“There are no safe paths in this part of the world. Remember you are over the Edge of the Wild now, and in for all sorts of fun wherever you go.”- The Hobbit
I thought as I traveled that writing about it would be easy. A no-brainer. Instead I find myself feeling guilty that I am not writing at all.
I committed to write this travel column for Magical Living, I mean, traveling has become not only a goal but a lifestyle. So why does Avery have to keep asking me for this month’s article?
I don’t write about my experiences. There’s too much going on. I’m taking it in. And even a year later I am still in awe of the experience and not sure what to make of it all.
I highly recommend travel and stretching out of comfort zones for blowing the mind.
What I do is collect small things, like tickets, labels, flyers, postcards and photos. I do collages with them. When I am on a short trip, a month or less, I’ll bring a blank notebook and paste things into it as I go. Since Glenn and I have been traveling for about 18 months now, I only collect small things to save weight and space.
We live out of suitcases. I am proud of traveling with a carry-on for a couple of weeks. But for the traveling life, I do need a regular bag (and we end up with an extra duffel to hold a few treasures.)
I wrote about travel logging in an article “Travel Journaling for Every Hobbit.”
I should take my own advice. Typical.
As I searched through the remembrances of our most recent trips, I think the thing that keeps coming up for me is the Middle East. That pushed me way out of my comfort zone.
And I loved it.
I have a new passion: camels. I refreshed a continuing passion: scuba diving.
And I have some proud moments. Some I have mentioned already in past articles.
We were awestruck by Petra. Glenn has always wanted to go to Petra, which I really only knew from Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade, and old National Geographic magazines. It was one of those remote places I never thought I’d see. On my own, I certainly wouldn’t have gone.
Flying into Amman, Jordan, we had arranged a pick up at the airport that would take us to 7 Wonders Bedouin Camp in Wadi Musa.
I had found it on Booking.com, and at first searched for something less expensive. In the end, because we were making last minute plans while still in Egypt, 7 Wonders was really the last decent choice and they only had one accommodation left. I am SO glad we ended up there.
The 2 hour drive from Amman to Little Petra, (arranged through the Camp) was pretty captivating. Watching the city drop away, flowing through green fields and small patches of wild meadows (which was so welcome after the stark desert of Egypt) to mountainous and hair-raising roads.
I am easily distracted by any birds or animals. We saw, as we did in Turkey and Egypt, lots of donkeys, horses and finally camels (CAMELS!) working alongside humans or roaming and foraging on their own. Once I knew what to look for, I could spot their Bedouin keepers surreptitiously guarding them from a patch of shade.
Glenn loves any kind of ruins and we started noticing more as our driver pointed them out. They blended perfectly into the red dirt mountains and I surely would have missed most of them without his pointing finger. Certainly his English was incomprehensible, but his meaning was clear.
I need to learn Arabic.
We finally meandered our way through the mountains and past other camps, to 7 Wonders, by early evening. The heat was easing, setting sun casting contrasting shadows while the sky turned deeper blue against the red earth. Incredibly beautiful.
Lights had been planted into the surrounding hills in shallow dips to create a magical atmosphere surrounding our camp, which spread out further than we knew at first. Our ‘tent’ was a simple and comfortable, rounded rectangle structure with air conditioning, soft bed and plush towels. Silly tourist! But I loved it. And we went directly to the communal buffet camp style dinner, joining people from all over the world in simple, filling, and really good food.
On arrival, we found out that there was an evening “Lighted Petra At Night” special event we could attend if we hurried. So our driver, who turned out to be one of the Bedouins who lived and worked at 7 Wonders, kindly drove us the 20 minutes to the entrance at Petra.
If you ever go, please make sure to do this night experience! What a fantastic way to see Petra for the first time! We really lucked out. Just like we did in seeing Cappadocia for the first time by hot air balloon.
I’ll try to find some good pictures to share with you.
We walked the narrow canyon called Al Siq, all lit by candles and lanterns, moving with groups of other travelers awestruck by the rock formations of this ancient place. It’s the main entrance to the city of Petra also known as the Rose City. Along Al Siq, and throughout this Nabatean city, are tombs and temples carved into pink sandstone cliffs.
We walked about a mile through the narrow walls of the Siq to perhaps its most famous structure, the 45m-high Al Khazneh, the temple featured in Indiana Jones, with an ornate, Greek-style facade, known as The Treasury. There they had set up an evening performance of recorded and live music and narration of the history of the Rose City. We stayed for only part of it. I was way too excited to see as much as we could. It was beautiful! Only a small part of Petra is open for the night, and it’s so worth doing.
It’s a magical introduction of an incredible ancient city.
We were picked up by our friend, the Bedouin driver Hasam from 7 Wonders and taken back to the Camp to finally crawl into our luxurious bed totally spent.
And we needed that rest, for the next day would be a very long one, walking the legendary paths of Petra.
Morning in the Camp is a treat of a big buffet breakfast and coffee. We got a chuckle out of the coffee mugs from…DENNY’s! How? IDK. Maybe it’s a big chain in Jordan?
The air is desert dry, dusty and otherwise pretty fresh, maybe some cooking fires on the breeze.
Our friend Hasam was ready for us at the entrance to drive us to Petra for our first day of exploration.
We stopped by to take pictures with Indy and then hit the walking path to the entrance of Petra, The Siq (pronounced SEEK).
You can get a golf cart or a horse ride for part of the journey for a fee. Although we were tempted, we never did. A typical distance for a day in Petra has to be 10 miles and that’s taking it easy. The Siq itself is about 1.2 kilometers long.
That’s just to get in and out. For most folks, it’s not a problem. For me, with my hip being so painful, this was a test! But what an adventure!
All along the road, there is so much to see, every direction is wonderful with the colors and patterns in the stone and tombs with carvings waiting to be discovered. There are a few signs but they are not intrusive. Horses and donkeys are walking by with tourists and a guide. (In the evening, the animals might even be unaccompanied, knowing their way home.)
We were there in April and it wasn’t crowded. It wasn’t too hot either. April is perfect for a visit to the Middle East. One perk of being there during Ramadan is the local folks who observe are not smoking from sunrise to sunset.
When you reach the end of the Siq, the Treasury is revealed and the whole plaza is alive with humans, camels, horses, donkeys and scenery.
It was dizzying. So much to see and take in.
After a satisfying amount of time, you can proceed along the walking path to move further into Petra. Again, you can negotiate a ride on a camel or donkey.
I was just so in love with everything we were seeing.
We moved deeper into Petra.
To be continued…
