Day 4 - Petra and return to Amman - Sunday, November 20

Our wake-up call was at 6am, and we went down to breakfast at 6:30. The buffet was really lovely as was the dining room. We went back to the bedroom to collect our luggage and brush our teeth. We checked out, and Rabi showed up at 7:30, got our luggage stored, and off we went to Petra. We just had to walk across the street from the hotel. It was cold and had been raining, but it soon stopped for the day.

We walked through the usual assortment of vendors, and Rabi bought our tickets and in we went through the gates to an amazing day. The landscape around us was hilly and arid. We walked down a wide dirt road, passed the horse corral where vendors were selling rides to the bottom of the road. We walked further down the road to our first site - the Djin Blocks. These are huge carved blocks that no one is really sure of their purpose. Further down the road is the Obelisk Tomb on top of the Bab Al-Siq Triclinium. They appear to be unrelated.

At the end of the road is a small souvenir shop and a dried up stream and bridge. This used to be a dam to send water through the Sig down to the village. Then we began the magical 1 mile walk down through the Sig. Photos and movies cannot begin to describe the majesty of this walk - towering cliffs of various levels of color, going from very narrow to more wide with the water trough following along. There were various niches, carvings. Periodically a horse drawn carriage would come flying by carrying tourist through the Sig. I cannot imagine taking one and missing most of the majesty of this walk. Rabi would stop and point out various items of interest.

Then at the end of the Sig, we glimpsed the first view of the Treasury. All of Petra is unbelievable, but this view of the Treasury is a site to remember. The courtyard in front contained a good number of tourists (but not nearly the number that are usually here) and camel vendors wanting to sell rides. After sitting here for a while trying to absorb the view, we headed on down through Petra passing the Street of Facades each containing a tomb. There were many semi-permanent street vendors selling an enormous array of tourist items. One of these vendors was the son of Marguerite van Geldermalsen who wrote Married to a Bedodin. He remains in Petra selling his mother's book and other items.

We stopped for a coffee/potty break at one of the little primitive cafes. Having coffee outside while looking up at the many beautiful tombs carved into the cliffs was amazing. Rabi knew most of the vendors, and when Bill was looking at daggers, Rabi said the seller was okay, and a good price was decided upon. Bill stopped on the way out and bought it.

After coffee we continued on the main path past the Nymphaeum, the Colonnaded Street, the Arched Gate, and Qasr Al-Bint. We ended up at the Basin restaurant run by Crowne Plaza hotels. We were the first tourist there, and Rabi got great treatment. I got a personal tour of the buffet items by the main chef. He recommended magloubeh, a rice/lamb/peanut dish that was really great. The falafel was awesome (made with fava beans rather than chickpeas). I also liked a stuffed pickled baby eggplant. The dessert, however, became one of my favorites - Um Ali - a bread pudding made throughout the Middle East. As we were finishing, an enormous crowd of tourists swamped the restaurant, so Rabi's timing had been fortuitous.

Rabi set us free to ramble on our own. We went up a hill opposite the colonnade street to the Byzantine church to see the beautiful floor mosaics. Dot, Sandy, and I stopped for a lemon/lime/mint drink while Bill went to buy his dagger. The drink wasn't as good as the one at the Green Valley restaurant, but it was still fun.

We then started the long haul back out through the Sig. It is all uphill and quite a jaunt. At the end of the Sig, Bill and I took a horseback ride back up to the entrance. The whole trip down and back up through Petra is about a 6 mile walk, so we were pretty tired when we got back to the hotel.

We retrieved our luggage, and Fadi was waiting with the van. We started the long drive back to Amman at 4. We stopped for a rest stop and got back to the Four Seasons Amman at 7:30. Bill and I got room service - split a hamburger and mac and cheese. Then we crashed for the night.