Petra

Petra

On Saturday, we again wake up early (!) to wait for our sherut to the Israel-Jordan border. We leave the hotel so early, that they provide us breakfast in a box since they do not open their dining hall until 7 AM. Breakfast in a box consists of: 3 slices of spicy cheese (I’m not sure which kind), a bottle of water, a roll of bread, a yogurt and some fruit. The sherut comes and we board with our breakfast boxes. There is a nice Mexican girl and her grandfather already in the Sherut.

When we arrive at the border, we are told that we must eat our breakfast there on the sidewalk, as you cannot cross the border with aforementioned breakfast boxes due to security purposes. Hungrily, we tear open the boxes to eat but our quickly and viciously attacked by swarms of nearby flies. Our Israeli guide informs us that there are many date trees nearby and that is why the flies are everywhere. Grossed out and itchy, I toss most of the breakfast in a nearby trashcan.

We do a lot of waiting. We wait for the border gate to open. We wait at Israeli customs. We wait for our passports to get stamped, to cross the border into Jordan, for our Jordanian guide (Elias) to buy the visas and get our passports stamped again. We wait for the bus to arrive. After this interminable process, we board the bus and begin our two-hour journey through the foothills and mountains of Jordan.

Jordan is a beautiful country and the mountains and sandstone are quite majestic. However, I am exhausted and pass out within the first half hour of the bus ride. After an hour, we stop for a bathroom break and some souvenirs at a shop. I use the men’s room and buy some cookies for 1 Jordanian Dinar (~ $1.50 US). Although the bathroom isn’t of spectacular quality, it suffices for the time being.

However, when I meet my mother outside the shop, she is livid. The Jordanians view of women is different from the West and it shows. Amy (mom) is handed two sheets of tissue paper before she goes into the ladies room. However, none of the stalls have seats and if a woman wants more than her two tissues she must pay the male bathroom attendant for extras. I agree with my mom how terrible it is and that is a “shanda.” Secretly though, I am ecstatic that my bathroom stall came equipped with a proper seat.

We finally arrive at Petra. The sun is scorching and it is blazingly hot. We walk the first 100 feet or so, but my dad would rather take a horse than walk and pays a Jordanian man $5 to ride his horse the first ¼ mile of the journey.

Petra is the second wonder of the world and was home to the Nabateans- a mysterious tribe of people who trace all the way back to the fifth century BCE. The ancient city was built within the foothills of the huge mountains and the facades of that were chiseled and etch onto the faces of the mountain are breathtaking. Later, the Romans conquered the land, built roads, set up shop and converted everyone to Christianity.
We walk through the Roman roads and crevices of Petra as our tour guide explains the history. We walk about two miles but when we reach the end none of us has the energy to walk all the way back. So we bargain with another Jordanian for camel rides for all three of us. He agrees to take us 1/3 of the way back for $40 for all of us. Not a bad deal- and I finally get to ride a camel, as I never got the chance when I was in Israel.

It takes us much longer to walk back to the visitor’s center than the walk down but we do each bit slowly and then rest. Walk a few meters, rest, repeat. Eventually, we make our way back to the bus, drink some water, and are thankful to be sitting.

The Jordanian/Arabic restaurant the tour takes us to for dinner is very good. It is set up buffet style and we eat lamb, chicken, rice, pita, hummus, lentil soup, vegetables, baklava, borekas, and other Middle Eastern staples. It is delicious but also sends me running for the lavatory for well - let's just say for a while. Mom bangs on the door to tell me that everyone is already on the bus and waiting for me- but I care very little at the moment. Eventually - I make my way back to the bus thinking I might get the sarcastic American applause usually associated with such endeavors - but I don't. Most everyone is sound asleep.

The bus ride back to the border is quiet and I sleep for at least an hour. The bathroom we stop it is worst than the previous one but by this point I'm sure you can use your imagination.

Finally we return to the Jordan/Israel border and do everything in reverse. The flies are still everywhere but we do get a ride back to the hotel in some nice woman's jeep. I sit shotgun and make small talk about the Salt plants in Eilat. They mine the salt there and then sell it to European countries to use on their snow in the winter (Who knew?).

Back at the hotel we thought the pool might be open for swimming but to our chagrin it closes at 6 pm!! Dismayed we retreat back to the hotel room and settle in.
By 9 pm I am sound asleep on the pullout couch at the Isrotel Agammim Hotel of Eilat. It has been a spectacular adventurous and tiresome day.

PS: Pictures are up in case you missed them. Hopefully this link works. If not let me know and I"ll try to fix it. Round 1