A long drive - the last of the vacation blogs

Wednesday February 3rd, 2013

Ahmad was a little late this morning and he told me when he picked me up that he woke up only 30 minutes before and had 47 missed calls on one phone and 23 on the other phone.  All from his girlfriend.  My guess is, he went out with Ali last night and that the missed calls weren't all from this morning, but he was feeling sheepish about it.  I asked if he had called her and he said he had.  She called him a few minutes after he picked me up to find out if he had started driving.  They didn't talk for very long, but when he got off the phone he said "I love that girl." with a big grin on his face.  It was very cute.

We stopped to get coffee for him and he seemed very concerned that I didn't want anything, but I had just eaten and the guy at the hotel even made me a pot of hot chocolate with milk that was very good.  It was raining, although not too hard, and there was enough wind to make it pretty cold when we got out at a view point over Wadi Moises (the town) and Petra (the rocks), but it was cool to see where the entrance to the archaeological site was and the crack in the rock which is the siq.

It is hard to believe that all of Petra is in/behind that rock.  How did they succeed as a trading post if they were so hard to find?

We had about an hour - 90 minutes drive to Wadi Rum, a nature preserve in the desert, where I was to have a 2 (or 3 depending on when you asked Ahmad) jeep tour into the desert.  I realized as I got out of one strange man's car and into another that no one knows exactly where I am and that I am putting a lot of trust into strangers whose language I don't speak and whose country I know no one.  That being said, it all turned out fine.  Omar (according to the sticker in the windshield) took me out into the desert.  It was as if we were traveling on Mars.  The sand was red and rocky and very barren, the little bits of plants and eventual rain did give it away, but I was expecting to see Marvin around every corner.

Omar called this the mushroom

Instead we saw Bedouin camps, several of them, none very big, maybe two tents, maybe a dozen sheep or goats.  We stopped at one for tea and to sit by a fire for a little bit.  It was unclear to me what we were doing there exactly, I didn't know if there was supposed to be a story, or if I was supposed to tip him.  He did rub two dry perfumes on the back of my hands, sandalwood and something else, I guess they were for sale, but that wasn't clear either.  I was slow to drink my tea since I didn't know what was going on, but as soon as I finished in Omar said lets go, so we did.  By then it was raining and he was cold and I think the tour got truncated somewhat.

We did stop at Lawrence's cave, which was interesting.  I had a flashlight in the car, but didn't feel like I could go back to get it once I realized it would have been helpful as the cave was bigger than I expected and immediately went to the right instead of back, so the light from the door wasn't very helpful.  The highlight of the trip was when we exited Lawrence's cave, Omar stopped me and said listen.  He then shouted 'hello' across the desert to a giant rock 100 meters away.  There was a significant pause and then three distinct 'hello's in response.  It was the best echo I have ever heard.  I made him do it again and then again so I could capture it on video, but I am not sure how well it will come out.  I knew this was a situation where I should tip Omar, but I never know how much to tip.  This is made more difficult by not knowing the cost of the service he is providing me with in the first place.  Was this a 20JD tour? or a 30JD tour?  I wanted to save JD to tip Ahmad with (again I don't know how much) so I gave him $3.  He was clearly expecting something, and I hope it was appropriate.

Proof that there is life on Mars? Or fuel for the conspiracy theorists that the Mars landing is a hoax?

The wind had picked up and the sand was blowing

We headed back to home base after that with a brief stop at a couple of natural bridges.  I didn't bring the guidebook so I couldn't ask to see anything in particular and Omar was cold.  As we returned to the headquarters we could see that the rain was already causing trouble.  The desert was flooding and it was starting to reach the road.  All sorts of people came out to look at the water, both Omar and Ahmad were impressed by how much water there was and how quickly it had come.
Back in the car with Ahmad we head north.  The rain is heavy and causing some big puddles on the freeway.  At times we cannot see the road for how foggy it is.  I did think that Ahmad drove too fast sometimes given the conditions, but I never felt unsafe and he always slowed down in plenty of time when we approached other cars.  The going was slow and it was made even slower by an accident of someone who wasn't as lucky/careful as Ahmad.  It looked like a gas tanker and it was leaking when we finally got up to it to pass it. I sure hope that no one lit a cigarette nearby.  Sitting in the traffic leading up to the accident was interesting.  I think officially the road was two lanes wide, but the right hand shoulder was a full car width and was immediately used as another lane.  It took greater levels of impatience to start using the left hand shoulder since it meant one wheel had to be on sand, but eventually it too was in use.  At one point Ahmad got out and went up to look at what the trouble was and he asked other drivers who had come from behind us.  When we did get up to the accident, it was blocking the left shoulder and left lane, so cars were being allowed through on the right lane.  Police and fire trucks were there, but no ambulance, so either the driver was ok, or he had already been taken away.  We moved faster after that but still the rain made it slower going than normal.

The tanker that was causing the traffic.

Traffic in Amman was also crazy and when we were at the edge of the city Ahmad turns to me to say he isn't sure we are going to get to the citadel.  (My itinerary said Amman tour, I had asked what that meant and he told me the citadel, the amphitheater and down town.)  He thought, and my guidebook confirmed that it closes at 4pm.  I said it was ok if we didn't see the citadel, but that I would like a sandwich for lunch.  We had talked about this when we stopped for a bathroom and cigarette break just north of Petra (three plus hours ago) when I was again offered a buffet.  At that time it was going to be just two hours to Amman and I could wait until 2:30 for a sandwich.  Now it was four and I was hungry.  Again, I don't think I made myself clear because we were on side streets still trying to get to the citadel, which we did, at 4:05.  Fortunately(?) the guard there is Ahmad's uncles's son (which I think makes him Ahmad's cousin) and once he figured out how to unlock the gate, he let me in.  I felt weird about that, wondering around the closed citadel, but it turned out there were another of other people also wondering around in there (does Ahmad's uncle's son have many cousins?) who didn't seem to be in a hurry.  Anyway, I could see the amphitheater from there and took pictures of signs I can read later and made it back to the gate by 4:25.

I didn't really think about anything, I just took pictures, figuring I would work it out later

The Roman Theater 170 AD, seating capacity 6,000. 

The Byzantine church 560AD

Monumental Gateway/Entrance Hall 730 AD ot the Umayyad Palace.

Ahmad asked if I wanted to go down town, what I didn't want to do was sit in more traffic, so I said no, he said, hotel?  I said, sure.  I didn't want to have the sandwich conversation again, especially since we wouldn't get to the hotel until 4:45 and I had hopes that dinner would start at 6.

Upon check in I find out that dinner doesn't start until 7 and breakfast not until 6.  I ate the last of my cheese filled baklava treats from last night, another orange and I have been trying to keep busy to not be hungry.  Hopefully there will be something I can save from dinner to have in the morning since Ahmad will pick me up before breakfast is ready and I didn't feel like having the hotel get breakfast early an entire hour early just for me (even though the concierge did offer.)

I have been writing on and off line and am behind with pictures as well.  I want to publish the blogs in the order that they happened and I should have a couple more hours tonight, but probably wont get it all done.  (You can tell what I am writing in real time vs what I am recalling from a day or two ago because I refer to the future.)  Tomorrow I head back to Istanbul and the cat, who I hear is well but lonely.  I am looking forward to my own setting and my own schedule, even if it does mean going back to work on Monday.  I have seen some amazing things and had some experiences that I am glad to have had, but it has been stressful.  Of course I have at least two more trips already in the planning stages and I am very much looking forward to them, but I wonder if it might be time to slow down with the travel for a while.  I have thought about what car I will buy when I return home this summer.  Part of me wants a plug in hybrid, but part of me wants something with seats that fold down such that I can sleep comfortably in the back.  It might be time to see a bit more of the US again and camping is the way to do that.

Petra!

Tuesday February 5, 2013 - Petra

Breakfast was uninspiring.  There was an omelet making station, but no one was there.  I knew it was going to be a long day, so I wanted to eat some protein and had a hard boiled egg, some toast and some blue berry yogurt.  I did fill up my water bottle, but wasn't really satisfied.  It was overcast and even though the hotel’s restaurant looks west, I could see that the sun rise was making beautiful pink clouds out the side window.  I appreciated that the breakfast director seated me at the window even though I was alone for breakfast. 

I was eager to get started so I was waiting outside at 8 when Ahmad drove up.  As far as I could tell, driving me the 100m from the hotel to the entrance to Petra was his entire responsibility for the day.  He did connect me with my guide for Petra, Ali, a friend of his, whom Ahmed described as ‘beautiful’.  It turns out he was knowledgeable too and friendly.

These cubic buildings are thought to be tombs carved by the Nabataens, now they are called djinn blocks.*

Obelisk Tomb and Bab el-Siq Triclinium.  The top tomb shows Egyptian influence and the bottom is classic Nabatean.*

   We chatted as we walked down the path towards the siq, or canyon which is really the start of the ancient city.  Even though I walked this way last night, it was a completely new experience because this time I could see where I was walking.  The canyon was magnificent.  In some places it was only about 2 meters across but tens of meters high.  This siq itself is more than a kilometer long and the guidebooks says it isn't technically a gorge since it wasn't carved by water, but instead it is one giant rock that an earthquake opened up.  My favorite things along the siq were there water channels (on the left, open for animals, on the right a terracotta pipe for humans) and the relief of the camel and trader in addition to the narrow passage of the canyon itself.

The water channel for the animals on the left, the remains of
the terracotta pipe for human drinking water was on the right.*

The siq is very narrow in some places.

Camel Caravan reliefs 100-50BC about 1/3 larger than life, a man and his camel are arriving in Petra.*

Before the treasury really came into view, I could get glimpses of it between the canyon walls, but once it is fully there, it is really impressive.  There is a large open space (where the Petra by night was) with shops on one side and carriages, donkeys, camels on the other side.  I can hardly imagine what it would have been like to be a caravan with trade goods coming from far away, having walked/cameled for weeks and then to find this.  First, how to find it?  Second, when you did, what a shock!

Like everything old, the bottom x meters is buried and I had to look down to see the tombs which were at the bottom of the building.  (Of course Ali, my guide, was giving me all sorts of valuable information as we walked, most of which I can’t remember.)  The treasury probably wasn't a treasury at all, but the Bedouins who lived here before it was rediscovered by Europeans thought it was so they shot at it hoping to break into it and find the gold.  

The misnamed treasury, famous in the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, the first facade you see when exiting the siq.  *

 It was a cloudy day, with a bit of rain and sun thrown in for variety.  The lack of direct sun was good for keeping cool and for not washing out the photos, but the colors weren't quite as vibrant as I think they could be.  That said, no picture could do it justice.  Looking through my pictures, most of the time I found I could have bluish sky and dark rocks or white sky and reddish rocks.  Partly I don't know enough how to control my camera (it doesn't help that I broke the midrange lens on my last night in Israel and only have the long lens for my big camera so was using my much simpler little camera for most of these pictures) and partly the dynamic range was just too great.  I also can see that I took a lot of pictures of rocks.  I assume that there was something in each one that caught my eye or I thought was interesting, but looking back at them, most of them look like red rock.  I have chosen only a few and will let the captions do the talking

Many tombs packed close together on four levels of the streets of facades.*

This rock looks like a camel, I think I saw his cousin in Southern Utah.

The Cardo going through Petra city dating from the Roman period 2nd century AD, with the temple of winged lions (or al-Uzza) in the background*

 After Ali left me and the end of the cardo, he pointed up the hill and suggested I hike to the monastery.  As the donkey drivers kept reminding me, it was 852 steps to the top.  I think it was my stubbornness more than anything else that got me there.  I probably should have paid for a donkey to come back down as my knees paid for it for days afterwards, but the view was worth it.

The Monestary - misnamed because of the many crosses carved inside, but really a temple dedicated
to the deified king, Obodas 1 who died in 86BC, simple, yet elegant, it is classical Nabataean.*

From the monastery  I hiked a little bit farther up to a view of the valley below, not unlike the view from Mt. Nebo.  It was hazy at that point so those pictures are not as interesting and this one showing a Bedouin tent perched at the top of the world.  

On my way down I stopped for break and a fresh squeezed orange/pomegranate
juice and to sit and gaze at the monastery for a while longer.

A very talkative Orange cat without much interest in the view.  I don't think it was either of the ones I met last night.  I must have been giving out orange cat vibes because that was all I saw.

The Royal tombs from the upper market in the town of Petra. The design style is Assyrian, based on the similarity of the designs to Mesopotamian architecture of the 6th-7th centuries BC.  The designs overlap and merge gradually from one culture to another including Assyrian and Roman.  Ali thought this was a way of being inclusive and making all traders feel at home.*

The Urn Tomb 40-75 AD so named by the ornament on the top.  The courtyard would have been flanked by colonnaded porticos, directly facing Petra's main temple.  Because of the prime location, it was probably the tomb of a Nabataen king, but it was converted into a Christian church by Bishop Jason in 447AD.*

Funerary niches inside the Urn tomb*

The timeline of Petra, with major events highlighted.*

There were many Bedouin folks (mostly ladies) selling souvenirs along the paths.  Some things carved out of stone, lots of cheap magnets, postcards, some daggers, coins supposedly found in the ruins, but mostly beaded necklaces/bracelets, and offering to give you tea.  I interacted with many of them to say good morning or hello and did eventually buy a refrigerator magnet from one and a set of postcards from a young girl.  I had heard stories about sharing tea with Bedouins, but ti seemed awkward to me, so I declined.  The young girl came up to me while I was wondering around the Great Temple.  She has about 6 words of English, but wasn't shy about trying them out.  She wanted me to buy a packet of postcards for 1JD.  I told her I only had a 1/2 JD coin because I didn't really want any more postcards.  I was surprised when she said ok, but then she seemed disappointed when I gave her the coin.  I offered to trade back, but she said no.  I was trying to move away without being rude, but I don't think I succeeded.

The part labeled Q was paved with hexagons, which I would really have liked to get a picture of, but I was being followed by a girl trying to get me to buy postcards and I didn't feel like I could stop to take the picture.*

 * Most of the historical factoids are from the guidebook I consulted when I was labeling pictures. Some information is from the signs that accompanied the monuments.

It was after 3pm at this point and I was tired.  I had stopped for lunch at the Best Western restaurant at the bottom of the trail to the monastery and that helped to revive me, but I was still out of energy.  I walked back through the city to the treasury and then back up the siq.  Several donkey drivers offered me rides, sometimes on 'air conditioned' 'Porsche' donkeys and sometimes for as little as 5JD all the way to the entrance.  I always said no, but then I would take a few more steps and decide that when the next one offered, I would accept.  Except when they did, I didn't.  I guess my fear at the interaction was greater than the tiredness I felt at walking.

Ali had told me that there was a horse ride included in my ticket.  I forgot to ask him about that before we parted in the morning, but I happened to run into him later on and asked.  He said it was just from the end of the siq to the entrance, the last 150m (but I think it was 900m).  I said that was hardly worth it, he said, that's why it is free.  Anyway, when I got to the end of the siq and there were some horse guys there offering me their services, I said ok.  There were two of them, a tall guy talked to me first and then a shorter guy who came up a few seconds later.  I was going to go with the shorter guy, but the tall guy said he spoke to me first.  The short guy said he would only charge me 2-3JD, I said, but you said it was included, so I am not going to pay for it.  At that point he let me go and I went with the tall guy.  We get a little way into the journey and he says, the ride is included in the ticket, except for the normal tip.  Yeah, I had figured that out.  It was so nice to be riding that I didn't comment.  When we got to the entrance and I got off, I got out my wallet and offered him 2JD.  He said that is nothing.  I said, the ride was free, the tip was up to me.  He said the normal tip was 5JD.  I said I was offering 2.  He said I was too big for the horse and came all this way, I should give him 5JD.  I said if he didn't want 2, he didn't have to take it and walked off.  He got on the horse and came after me saying he would take the 2.  I said he shouldn't have refused it and then insulted me and kept walking.  He said he didn't insult me and that I should give him the 2.  I did and I am sure he was pissed.  I was pissed too.  I hate being scammed.  I am not sure if the donkey riders were allowed to go all the way to the entrance (I didn't see any go beyond the treasury) but their comments about 'air conditioning' were obviously jokes and the price you negotiate with them is the price you pay.  For this guy (and I guess it is a well established practice that even Ali was in on) to offer a free or included service and then expect me to pay as much for it as if it wasn't free, just got to me.

Anyway, I walked back to the hotel, stopping to buy a t shirt that I had scoped out the night before, and chat with the t shirt seller, who was a nice guy and was willing to take the 10JD instead of the 15 he asked for.  He asked were I was from (as did pretty much everyone I met anywhere) and I told him California.  He said everyone was from California, well, California or Chicago.  No one ever said they were from Illinois, which he asked about once and the person said that Chicago is more famous than Illinois, which I guess is probably true.  Sometimes I debate about saying I am from California or America, or the US.  I know America isn't a country and the US seems to vague, so I usually go with California, which everyone has heard of, so it mostly works.  I did tell one necklace selling woman I was from Turkey.  She said, you don't look like Turkey.  I said, I live there.  She said, your language sounds like England or America.  Yeah, your'e right, no pulling one over on you.

This was our syllabus/menu for the evening. 

I had a little time in the hotel and took a shower and wrote some before heading out to the cooking class I had signed up for the night before.  I got there at the agreed upon 6:15 to find that there was one more student, which was great.  Aiko is from Seattle and has just finished medical school and getting ready to start her first real doctor job in rural Washington state.  She had a much better memory for the names of the dishes we were making, but her chopping technique was more often remarked upon by the chef, Bilal.

Ali was our host and he was very accommodating  getting us beverages and making sure that we had everything we needed.  He introduced the dishes and the chef, whose name I immediately learned because the chef at RC is also named Bilal.  We did a lot of chopping of vegetables.  It was very organized, with each dish's ingredients separated out and washed.  The chicken had been boiled ahead of time but we used the stock for the lentil soup (which had been soaking as well) but everything else we did in real time.  Often I was in charge of putting in the olive oil and I was astonished by how much we were told to use.  I put in what I thought was enough only to be told to double or even quadruple it.  Aiko was in charge of the salt, but she was also told over and over again to put more in.  It kind of became a joke.

So far this contains onions, olive oil and the red stuff is sumac.  I hadn't met sumac before (knowingly) it is startlingly red but tastes like lemon.  We put in 8 spoons!

Ali and Bilal when our feast was ready to go.

Everything was delicious, but my favorites were the tomato hot meze, galayat bandura and the main course musakhan (pictured below).  We had a relaxing meal with Ali and ended up with a cheese filled pastry.

Aiko and the main course - chicken and onion pie:
Musakhan.

Cheese filled phylo dough - yummy

It was well worth it for 35JD.  We got to learn, eat, and then take the recipes home as well.  With the full day at Petra and then three hours of cooking, I was very tired and happily headed back up the hill to my hotel.

Bilal, who had left the kitchen/classroom several minutes before we did, came up in his car and offered me a ride home.  I told him it wasn't far and that I was happy to walk.  He then offered to show me the town, just 10 minutes, that he wasn't ready to go home yet.  I didn't know how to take this.  He was a nice guy, I had just spent the evening with him, but somehow getting into a car with him, after dark, in a town/country I didn't know, didn't seem right.  It probably would have been fine, I probably hurt his feelings, but I would probably make the same choice again.  It is interesting to think about what risks are ok and which are not.  I have gotten into cars/vans/jeeps with strange men often alone for the last ten days, why was this one not ok?

It was a good, long, tiring day filled with sights and smells and good food, definitely the highlight of the trip.

Jordan: Madaba, Mt. Nebo and Petra by Night

Monday February 4, 2013 – Jordan

I woke up early and waited for the alarm to go off.  Losing the hour didn’t seem to hurt me, but I guess it was because I was so tired last night.  I packed up and went to breakfast.  There was oil and herbs in addition to cheese and bread.  I had a hard boiled egg and something that was a cross between French toast and bread pudding.  It didn't look all that appetizing, but it was pretty good.  

Ahmad picked me up at 8:30 and we set out for Madaba.  I remembered to put my guidebooks in my little bag today so I could read about where we were going/had been along the way.  Madaba is famous for the mosaic in St. George’s church which was discovered only 120 years ago when Christian folks came back to settle there after being pushed out of Karak and started to rebuild on top of old foundations.  What is cool about this mosaic is that it is a map of the holy land from the Byzantine period and even though big parts of it are missing, you can still tell what cities were where and their relative importance.  

This sign is much better than the pictures I took of the actual mosaic.  Mine is in three parts and at and angle. 

St. George was a busy guy.  No wonder there aren't any dragons left today.

The view God showed Moses saying something like: Here it is,
 the promised land, so sorry you wondered the desert with a bunch
 of unruly folks for 40 years and all you get to do is see it.  Ha!

The guidebook says there are other mosaics to see in town, but we didn't stop at any of them, instead we went up the hill to Mt. Nebo, the place where tradition has it, God showed Moses the promised land at the same time telling him, he wasn't going to get to go.  The view was quite spectacular and I had a good day weather wise.  It was pretty windy up there and so cool, but that was probably for the best to keep the haze moving.  There are some mosaics in the church up there as well, but it was closed for renovation, so all I could see was a picture of them.  Here, like at Ajloun Castle, I was asked if I wanted a guide to show me around.  I am always torn when given this choice.  Today I got as far as asking how much it would be, he said 10JD, or about $15.  It wasn't that big a place and I already knew the story, so I declined.  Of course the history would come alive even more with someone talking about it, but I just didn't know if it was worth it. 

A mosaic being made - live!

On our way up the hill we stopped at a mosaics workshop/store.  It was interesting to see the folks making the mosaics.  The have local rock which is cut into thin slices and then they use pincher pliers to cut irregular shapes as needed to fit their pattern.  The pattern is written in reverse on a piece of cloth which is stretched over a board.  The pieces are secured with a paste of flour and water until the mosaic is finished.  Then a frame of the correct size is made and filled with cement and the mosaic is placed face down into the cement and patted in until the cement comes up between the rocks.  When the cement is set, the cloth with the flour paste is washed off and the mosaic is polished.  This particular workshop had disabled people working in it, which I thought was cool.  I was also shown the ‘fake’ mosaic on pottery and then the ostrich egg decoration style as well.  I was offered sage tea which was pretty good and then I was followed around the store where my every question was anticipated.  The pieces were expensive, but I was talked into buying a round mosaic of the tree of Madaba.  The tree represents apple, pomegranate and olive, the three main trees around here.  There are two types of trunk, one for the tree the other is the snake of temptation fame.  Then there are vines of grapes to represent the wine production of the area.  I like it and it will be an adult purchase.

The Dead Sea - with a sandy beach?

There were many more people at this beach than there were
when we visited the Israeli side. It was a much nicer day and
a much nicer beach, if the 'spa' amenities were not as nice.

From Mt. Nebo we went to the Dead Sea.  My tour  included admission to a resort and use of their fascilites while bathing in the sea.  I needed to rent a towel again, 1.5JD +3.5JD deposit.  If I wanted to use a locker, I needed another 5JD but I had given up by then and just lugged all of my stuff down to the beach.  There were many more people here than there had been on the Israel side, but it was a much nicer day and the resort and the beach were much closer together.  Surprisingly, the beach was sandy rather than salt and shoes were not required to go into the sea.  The wind was much calmer today but the water was still cool.  I walked out a ways (the slope was faster than it had been on the Israel side) and sat down to float.  A group of Americans, college age, in some sort of performing group) came to my end of the beach and were very entertaining as they took pictures of each other and squealed when they got in.  It was interesting how worried they were about their stuff on the beach, if anyone local looking came close to their stuff, one of them would get out and go stand by it.  I wonder if they were even cognizant of the racial profiling they were doing and made the connection to how angry they would be if it were done to them in reverse.  Ahmad had told me there was no time limit, so I was surprised that he came down to the beach to find me.  I asked if it was time to go and he said it didn't matter, but the implication was yes, we should be moving on.  I got out, went back up to the resort and rinsed off in the cold shower.  It was maybe 1pm and before we went in, Ahmad asked if I wanted to eat there or in Petra.  I asked which was better and how far it was to Petra.  He said 2 hours and that Petra was better.  I said ok, so we headed off.

An accidental picture, but one of my favorites

Snow!  

First we had to go back up Mt. Nebo and through Madaba before we could get the King’s Highway south.  I watched the desert go by for a while, but I nodded off several times.   We had to climb some hills as we approached Petra and I was surprised to see snow on the ground.  Ahmad said it was from 2 days ago, so while it was pouring in Tel Aviv, it was snowing here.  Interesting. 

We came down the other side and could see the hills into which Petra is carved.  It was after 4 when we stopped for lunch.  There were two big tour buses of folks coming out of the restaurant (never a good sign) and a big buffet inside.  I said, could we go somewhere where I could have a small lunch, since I had already told him that I didn't eat dinner last night due to the large late lunch we had yesterday.  He said ‘as you like’ and we left, but in the car he asked why I changed my mind.  I told him, I didn't want to miss dinner again (since I had already paid for it as part of the tour) so I wanted a small lunch not a big lunch buffet.  He said ok, and we went off to buy the ticket for Petra at Night and then he took me to the hotel.  I said, what about lunch?  He said, you didn't want lunch.  I am trying not to be grouchy, but it is hard.  The hotel guy said I could get room service.  I asked when was dinner, he said 6, I said I’ll wait.  I check in and move into the room, which is at the end of the hall on the ground floor.  I can see wifi from here, but can only just connect if I stand at the door.  I checked mail and Facebook to find that the 49ers lost the Superbowl. 

I had read in my guidebook about a cooking course offered in Petra in the evenings.  We had passed a restaurant with the same name so I went out to check it out.  I also wanted to make sure I could get to the start of the Petra by night tour while it was still light.  I think I found the starting place for that and then went looking for the cooking class.  They have class every night for 35JD which includes recipes and dinner.  I am the only one signed up for tomorrow so far, which the guy said was ok, if it was ok with me.  I put down a deposit, and need to be there at 6:15, so I hope my afternoon doesn't run long and he doesn't decide to cancel if no one else signs up.

The salad course of dinner was really tasty

I was also looking for a snack to tide me over to dinner.  I went into two shops that had drinks and things and a small packet of crackers was either 1JD or 1.5JD.  This seemed outrageous to me, so I walked out in both cases.  I ended up stopping at a pizza place for a falafel and hummus sandwich for 3JD which seemed much more reasonable.  I headed back to the hotel to write and change before heading down to dinner and then out to the Petra at night tour.

I thought Ahmad had told me 8pm, but perhaps I was remembering the pick up time for the morning, anyway I rushed through my dinner in the hotel restaurant in order to be at the entrance to Petra at 8 only to find out that I was 30 minutes early.  I went to the guest house to use their bathroom, and ended up buying some postcards and stamps and meeting another Californian who is teaching in Istanbul.  What a coincidence.  I went out on the patio and wrote a couple of the cards and was visited by an orange cat who made himself at home in my lap while I was writing.


There was quite a group gathering at the entrance and I saw a couple that I met at the border to Jordan on Sunday.  They had grown up in the San Diego area but moved to Ohio when they graduated from college because California was getting too expensive in the early 1970s.  They had been in Petra that day and were nice to chat with while we waited for the gates to open.  I kind of lost track of them once we were inside as it was pretty dark as we walked the 2.5 km through the valley and then through the siq.  The path was lined with candles in paper bags which provided enough light to see where to go, but not necessarily where you were stepping.  The stars were out and gorgeous.  The walk was very cool and without being able to see well, I could focus on the sounds and smells.

The luminaria showing the way into Petra

 The show had three parts, first a guy played a stringed instrument, which we learned later was the ancestor of all other stringed instruments, while he sang (as shown in the video).  Then a guy played a flute and walked around in front of us and finally a third guy told us a little about Petra and the instruments we had heard.  It was well done and I felt like it was the most professional of the entertainment options I had had to this point. We were served mint (or maybe sage) tea and instructions were given about when to go where.

A different orange cat makes himself comfortable during the show.

The walk back out of Petra seemed longer (it was slightly up hill) and it was windy at times, but it was a good preview, without giving anything away of what would come tomorrow.