"There IS such a thing as too much attention...even for me."

Hello everyone!

Today's blog is going to be largely pictures because it is difficult to describe all of the things we have seen in the past two days here in Wadi Musa and Petra.  I can't believe today was a REST day.  I am exhausted!  But first, let's talk about yesterday.

Fixing the tire

It was really windy when we woke up in the morning.  In fact, I couldn't sleep through the night because it was howling outside our door.  We had arranged for our driver (AKA the guy that drove us from Tafilah to Dana the previous day) to drive us up the 3 km hill in the morning.  Since it was so windy, he drove a little further and dropped us off.  He was a very sweet man and wanted to drive us all the way to Petra, but we figured we had to do SOME cycling despite the heavy winds.  We had some technical problems-a flat tire.  This is our first flat of the trip.  We were changing it on the side of a road by a convenience store and these three teenage boys watched us THE ENTIRE TIME.  We were probably there for 30 minutes and they just kept laughing at us and staring.  This is where the title for today's blog comes from.  I am getting quite frustrated with being oogled at by men, women, boys and girls.  Half the time I just think "Do you not have anything better to do than just sit there and stare?"  But apparently they don't.  Like I said, there IS a limit to how much attention I want despite what people may think!

We rode for a few hours and made it to the city of Wadi Musa where Petra is!  It wasn't an easy ride, but I was just happy that we weren't pushing our bikes uphill.  We had arrived earlier than expected because the distance was shorter than we thought.  We were already in town by 1:30 which was fabulous!  We are not used to having so much time in a city! Since we were staying in Petra for two nights, we were able to enjoy whatever time we had available that afternoon.  So, I went to a restaurant down the street and had a fabulous meal while reading a magazine on the patio.  It was blissful.  Dad went off to the Petra Visitor Centre to make sure he had everything lined up for the following day.  As he left, the waitress said "Is your husband going to exchange money or something?" and I said "I hope not, because I don't have a husband!".  Obviously, she thought Dad and I were married which has been a mistake that many people have made here.  Dad takes it as a compliment thinking that it's flattering that people think he looks 25, but I don't think that's the case.

Before I even finished my magazine, Dad came by saying "Hurry, I booked us a tour to see Little Petra and the guide is waiting in his car right now.  It's 40 JD whether you come or not, so can you just come?"  I hastily paid my bill and then I was in the back of a car (which was being driven by a crazy driver) off to see some other sights that Wadi Musa had to offer beyond the famous "Petra".  We learned a lot from our guide and we were able to get a little taste of what we would see the following day.  "Little Petra" is a place that is sort of like a smaller version of Petra.  We had our own private guide and we had the whole place to ourselves which was really cool!  Sadly, due to the issues in Syria (and other surrounding countries), business has been very bad for Jordanians involved in the tourism industry.  I couldn't believe that there was NOBODY (literally nobody) at Little Petra which was once a huge attraction!  During high season 5 years ago, the place would be full of people every day, and for us it was completely empty.  Crazy!

Dad and I had dinner at the hotel and went to bed at around 8:30 PM.  We were planning on being at Petra at 6:30 AM so it was going to be an early morning for us!

As soon as we got to Petra, Dad asked how many people were inside.  The answer was seven.  For the first 6 hours we spent inside Petra we only saw nine other tourists.  It was crazy!  We were basically alone in these ancient ruins, hiking around, taking pictures without anyone in sight!

For those who don't know, Petra is one of the seven ancient wonders of the world.  Although it is most famous for the "Treasury Facade" which you see on guide books, tourist brochures etc., it is actually a huge complex hundreds of square kilometers in area that houses hundreds of tombs, multiple temples and ceremonial structures that were carved out of the sandstone two thousand years ago by the Nabataeans.  The Nabataeans were Arabs from Yemen who operated a caravan network during the time of Christ.  In 50 BC, there were approximately 30,000 people living in the city of Petra.  The source of water which was critical to the survival of the city was the Musa Spring which is said to have been the spring that resulted when Moses struck the rock when he was leading the Israelites in the wilderness.  In 106 AD, Romans conquered the city so there are several Roman elements such as the collonated street.  Needless to say, there is a lot more to see than just the Treasury.  In total, we walked, hiked, climbed 35 kilometers today.  In sandals.  Not a very restful "rest day" if you ask me, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.  We started off our adventure walking through the Siq (the 1.2 km passage through sandstone formations) to see the Treasury.

In the famous "Siq" before the Treasury

"I feel like I'm in Disneyland.  It's like it's fake, but it's not."

The treasury peeking through!

Can't get much more of a Jordan in one picture

Please notice how there is NOBODY at the most famous place in Petra other than us!

After seeing The Treasury, we climbed up 750 steps to the "high places" which is where sacrifices were made to the Nabataean gods.  There were great views and we had a surprise tour guide (AKA a souvenir salesman that had nothing else to do).

Almost up to the high place

Where animals were washed before they were sacrificed

The alter where the sacrifices were made

A great view from the top where the high priests would sit for a meal before a sacrifice

On the way down, we got a little lost and had to do some "scrambling" in order to get down to the main road which would eventually take us to the monastery which was the main site Dad wanted to see.  We were able to go inside many of the tombs and temples because we were the only ones around. 

 

View from inside the tomb for the roman solider

Even kids are out trying to get you to ride donkeys!

Finally we were headed to the main attraction of the day, the monastery.  It is on a hill at the end of the city and you have to climb 850 steps to get to the top.  While Dad and I were walking to the base of the climb, we were constantly harassed by local asking us to pay to ride donkeys to the top.  It costs roughly $100/person.  Usually in situations like this, a simple "no thank you" suffices.  However, with there being so few people in the site, these people literally have nothing better to do than follow us on their donkeys asking over and over again if we want a ride.  I wanted to scream "NO WE DON'T WANT A RIDE!!! DOES IT LOOK LIKE I NEED A RIDE?? I HAVE SPENT THE PAST 3 DAYS PUSHING A BICYCLE UPHILL IN THE BLAZING SUN WITH THE WIND RAGING.  YOU THINK I NEED A DONKEY TO CLIMB UP 850 LITTLE STEPS?? YOU DON'T KNOW WHO YOU'RE DEALING WITH, MAN."  But I didn't.  Instead I just kept saying "No thank you" and the donkey riders kept telling Dad that he had a beautiful wife.  Such is life.

One of the MANY shops on the way up to the monastery

The harassment didn't stop with the donkey riders.  Instead, we were constantly accosted by souvenir shop owners who were camped out along the route.  It became so annoying even I lost my patience.  It's frustrating because a)they are all selling the same things, b) it's all garbage, c) they cheat you on the price (they were selling pashminas for no less than $25) so it's a ripoff anyway and d) they try to make you feel bad about not buying their product.  Like I'm a horrible person because I don't want to buy a junky silver coin that looks like it was literally taken out of the trash can 5 minutes before.  I'm sorry that I feel it's YOUR job to convince ME to buy something and, no, I'm not going to buy something from you simply because you are there.  Get over yourself.  (Sorry got a bit carried away there, but after 8 hours of that nonsense, I'd had enough). 

The hike up to the monastery was supposedly supposed to take about 45 minutes.  We finished it in 20.  No donkey necessary.  Dad was very impressed with the size of the monastery facade.  We had a great view of it as we ate lunch and gave our feet a rest.  By this time, my feet were quite sore as we had been walking constantly, oftentimes in sand or on uneven rocks.

"Here, let me sell you these rocks that I found on the ground for $2 each..." -every store owner

Side view of the monastery

Not a bad view for lunch!

On the way down, we saw some Roman tombs, a byzantine church that was built when Romans took over and Christianity became the major religion, and the theatre that was carved out of sandstone and sat approximately 8,0000 people.  By this time, my feet were tired, we had been in the sun all day and I was about ready to pass out.  However, my day was brightened when a few girls came up and asked me if they could take a photo with me.  They were a group of 20 Jordanian girls who were on a school trip and, although I didn't know why they wanted a photo with me, I said "of course"!  Then, it became a bit of a frenzy as every girl wanted their own photo.  It was actually so random and crazy, but great.  Then, Dad came by and said "Who wants a photo with me?" and it was quite quite because everyone was silent and then one girl (who obviously felt bad for Dad) raised her hand and said she wold take a photo with him.  hahah It was great.  

Theatre (you can just barely see the benches if you look closely enough)

Carriage rides were ANOTHER form of transportation locals were offering on the way back.  It's a little terrifying when you're walking back up the Siq and you hear rumbling, the sound of a bunch of horses coming down, and then out of nowhere BAM there's a carriage coming at you a hundred miles an hour. 

Final view on the way out

Overall, it was a great day at Petra (but very exhausting!)  We saw a lot and even though we did a lot of walking, it was a nice change from being on the bikes.  So far, this has definitely been a highlight of the trip!  We are off to Wadi Rum now where we will be staying in a traditional Jordanian desert camp so no wifi for a few days!  Only two more nights left in Jordan and then we will be in Israel!  

Sending love to you all!

Annika