Trip of a Life Time - Chapter 19 - Petra

Day 17

Some thoughts about Jordan before I dive into Petra.    As we drove, our educator  taught us that the plains of Moab and Jericho as is discussed in so much of the Old Testament.  It's rich with ancient history and it was similar to Egypt and Israel in landscape but here, there were relentless flies.  Everywhere, flies.

We again boarded the buses early in the morning and drove for about 3 hours or so to Petra or also known as the Rose Red City.  It has been voted one of the "Seven New Wonders of the World" and it did not disappoint!

our cute friend Sharon right there

the people were famous for carving facades, and with people, they left off the heads and faces relying on God to finish them

I have no idea what this guy was doing, but there were a couple of them dressed in costume.  I'm guessing that they would charge you to take a picture with them

Video you can watch here

There we are in front of the Treasury!  It was here that part of Indiana Jones we filmed.

So this guy was just sitting up there watching everyone below.  Petra is populated primarily by the Bedouin people it's likely he emerged from the cave where he lives to come see the people.  This area of Jordan is full of Bedouin people.  There are many who still lives in tents and in caves.

I tried to get  a selfie with a random dog

ancient tombs are up there so I climbed up to see them

my Bedouin sister that I bought some things from (see below)  She is beautiful.  And it looks like she might be wearing make up, but I assure you, she is not.

another selfie with a random dog

there's just a horse there.  Just chillin.  I'm sure someone lives back in there

Our tickets included a horse ride down and back.  We walked down and then Mom decided to ride the horse back up

She's there in the gray.  She told the man she wanted to go fast and he was having a hard time getting it done, so his friend here, on the back horse, took over and gave her a good ride.

Mom made it a little past the Treasury and then she decided that she was done and would wait in the shade for me to explore further.  So I did.  Like a lot.  Like climbed to all the tombs and went down in the farthest part one could go.  It was all so fascinating.  I didn't worry too much about mom since she's a people watcher and she would likely start back before me since we walk at different speeds.

When I finally turned around and headed back to the entrance I was noticing that I didn't recognize anyone.  Not even anyone from the other bus.  I figured that everyone was on their way back and that I could walk twice as fast so there'd be no worries, I would catch up to them.  Well, I did.  I said hello to a group as I passed, and they told me that the tour guide Diane was looking for me.   Okay, great.  I kept moving and another 5 or 10 minutes and I found Diane.  She was relieved to see me and said that my mother had gone ahead but that they were afraid that something had happened to me, the worst case scenario was being kidnapped.  I felt AWFUL for worrying my old mormon folk. I hurried as fast as I could to get back to the plaza and meet up with everyone.

Some thoughts on Petra.  It's beautiful.  It really is stunning and I am glad we got to see it.  I loved the day spent walking and experiencing it all.  I am fascinated the the Bedouins.  But most of all, I am struck at how poor the people there are.  Like super poor.  There were a lot of shops right as you enter in the plaza and another one down in the Treasury.  There were vendors sprinkled here and there and more at the very, very bottom.  Some even up on the hill as I climbed to the tombs.  I remember one little boy looking up at me with flies all over his face trying to get me to buy a map for 5 dollars.  I always try not to give to the children so that it will not encourage them to continue doing this instead of going to school, but  I realized later, that for the families that live down there, it's their only source of income.  There IS no school for those children, it's a life of trying to make enough money to feed the family for the day.

I had seen some cute bags in Israel that had elephants on them and it said Jerusalem all over and obviously machine made, but I loved it and I never pulled the trigger.  I was really disappointed that I didn't just get one when I saw them.  So I was keeping my eye out for a bag with elephants on them.  Obvio  it wouldn't say Jerusalem, but because they were machine made, I was hoping to find something similar here.

Instead I found this

all hand stitched and lookie - elephants!  It's beautiful and I love it!

I also purchased this from her

another hand stitched item.

She was pretty honest with what was made in china and what was handmade and these to things, she claimed were hand stitched.  The bag is factory made, but the stitching was done by her grandmother.  The scarf was also done by her grandmother.  I inspected them pretty closely and when  I could find some threads in the back in the stitching, I was sure she was telling me the truth.  We negotiated for quite some time.  She started REALLY high, and when there was no way I could/would possibly pay that and was walking away, she was a little more giving.  After several minutes, we agreed on a price and she she took me down to one of the shops that her cousin ran to do the credit card machine.

Did I get hustled?  Maybe.  But our devotional on the bus that morning included singing "Because I have been give much"  and it was on my mind as I watched these poor people.  They literally have nothing.  I didn't feel bad that I probably paid more than I should have.  I was just reflecting on the fact that me and Splenda Daddy have been blessed abundantly.  It was okay to give.  This is how they earn their money, and I was in a position to help her.

After everyone was gathered in the plaza, we got back on the bus for the 3 hour drive back to the hotel.  They invited us all to a local place for authentic Jordanian food.  I was intrigued but not gonna lie, I was exhausted.  Our friends Kerry and Tamera pulled us aside and told us they just couldn't get on that bus one more time and instead were going to stay at the hotel and eat in a restaurant there.  Mom and I jumped at the chance!

Pistachio ice cream

The filet was so tender that we could use the butterknife to cut it.  I think of this steak often,

It was the BEST meal I had the entire trip!  We were so appreciative of them for thinking of us and inviting us along.  It was such fun and great food.

I didn't realize it, but that was my last meal of the trip.

We packed up everything that night, and I ended up leaving several things behind.  Well, I had left them behind all trip in various hotels but this was the night that I unloaded everything I could, to make room for all the souvenirs I was taking back.  I left things that I knew I could easily replace and that might actually benefit someone.  All in all, my swimming gear, a pair of jeans, food and three pairs of shoes all are still in the middle east somewhere and I hope they are making someone happy.

Final chapter will be a wrap up and final thoughts.