Outside the main town we pick up one of the guides. He needs a ride to Petra. Shortly after that we pick up a local hitch hiker. This is common here, to get a ride. I've done it myself a few times. The paved road ends and we are driving on gravel. We start climbing. The drop offs get deeper and deeper. At one point we are on a ridge, with nothing on either side. The danger is fishtailing on the gravel and slipping down a cliff. This can be avoided by going slowly. However this driver is going a bit faster than he should be, I think.
We finally make it through the mountains and are back on a paved road. We reach Petra. The driver drops me off at the hotel. It is about 11. We go through the routine of introductions, and the tea offer, drinking the tea, ect. After unpacking, I go downstairs and ask the hotel staff for a shuttle to the Petra entrance. I am dropped off there. One day pass is 50JD if you are spending the night in Petra. Two day pass is 55, and three day is 60. The fourth day is free. I get a three day pass just in case I am totally blown away.
It's actually a walk to get to the real entrance. There are folks offering horse rides, horse carriage rides, and claiming it is included in the ticket price. My plan is to walk for a couple of hours and take pictures, so tomorrow I can pick up where I left off without stopping on the way.
At the beginning, there are chambers dug in the stone. They are burial chambers. I finally get to the real entrance. This is basically a path carved through the mountain leading to the main square, called siq, and beyond. By the way it is the Nabateens who built this I think. I figure I will see first and do the research later.
This path is quite long and impressive. At some point there were carvings on the sides. There are remnants of ditches on the sides for water to flow. Here is a picture of the carving of a camel with a man standing in front of it.
A couple of pictures of the path
Also a picture of a tomb
I pretty much cover the main parts of Petra the first day, making it to the temple and the inner siq.
Back at the hotel I sign up for dinner at the hotel and the Petra by night show.
The hotel is actually really nice. It has been going through a total renovation and just opened this month, so everything is brand new.
After dinner I grab the shuttle with a couple. I get to talking to them. The guy is from Hong Kong originally, but born Holland. The lady is from Seattle, actually north of Seattle as I learn later. We chat on the way. We walk all the way to the outer siq. This is a little less than two miles. There are many people going there and the path is lit by candles, so we kind of lose each other. The front of the siq is lit with candles.
The siq at night
The show starts with a guy playing an instrument called rababa and singing. Apparently rababa is the original string instrument. It sounds like the blues bedou style.
Next there is a flute.
I recorded both of these, but just found out that Google has dropped ability to upload mp3 files to blogs.
Then there is some story telling. Of course they serve tea. After the show it is the walk back. Actually it's a pretty good experience, if your expectations have not been set too high by people. At about 10:30 I take the shuttle to the hotel.
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