A Petra-iffic Weekend in Jordan

Well, I was a brave one this past weekend.  On Thursday afternoon, I left school for the service taxi garage, hopped in a taxi full of strangers and made my way to Amman, Jordan.  For the days leading up to the trip, I was filled with anxiety, but now having made the trip, it was easy as pie.  So much so that I'm sure whenever I have visitors, I am confident enough to handle the process again.  Be prepared prospective visitors...to Jordan we will go.

Jordan was just beautiful.  Again, I was so surprised by how different a country a mere three hours away can be.  I was also taken aback by the scenic countryside on the way to the border.  I think what surprised me the most was the rich, red soil against the lush green ground.  I hadn't expected to see red soil, but there it was.  It really was quite a beautiful sight - and I hadn't arrived in Jordan yet :)

The trip to Amman was about three hours long.  A hour of that time was spent at the border.  The drive was squishy - there were five of us, including the driver, in a little service taxi.  Yet, the price couldn't be better.  It cost about $20 to take a taxi to Amman.  If everything in Jordan was so reasonable priced, my bank account wouldn't be so sad today.  At any rate, it was well worth it.

My friend Jessie traveled from Kuwait.  Her flight arrived later on Thursday evening, so we met at the hotel.  We stayed in a beautiful hotel in Amman - the Alqasr Metropolie Hotel.  On Friday morning, we enjoyed omelets for breakfast (breakfast was included) and then waited for our rental car to arrive.  Then we set out on the King's Highway for Petra.

The drive was considerably longer than we had anticipated.  Part of it was that I followed the speed limit.  Part of it was our little rental car had maybe, two horsies and was having to climb mountain after mountain.  I shouldn't complain, it did the best it could, but in the future, I'd opt for a larger car.  Along the way, we saw some of the most beautiful landscape.  At times, it reminded me of Ireland - rolling hills with stone fences and sheep - lots of sheep...oooh and goats too!

About 6 hours later, we arrived in Petra.  We had a loverly tour of the city as we got a little lost on our way to the hotel.  Once we made our way to where we were supposed to be (a hop, skip and jump from the Petra gate) we called room service, had a bite to eat and went to sleep after a long day of driving.  Please note:  I drove all the way - in a standard - through mountains and hills (BIG HILLS, not Saskatchewan hills) and didn't stall once.  I almost rolled into a black Mercedes at my first traffic light, but that was his fault - he was too close. 

Saturday morning we woke early, 6:30 I think, so that we could be on our way to Petra before the crowd came.  We had another loverly breakfast (included with our hotel room) and were through the gates by 8:00.  The walk through Petra to the Treasury was just breathtaking.  If you're an Indiana Jones Fan, you'll remember Petra from the movie. When we arrived to the Treasury, the sun was just starting to cast it's light.  We stayed there for a while (in part to get lots of photos and in part because annoying man with donkey wouldn't leave us alone).  Then we made our way to the Monastery - which required a hike up more than 800 steps.  Again, although the walk up was enough to kill me, the scenery was beautiful.  Along the way were many little stalls of gadgets and jewelry.  We had tea with a lovely young woman about half way up the mountain (and stopped to by things from her on the way back down).  I felt very proud once I made it to the Monastery.  Although the Treasury is quite impressive, the Monastery is beyond words.  Jessie and I sat there for quite some time (in part because I was so flippin' tired from the walk up and in part because it was just that cool).  Jessie ventured farther up to see a spectacular view of the valley and across into the country that shall not be named.  It starts with an "I".  It ends with the word "REAL" and has an "S" between the first letter and ending letter.

The walk down the mountain was much more pleasant.  We then set off in search of the Byzantine Church, but to no luck.  While there was adequate signage, we just didn't quite get the gist of how the layout of Petra was.  From the time we arrived, until we went back to our hotel, we spent about 7 hours at Petra.  It really was a loverly day...in terms of what we saw and the weather.  I had a sunburn (my nose is peeling...)

Upon arriving back at the hotel, I went straight for the shower - I was covered from head to toe in dust and dirt and sweat.  Then, we ordered room service again (which, for the record, was cheaper than eating in the fancy hotel restaurants).  I was so tired that evening that I was restless, but Sunday meant a long drive back to Amman and then more driving to Damascus, so I had as early a night as possible.

Sunday after breakfast, we set off again on our way back to Amman.  This time we took the Desert Highway.  It is called the Desert Highway because, well, all you see is desert. The most difficult part of the journey was finding our way out of Petra.  A nice gentleman kindly informed me when I was driving the wrong way up a one way street (there was no signage for this one).  The Desert Highway took less than 3 hours to get back to the Airport in Amman.  I dropped Jessie (and the rental car) off at the airport and caught an airport taxi back into Amman.  I then splurged and took a service taxi back to Damascus by myself.  Yes, it cost more (about $70) but I didn't have to wait until other passengers came, nor did I have to be squished in the car for the ride home.  As it turns out it was well worth it.

The trip was wonderful (I know, I still haven't posted ball pictures, but I will get them and Jordan pictures up as soon as possible).   I really did enjoy Jordan.  I look forward to going back again soon - and because it's so very close, I think I can swing that even before the end of the year.

For now, though I'm stuck at home (in Damascus - poor me - ha ha ha) while I wait for my passport to be renewed and then all the subsequent paper work for my visa to be finished.  I hope that things go swiftly as I will be off to Bangkok the first week of April for the Spring Educator's Conference.

Until then, I will have to find things to do in Damascus (I think I can handle it).  Looking forward to coming home for the summer.  I have missed Saskatchewan lately (though not the winter - just the snow).  Hard to believe it's already March.  Where has this year gone.

Ooooh, I almost forgot.  Grover managed to pry himself away from the front door (and Ella) and joined me for this trip.  When I get the pictures up, you'll have to take a peek at some of the adventures of Grover in Petra.

Love to one and all.

Tylene