petra jordan

the treasury

harrison ford looking for action

cliffside caves

sunset over petra

petra by night

laurel on the old caravan trail

laurel says:

when we were putting together the roadmap of our trip back in august, i had no intention of visiting jordan.  but as we met other travelers along the way who raved about it and kept hearing buzz about petra becoming one of the 7 wonders of the world, we were intrigued.  still, the idea of going to jordan seemed so exotic and quite frankly so scary.  i was dragging my feet.  eventually emil convinced me to go and i am so happy that he did.  simply stated, the middle east is not nearly as dangerous or intimidating as the western media leads us to believe.  on the contrary, the people we met welcomed us with open arms.  and there are plenty of other western tourists around including several families from europe with small children in tow (americans just need to get out more!).  by the end of our trip emil and i were laughing at ourselves for even hesitating.  petra is an absolute gem.  the rose red city of the nabataens dates from the 3rd century bc.  in their hey day they controlled the lucrative trade routes from demascus to arabia which funded the creation of the incredible city of petra.  and despite a few earthquakes, the structures carved into the sandstone walls remain in incredible shape.  it is a surreal experience to walk thru the buildings and imagine how it must have been 2000 years ago when the caravans of spices, silk and slaves passed thru.  petra is especially remarkable because you can spend a whole day wandering thru the massive park, hiking the trails and experiencing the ancient buildings without being on an organized tour or sticking to a marked path.  it is a self lead adventure that even rocked indiana jones' world (the last crusade was filmed here).  i can't recommend it highly enough, especially as an easy tack-on to a trip to isreal or egypt. 

first glimpse of petra

the treasury

ashbury of jordan

emil says:
we were worried to land in amman, jordan.  there are several hundred thousand syrian refugees in various massive camps at the tense border, and the numbers are growing daily. we planned to land in amman and take a four hour drive through the jordanian valley (hopefully without pitstops) and arrive in petra, home of to one of the seven wonders of the world.  my fears were absurdly misplaced.  i watch too much cnn and read too much of the ny times.  surely there are hotspots of fighting and instability but there are many countries in the middle east that are truly suffering economically due to the over-exaggeration and media hyping of the various conflicts that are always simmering, but not necessarily bubbling, in this area.  petra is spectacular, and by far my favorite of the wonders.  think indiana jones meets lawrence of arabia.  think harrison ford galloping through the wind sculpted passageways deep in the desert in pursuit of bad guys.  2000 year old carvings abound but its the way in which one can explore the area that is so fantastic.  we spent 7 hours walking through the entire complex of hand carved tombs, theaters, monasteries in seemingly pristine condition and it felt like we were characters in one of the aforementioned movies. very worthwhile spot to come check out. unlike their neighbors, jordan is not an oil based economy so they can use all the tourists we can send them.

walking amongst the caves

the monastery

petra at sunset