note of a couple things that looked interesting, said goodnight to my Swedish roommate that had since arrived, and crashed early.

I vaguely heard another couple people come in, and also vaguely heard them leave in the morning... I slept in, only woken up when someone walked in to the room to clean it. I once again had the room to myself, which was a nice change with all the constant traveling and hosteling. After a nice leisurely morning getting ready, I set out to walk down the South Beach towards the Egyptian border, where all the major Eilat attractions are, and just see what struck my fancy.

A jazz quartet sculpture on the road running along Eilat's South Beach - you can see how far I had walked thus far, the mountains to the left are the backdrop to where I started.

I eventually came upon the Dolphin Reef, and decided to pay the few dollars to spend the day there - I didn't feel like spending $80 to swim with the dolphins, and got to get nice and close to them anyway.  It was a lovely afternoon by the water, hanging out with the dolphins, drinking coffee and eating hummus on the Red Sea, looking across the water at Jordan, where I would be venturing into the following day.

View from the beach at the Dolphin Reef... I just thought this boat was way cool. Totally felt like I was chilling between Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia.

Some tropical fish and coral reef, seen through the floating docks in the Dolphin Reef.

Meet Neil, my dolphin buddy who hung out with me for quite a while!

Food time for the dolphins!

The floating docks where I was hanging out with Neil.

Coffee, hummus and pita on the shores of the Red Sea, hanging out with dolphins and looking out over Jordan. I'd say life was pretty good that day.

That night, upon my return to the hostel, I heard American voices across the hall, and heard the word "Petra" thrown about - since that was my plan for the next day, and hadn't yet met anybody with whom to travel, I excitedly stuck my head in to their room and introduced myself. Sure enough, everyone in that room was going to Petra the next day - four were going in a one-day organized tour, which I had decided long before I didn't want to do, but two were just winging it and traveling on their own, and were excited to have me on board to come along and split the cab fare!

They then all went out to the movies, but I wasn't ready to go out and didn't want to hold them back so I told them to go ahead. I again spent the evening resting and eating my Shabbat leftovers (I still had SO MUCH challah), with the promise to meet my new American friends in the morning.

As always, I do not include all (or even close to all) of my photos here in my blog.  To see all my photos from my post-Birthright travels, see my Flickr album:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/mtashalocke/sets/72157628990457609/