Jordan, Day 3

November 15, 2008
Morning came early! But that was ok, because we were going to Petra! Have I mentioned that I have wanted to go to Petra for the longest time? And now I can say, having been there, “Petra Rocks!” I just wish all my students from Petra Academy could have been there with me.

Oh, and it was just amazing. I’m afraid I rather abandoned the guide. I’m sure he would have been very informative, but with the limited time, I really wanted to sort of experience it on my own. So some of us broke off and walked ahead – together, yet alone with our thoughts. It was so beautiful and awe-inspiring and the fulfillment of so many dreams, I almost even cried a couple times. It was hard to believe that I was actually there. And when finally the treasury came into sight and I was able to see in real life the image that is portrayed in so many pictures and movies…it was amazing.

There’s too much to recount, so I’ll try to summarize my favorite parts. After the treasury, Claire and I ended up together, looking for a bathroom. Once we found that we looked at the theatre and then headed off to the side to look at a tomb. On the way up there we saw Laura and Steven sitting with a couple Bedouin women and their beautiful children.
We went over and had tea with them. It was really delicious (I wish I know how they made it) and the wood smoke from their small fire reminded me of camp. (As a side note, it’s been chilly enough on this trip that I’ve been comfortable in long sleeves almost the whole time).
Next, we headed in the direction of the monastery. Of course, all along the way there were people offering us postcards, jewelry, and donkey rides, all for rather outrageous prices. Claire asked one man how much for a donkey ride, and ended up talking him down to 5 dinar (about $7.50, I think) for the two of us, which I think was a fairly decent price. It sure saved our legs a lot. He took us almost all the way up to the monastery, and it was really fun. Kind of like riding a short horse. With horses, my legs never hang past their belly, so kicking them isn’t a problem; with donkeys, I couldn't quite figure out where or how to kick. Not that I really needed to - a couple guys were following on foot keeping them going and making sure they behaved (we also didn’t have reigns). I’ve ridden horses in some pretty sketchy places, but it was still pretty intense to ride donkeys up stairs along cliffs (especially when the tried to race each other). It was really fun. (And my inner thighs -Sorry, Kimberlee, I mean, um, inner upper leg muscles - are going to be sore tomorrow!)
Once at the top we looked around in the monastery, Claire sang, and then we headed up to find a view. We didn't go to the highest point, but a guy who had apparently been all over pointed a different way that he said had the best view (and that Claire thought looked safer) so we went there. It was an amazing view. It kind of made me feel like I was on top of Monument again. We celebrated by eating apples and reading some scripture before heading back down.
We took our time on the downward journey, making a few stops along the way, continually admiring the geology and the architecture, and how well they worked together.

Eventually we said good-bye to Petra (*sigh*), ate a yummy lunch in town (they had salsa with jalapenos!), and then headed up into the heartland of Edom. Our first stop was at the Wadi Dana. It was quite a view, and not something I would like to have to climb up in decked out for battle.
It was really quite impressive. Next we went to the capital of Edom: Bozrah. It was interesting to read about Edom in the Bible. When you're there, its easy to see why the Edomites thought they were so safe. With the deep valleys surrounding thier fortress it would have been virtually impregnable.

Finally we headed to Karak (of Karak Castle fame, formerly Kir of Moab) for the night. We are in a small “rest house” on top of a cliff, right next to the castle. Oh, and we had bananas at dinner tonight, along with some amazing fried fish. Wow.