Jordan

We took a few buses to get to Jordan from Tel Aviv, crossing the Israeli border in Eilat. We made our way via taxi in Jordan from Aquaba to Wadi Rum, to a national preserved area about 100km away. When we reached the village of Wadi Rum, we had many cups of tea with the Bedouin owner and were finally taken by jeep to the Bedouin tents. After crossing beautiful coral colored sands, we arrived just after sunset when the whole place seemed to take on the most intense oranges and pinks I have seen in nature so far, incredible. We were in the middle of nowhere, which happened to be one of the most beautiful places we have visited all trip. After taking about a thousand pictures of the amazing sand dunes and rock formations, we were taken to our own Bedouin tent to put on some warmer clothes. We sat down to more tea and watched the sky turn darker and darker. Eventually, only stars filled the sky and there was absolutely no light pollution, so you were able to see the dusty outline of our own Milky Way Galaxy. While listening to some of the Bedouins at the camp play a lute and sing in Arabic, we both saw our own shooting stars and drank more of the warm, super sweet tea. After a traditional dinner, we spent more time staring at the stars and headed off to sleep. We woke up at 5 in the morning the next day to watch the sun’s rays fill up the sky and turn the landscape lighter and lighter oranges and pinks. We walked along the dunes and observed some camels and animal tracks everywhere! We took the jeep back to the village of Wadi Rum and then hired a taxi to Petra. On the drive, we saw interesting rock landscapes while I got to practice basic greetings and numbers in Arabic.

We arrived in Wadi Musa (the village outside of Petra) at around 11am and quickly made our way to Petra. We bought tickets for the next 2 days and began a 2 hour guided tour through the most significant sights in Petra. From the very beginning, I was mystified by seeing the accomplishments of people 2,500 years ago. The labor that must have been involved in the sandstone and limestone carvings of the ancient Nabataeans is unfathomable. I was so interested in the combination of styles that influenced these people along the trade routes they controlled through the Middle East (like Egyptian Obelisks). We saw hundreds of elaborate tombs that were decorated with symbols from the past. Roman influence was also evident from their takeover, until the trade routes changed and Petra was abandoned. The tour guide had us close our eyes as he led us to The Treasury, which is one of the most famous ruins of Petra. It is actually a gigantic tomb cut and carved into the rock. It was breathtaking to see something cut into rock at such a grand scale. At the end of the tour, we hiked up to the tomb known as The Monastery. The sun was at a perfect angle and really lit the place up. Also, because it was later in the day, there were very few people around. We hiked down and back to our hotel. For dinner, we got some very good falafel, hummus, pita, and cucumber yogurt and of course, more tea. The next morning, we headed back to the Treasury and waited until the sun hit the tomb at the perfect moment to take pictures. Afterwards, we did the hike up to “The Sacred High Ritual Place” and enjoyed the view overlooking Petra. In all directions we saw the ancient tombs and homes carved out of the rock. I tried to imagine what this place would have looked like full of people. On the way down, we hiked past many more interesting tombs and ritual places of the Ancient Nabataeans and even saw some excavations happening. At the very end of the hike we walked past a room that had the most intense rock colors of all. There were dark shades of red, swirled with gray, white, orange, and pink rock. We made it back to the hotel and got some lunch before our taxi ride back to the border with Israel.