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.