The day at PETRA!!!

Tuesday………PETRA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our guide met us at 9AM…..after a very great breakfast…..even if I only ate a couple of orange slices and a couple of croissants, along with black coffee. Still……..some problems…..will it never end????? Just sooooo damn happy that I don’t feel bad with it……just mentally nervous about where the next rest room might be located……hahha!

We walked down to the entrance where he introduced us to our guide for the next two hours as we walked into the Siq in the daylight and into the city. AND……..his name was Mahmoud….and HE was the Bedouin that discussed the customs of his tribes last night in the sea of candles!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How lucky can we be????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our trip fees over here included a horse ride from the entrance security gate to the entrance of the Siq….about a half mile. And so…….up and away, we boarded our steeds and down the horse pathway we went…..with Mahmoud discussing the history of Petra, pointing out different sights as he walked along the way beside us…..and the 1st Lady and I rolling with the slow gait of the horses.

Arriving at the entrance….we dismounted and began the walk in the beautiful morning light into the Siq….OMG!!!!! WHAT sights……the cliffs are sandstone….and the tall walls leading to the blue sky and sunlight…….it can’t be described. We walked, we listened, we discussed with Mahmoud the sights, the Petra history dating back to the Nabatean Tribes and as time went by, the Romans were there also……and just how our feelings, his and ours, about religions/governments, and how we all felt that the feelings of governments do not reflect the feelings of the peoples in the countries. He being Muslim, we being Christian….and the three of us being brothers and sisters!!!!! It was a remarkable and very intensely loving discussion between us as walked down this fantastic Siq.

We rounded the narrow bend again….and there was the full glory of the Treasury Building……..the style of architecture being that of Greek/Roman……from the earliest times of the Glory of Greece to the Roman era in time. And…….this entire monstrous façade was carved out of the sandstone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And….as we walked through a couple of hours of this ancient city of Petra…….it was all carved from sandstone: the caves for homes, for tombs, the facades of many, many other buildings…..and it goes on and on for miles of which we did not have the time, nor energy, to cover……as each step forward must be re-stepped back when exiting.

The 1st Lady and I explored….climbed to great heights by stairs carved into the walls of the sandstone walls……sat and sipped tea at a Bedouin tent/tea shop, climbed into rooms carved out of the sandstone walls, looked at the GORGEOUS sandstone ceilings and walls and cliffs……and then had a lunch of “stolen” croissants(from breakfast), and bottled water on the foundation of the Roman Temple about two miles on into the city. And…….to our dismay….it was soon time to start the long trek out of this city of Petra…..knowing in our minds and our talking that this would be our ONLY time to ever see and experience this wonderful place…….one of the newly declared Seven Wonders of the World!!!!! We lingered at each viewpoint of the facades, we watched the camels plod by with other travelers riding them through the city, the horse-drawn tiny carriages coming out of the Siq with travelers inside them, the friendly Bedouins all around us, the large amount of foreign tongues/languages being spoken on each side of us……the togetherness of everyone that was experiencing this sight and the feelings they invoked…….our day in Petra!

We slowly walked back out of this place that time forgot from a hundred years after the birth of Jesus…….to the 1800’s when it was re-discovered by the Swiss historians! We lingered more and more….turning and reflecting on the sights, the sounds, the beauty…..and we trekked back on and up through the Siq….and emerged on the pathway that led to the main entrance……saddened by the thought of leaving it forever….but knowing it would always be an experience that would influence the rest of our Lives forever……..

An abrupt change as Nabil met us, we loaded the car, and off we drove up through Wadi Mousa to the desert highway……and we drove north to Amman across the desert, three hours away. We arrived at the same hotel we had been a guest in before, checked in, discussed our pick-up time for being transported to Amman International in the morning for the flight to Cairo…..and then decided to just eat what we had in the room with us rather than go out into the city for dinner. We had tons of red sand on us, our shoes, our jeans, everywhere…..and so that became the necessity of the evening: to get cleaned up.

How to say this again????? Petra…….wonderful, awesome Petra. Another experience of ours on this 16 day trip to Africa/Egypt, Asia/Jordan……and the memories of it all. My wish??? My wish is that all of you could make this experience happen for yourselves……you will not be sorry, you will not be afraid, you will be changed forever!!!

LIFE IS AWESOMELY GREAT!!!!!!!! LIFE IS TO EXPERIENCE AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE!!!!! LIFE IS FOR LIVING EACH DAY AS FULLY AS CAN BE ALLOWED!!!!……And, I hope all of this can be experienced by each of you……do it!!!