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On our way to Petra, through the King's Highway, a beautiful but battered and bumpy road to drive, we stopped at the Dana reserve for a lunch break. One of
the guides explained the good things they do in this reserve to preserve nature. And of course, we were invited for tea. And because they were preparing lunch, we've been asked to sit down to have some lunch with
them. Boiled chicken and a different kind of "Janine". This time the "Janine" wasn't a cold kind of yoghurt drink, but a hot and little bit spicy yoghurt sauce, in which you have to dip your
bread in. Once again, we had a wonderful lunch with very friendly people. But eating, while sitting on the floor is something I'm still not used to, so we definitely had to clean the floor and ceiling afterwards.
In the evening we arrived in Wadi Mousa (the village near Petra), and were allowed by the police to sleep on the big parking lot, near the Petra site. All for free, something we had not expected in our
wildest dreams.
Wednesday, 11th of October, the first day in Petra, we decided to start early, because of the heat and to avoid the bus loads of package tourists. Petra is an ancient sity, almost entirely cut
into the rock of Wadi Araba. And it's true, you can read about it and see lots of pictures about it, but seeing is believing!!!!
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At half past 7 we were hiking through As-Siq, the beautiful long (1,2 km) and narrow gorge, linking the entrance with the ancient city, almost alone. Well,
this entrance sure looked promising! Almost at the end we could see pieces of the Treasury through the narrowing rock. Finally we were there and able to admire the Treasury at it's fullest. What a building!! 43 m
high, 30 m wide, entirely cut into the rose coloured rock. After taking lots of pictures we walked further. We passed some beautiful tombs and the theatre. Because it was still relatively cool, we decided to climb
to the Monastery before it would get too hot. Finally, after almost one hour of climbing the steep steps (there should have been 800 of them, but to be honest, we didn't count them) we reached the plateau of the
Monastery. We thought is wasn't possible, but this building is even taller than the Treasury and just as impressive!
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After having some lunch high on a rock, overlooking the Wadi we headed back. And were amazed by the crowds of tourists who had decided that between 12 and 2
pm was the best time to climb to the Monastery (of course without bringing water). Lucky for them there is a little stand at the top, selling cool (and horrendous expensive) drinks, where they can rest from the hot
and exhausting climb and cool down.
The next day we climbed the steep steps to the High place of Sacrifice, again very early. The altars weren't very interesting, but the views are magnificent. We hiked back
to the Petra "city centre" via Wadi Farasa and saw some beautiful coloured rock formations. Back in the "centre" we explored the Petra Church, which had beautiful well preserved mosaics and the
Royal Tombs. Again, a very interesting but tiring day in Petra.
What stunned us the most, wasn't the Treasury or the Monastery, although very beautiful (and large!!) indeed, but the different colours, shapes
and pattern of the rock. Every shade from deep red to light rose, from black to white, blue, yellow, simply of stunning beauty. Although the entrance fee was quite high (35 US$ each for two days) it was worth every
penny of it. That evening we decided to treat ourselves with a large pizza. Boy, that tasted good, after days of bulgur with tomato, eggplant and corned beef.
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Friday we took off to Wadi Rum and our first impression wasn't a very good one, we're sorry to say so. Truck loads of package tourists where dropped off at
the jeep station for a hasty 1 or 2 hour ride through the desert. Overpriced safari's, expensive lunches and souvenirs all being eagerly promoted by flocks of locals.
We planned to stay here at least 4
days, but after seeing this, well, we had over-estimated the place quite a bit. Because we where low on water we expected to fill our tanks at Wadi rum, but (however not very strange) there wasn't so much 'free'
water around. We filled just two 10 liter tanks and decided to sleep on the parking lot in front of the guesthouse only to be near fresh water.
The next day we tried to find a Bedouin mountain short cut,
through the mountain range north of the resthouse. It was a steep "track" on stones and gree and after almost one hour of climbing, we found ourselves on the wrong (sheep) track. After some climbing and
scrambling we were back on track again. But my horror experience in the Taurus Mountains of Turkey came all back to me, and my legs started to feel like rubber. This wasn't going too well. So after two hours we
decided to descend because the track was going steeper and steeper (climbing grade 2 to 3) and my self-confidence decreased with every step I took. A safety rope would come in real handy here. Suddenly, a nice comfy
trek on sea level sounded great to me.
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Dune patterns at Wadi Rum. Panorama from a sand dune into the desert at
Clikcable. Wadi Rum. Click for large view!
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