A Rocky Day

So we started our day with a beautiful sunrise in Petra, Jordan. After our breakfast, we headed for the tourist center. At this point, you could walk 800 meters to the Siq. We all had tickets to ride a horse if we wished to the Siq and to save us some walking time. We chose to ride. I had a frisky horse named Mountain. A horse boy helped you with your horse all the way to the Siq and of course they ask all kinds of questions about where you are from and about America. It is always fun to talk about home, especially if you have been away for a while. When we dismounted we paid our helpers a tip and started our long journey for the day. Now we started with the horses about 9 am and had to be back to the bus by 1 pm. Walking through the Siq was amazing. We all could hardly walk for taking so many pictures and there is no way pictures could do this landmark any justice.

The word Petra is the Greek word for rock. This is most likely the biblical Sela which also means rock. The rock walls were beautiful. We could see a water system that had been carved in and places for idols to be viewed. Most of this area was used as a Edomite stronghold, but it was the Nabateans that did all of the carving of the buildings into the rocky mountains. The artistry and imagination is more than one could take in. The most recognizable building is the Treasury building. Most people would recognize it from the Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade movie. The front of the building was closed off, so we couldn't go in, but they were excavating right in front of the building and we could see down. There is at least another whole floor with rooms and stairs under the ground. All of the ground that we had been walking on, actually has more of the ancient city under it. I really thought that this was all there was; boy was I wrong.

We then decided to walk up to the high place. We had no idea what we were getting ourself into. We poked fun at each other (mainly at Jane) and laughed, then it got serious. Half the trip up was in the shade and the other half (the steepest) was in the sun. We finally made it to the top and met a Bedouin woman who lives in the village below. It takes her 2 hours to walk to work at the high place. She showed us things that we would not have learned just standing on the ground.

We thanked the lady and started to make our way back. We took a different route downward as to see different sights. It was a much longer route, but the buildings were just beautiful. We also saw several shepherds with their goats or sheep standing on the sides of the mountains. We could hear the shepherds calling to their flocks and the flocks responding to them.

We did finally make it back to the Siq which was just as wonderful the second time through as the first. By this time, we were really hot and tired. We hadn't had any lunch, and we had been moving at a pretty fast pace. We took the horses again for the last 800 meters. Needless to say, we were the last ones on the bus; we were about 20 minutes late, but we didn't get scolded. As soon as we were on the bus, we started devouring our snacks and a couple of expensive cokes we had bought. Life was good again.

About 3 hours later, we arrived at our hotel on the Dead Sea. It is absolutely gorgeous here. Tomorrow we plan to arise early and wade into the sea. Our stops tomorrow include crossing the border back into Israel, visiting Jericho, Masada, and finishing in Jerusalem. We will spend the rest of our trip exploring Jerusalem.

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Until next time...