Next morning, after a great outdoor breakfast, we climbed on the bus to cross another mountain range on our way to Petra, the ancient capitol of the Nabateans. These are the mountains of Edom, which Moses and the Israelites had to skirt in order to avoid the Edomites who were not interested in providing them passage or hospitality. Our Jordanian guide, Maha, reminded us that the valley in which Petra is situated is called by the Arabs, Moses Valley, and it is sustained by what is called the Moses Spring, which has been supplying the town and area around Petra with fresh, clear water, non stop, for centuries. The tradition is that Moses called forth the spring when the Israelites were passing that way, many years before anyone had heard of the Nabateans.
The decent into Petra is impressive enough. But, it is only the beginning of a long and amazing adventure. As soon as we checked into the hotel, we headed for the valley to see the elaborate rock carving for which Petra is understandably world famous. I had no idea, nor do I think did anyone else, exactly how far downhill we would be traveling that day. The entrance to the reserve is several hundred feet above the actual passageway that leads to Petra, which is several hundred feet above the first real sight of The Treasury which is the first spectacular building you see when entering the city proper, but it is far from the end of the descent. The passage to the Treasury is full of interesting sidelights. There are numerous shrines and points of interest along the way. Most fascinating to me were the elaborate water collection and control efforts which were part of the infrastructure of the ancient city. Being in a desert meant that water and its storage was very important. Being at the bottom of a valley surrounded by high mountains meant that flooding was a real possibility whenever it rained. So, the Nabateans carved out and built elaborate cisterns, dams and diversion channels to both collect every drop they could and still protect the valley floor from the deluge. I'll have to let the pictures tell some of that story.
The entrance passage into Petra proper is quite long but very interesting. It is easy to see how the town could have been lost to the outside world for so many years. It was only in the 1820's that a British explorer "discovered" Petra after almost a millennium of its being forgotten by the rest of the world. The basic stone in Petra is a reddish sandstone, which made it both aresting to behold, easy to carve and quick to erode. Nevertheless, the buildings carved into the rock which remain, are truly remarkable, not only for the quality of the carving, but because what remains were almost exclusively tombs, with the possibility of a few religious sites thrown in. Petra, today, retains no remnant of the residences and businesses which must have been part of a thriving desert capitol.
At about 2:00 pm, we finally reached the bottom of the valley, where there was a nice American name restaurant, I think it was a Crown Plaza, for us to rest and eat lunch. The trek had taken nearly three hours. We had the rest of the day to ourselves. Some decided that the best thing to do was to go back the the hotel, since it had all been downhill on the way in, it must be all uphill on the way out. It turns out that they were the smart ones.
I did not choose the smart way. I decided to continue the adventure by climbing the trail that led up to the Monastery, another Petra iconic building situated almost atop one of the steep mountains enclosing the valley. One could have taken a donkey for what turned out to be a pretty reasonable price, or one could walk, or better said, climb to the top. I was certainly not going to wimp out, or depend on a donkey to carry me up to the goal. I partnered with Brad Clark, a priest from the Boston area, who had just completed a biking tour of Bataan. He is 10 years younger than I am, and does not have one ounce of fat to be seen anywhere on him. I was definitely out of my league! Brad was patient with my struggle up the mountain, but at one point, he decided to stop for a cup of tea and conversation with some Bedouin merchants who had set up a shop on the route. I went on ahead, knowing that if I stopped, there would be no going again. Surprisingly I made it all the way to the top, took my pictures of the Monastery, to prove I had done it, and proceeded on to the summit, where there was supposed to be a spectacular view of the whole Moses Valley. Of course, it was mostly obscured by haze. But, along the final passage, I was befriended by a young Bedouin girl, names Tamam, who must have thought that I looked like I needed help. At any rate, she became my guide and companion for the rest of the day. She was only in seventh grade, which I figure would make her about 14. At one point, I explained to her that I was waiting on my hiking companion who was behind me. She took a quick look and said,"There he is," pointing back down the mountainside to the trail I'd just climbed. I looked but could see no one except a few miniature people growing ever smaller in the distance. I said, "where?" She pointed again, and said, "There, in the white hat." Looking a little exasperated at my blindness, she said, "What is his name?" I said, "Brad." She yelled "Brad!" Then she said, "He's looking for you. Wave at him." I took off my hat and waved, and sure enough, way down the path, someone took off his white hat and waved back. What they say about the legendary ability of the Bedouin to find things in the desert had certainly proven itself true. In a few minutes, Brad had joined us at the top of the mountain, met Tamam, and we all began the descent, together. As we were leaving, I asked Tamam if I could give her a little something for her help. She said I should buy something from her shop. I picked out a silver bangle which I thought would look good on my wrist. The price was ridiculous, of course, something like 30 Dinars,or the equivalent of $45.00. I didn't have anything like that kind of money on me, and I told her so. She asked me what I had, and I showed her the $8.00 I had in my wallet, which was entirely too little for her to consider. However, I still was carrying a 10 euro bill left over from my trip to Austria and Bavaria in 2011. With that and a $5 bill we completed the deal, and everyone was happy. I've concluded that the point of bartering, which is so much a part of this culture, is not to get the best deal, but to find the deal with which everyone can comfortably live. I checked with our expert travel agent later, and she reassured me that I had not been taken.
The trip back to the hotel was grim. I was exhausted from playing mountain goat. Between my slowness and our engagement with Tamam, time had slipped away, and we were due back at the hotel for a meeting at 7:00 pm. It takes at least one hour to make the journey back to the entrance. With me, it took more like one and a half hours to return from the bottom of the Petra valley, so we were late. But one look at me, and I think nothing more needed to be said. There was no need for chastisement. I had obviously suffered enough!
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