10-13 Jordan- Wadi Rum

Another ten minute taxi ride got us to the other border of Eilat, Aqaba, Jordan. Our comfort level crossing into Jordan was much different than it was going into Egypt, the border was more relaxed, the guards less serious. The peace agreement between Jordan and Israel was signed here at this border in 1994. We met our guide, Daoud, and driver, Mohammed, at the border crossing, and headed out of Aqaba for Wadi Rum. Aqaba is the border city with Israel, and it and the surrounding environs constitute a duty free zone. This has allowed Aqaba to rapidly grow into a prosperous city of 85,000, with a large volume of trade with Israel. The main highway heading north is a 4 lane limited access highway that is well maintained.

About an hour north of Aqaba is Wadi Rum. Here, we traded our driver and comfortable van for an open Toyota truck to head out into the desert. The desert here was home to Lawrence of Arabia. The landscape was beautiful with high steep sandstone mountains.

This is the home of the Bedouin, and we could see, dotting the landscape, Bedouin tents, camels, and herds of goats. We climbed an enormous hill covered in deep, red-colored sand. Molly listened to our guide and hiked up barefoot- big mistake. The sand was so deep that it was a real slog getting up the hill. The rest of us climbed the rockier side of the slope which was much easier. Coming down, we took the sand route, and I wound up with about a 5 pounds of sand in my boots.

The drive to Petra was about another 1 ½ hours through the desert which looked like the surface of the moon. We drove over some fairly high mountains (about 5,000 feet) and then descended via a very steep windy road into Petra. On the way in, we stopped to pick up tickets for “Petra by Night”. After dinner, we walked to the Petra Visitor’s Center to began the nighttime Petra experience.

Petra by Night consisted of a leisurely stroll in the dark with about 300-400 other people to the Treasury of Petra. The Treasury is the temple made famous by Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. It is about 1 ½ miles from the Visitor’s Center, through the Siq a narrow gorge that funnels into the ancient city of Petra. Once inside, we were instructed to sit on rugs that were placed on the ground in the open area in front of the Treasury. Tea was distributed to the entire mass and a hush came over the entire crowd. Then, the stillness was broken by the strains of a ancient stringed instrument, the Raba, and Arabic chanting. This was followed by additional music from a woodwind instrument and more Arabic singing. A Bedouin then began telling the story of the city of Petra and what is was like in the “old days”. At the end of the performance, the Treasury was lit up with strobes allowing for photos. We then had to hike back (which was uphill the whole way) to our hotel.