Sarah goes to Petra and sleeps in a Bedouin tent in the desert - what an awesome day!

So my third and fourth days in Jordan were my favourites!  We met up with Abu Wassim at seven in the morning and he drove us to Petra, the famous lost Nabatean city carved out of the walls of a desert canyon.  I've heard lots about Petra but I wasn't prepared for the sheer size of it.  It was HUGE, and stretched for miles.  We started off the day by walking through the Siq, which is a canyon that served as the entrance to the city.  Even though Petra dates to the first century BCE (roughly), there are still traces of the pipelines the Nabateans used to direct the water towards the city.  We continued to find the Treasury, probably the most well preserved and well known of Petra's buildings.  We decided, true to our Jordan theme, that the next thing we should do is climb!  So Raph and I climbed to the High Place of Sacrifice, which is on top of a huge hill (I think it was more of a mountain, actually), and we decided to have a picnic overlooking all of Petra.  In the afternoon we climbed down the mountain on the other side, got lost in the desert, and finally found our way out to admire some of Petra's other treasures before heading back to meet Abu Wassim.  He drove like a madman to get us to the Wadi Rum desert in time to watch the sun set - and it was worth it!

Th Treasury at Petra!

Best picnic spot in the world

We met our Bedouin guide, Abu Youssef, and his rusty Toyota truck at the edge of the desert, and he took us to a great spot to watch the sun slip under the horizon.  The desert was so still and peaceful, it felt like we were the only people in the entire world.  Abu Youssef made us tea (Bedouin tea, aka SUGAR in hot water) which was delicious and super sweet, and then he drove us to our camp where we were staying the night.  He also told us a little about his life, the villages in the desert, the Bedouin etc.  My favourite part was him telling us about his two wives and ten kids.  He couldn't quite remember all of his children's names, but he got them eventually, haha.  I asked if his wives were friends, and he told me that one stays in one house, and the other had her separate house, and he stays one night in one house, the next in the other!  He said that if he stays for two nights in one house, he gets in big trouble.  I think he may have been speaking from experience!

Driving through the desert

Abu Youssef making tea!

Our Bedouin camp was lovely, tucked under a cliff in the desert.  We arrived and found our tent, then went for supper, which was lamb that had been buried underground and cooked under the sand for hours.  Bedouin dancing followed our feast, and then we went out into the desert to watch the stars.  It was a beautiful sight - the desert was so dark and quiet, and I saw shooting star after shooting star.

Camel riding before dawn

Yay camels!  They're so cute!

The next morning we woke up before dawn, at five am, and rode camels out into the desert again to watch the sunrise.  Abu Youssef came along, made us more tea (thank god) and brought cheese, pita, and olives from his garden.  We then took off in Abu Youssef's truck across the desert, wrapped in his sheepskin coat because it was freezing!  I'll write about what we saw in the desert in the next post, as I need a typing break!

Sarah floats in the Dead Sea!

Beautiful Jerash!

I loved the first day I was in Jordan but the second was even better!  In the morning we met with Abu Wassim and headed off to Jerash to explore the Roman ruins.  We stopped on the way for a Turkish coffee - a very bitter, grainy form of Tim Horton's.  I liked it, especially at eight in the morning!  When we got to Jerash, I was amazed at the expanse of the ruins!  They were huge, and for a couple of hours we crawled over the Roman theatre, temples, colonnaded roads... it was amazing.  There's no other place I've been that will let you crawl over anything and go anywhere among such well-preserved ruins.  It was so easy to imagine being Roman and what it would have been like to live in Jordan back then!

Raph and I exploring the Roman ruins

At the Dead Sea!

On our way to the Dead Sea, Abu Wassim stopped off at an Arabian castle located on a Jebel (hill) which was almost deserted so once again we climbed over the entire thing (there is a theme to this trip: lots of climbing, as you will see!).  We then drove to the lowest point on the Earth's surface - the Dead Sea!  Located 400 m below sealevel, it was really hot and humid compared to Amman or Jerash.  We went to the Amman Beach Resort and headed down to the shore, which was covered in salt crystals!  Once I waded in, I discovered what they say about the Dead Sea is so true - you float like a cork!  No matter which way I moved I just popped back up again.  So at some point you give up on the swimming idea and just float aimlessly.  We swam for a couple hours then had to rinse ourselves off because the water's so briny it feels like you have oil on your skin afterwards.  Plus, I accidentally got some in my eye, which was painful, and some in my mouth, which was even worse because it tasted AWFUL.  Note to self: don't try to talk while swimming in the Dead Sea.

Floating!

On our way back to Jordan, we stopped at Mount Nebo, where apparently Moses went to look at the Promised Land before he died, and a town called Madaba, famous for its mosaics.

Sarah finally updates her Blog (hurray!)

First of all, for those who have been wondering if I am still alive  - I am!  I just haven't had enough time to update this blog recently... with all of this traveling my schoolwork was catching up with me!  But I'm back on track, after visiting Jordan and London, so I'm ready to tell you guys all about it!  I think I might split this story up in parts because otherwise it will be the longest post on the planet!

Anyways, two weeks ago I left Paris with Raph and we went to Amman, Jordan!  We landed in the city at about two in the morning after a layover in Rome, so we blearily made our way through security and found our bags.  One thing I remember that was unusual was that they scan your bags on your way out of the Queen Alia airport as well, so I am now a pro at airport security checkpoints.  We were met at the airport by Wendy, who is a Canadian diplomat and is married to the Canadian ambassador to Jordan and Iraq.  It was her birthday, but she still came and picked us up!  I liked her right away, she was super friendly and cheerful, and had a ton of advice as to where we should go while we were in Jordan.  We got to the official residence and were shown to our rooms - the house and the rooms were absolutely gorgeous! We finally sank into bed and I remember falling asleep to the sound of the call to prayer coming from the mosque across the street.

The next day we woke up late and met Wendy as she was coming back from her birthday lunch.  She took us to a small hole in the wall around the corner that sold falafel, shawarma, hummus, ful, and pita.  We had SO much food, for only 4 dinars, which is amazing.  We took all of our lunch into the back garden of the residence (inhabited by an inukshuk and a million stray cats) and had our first Jordanian picnic!  We then took the time to wander around the neighbourhood, which I believe was called Swefieh, if I'm spelling that right.  Swefieh is one of the upper-class neighbourhoods in Amman, and I loved looking at the shopping centres we passed, which were full of shops selling chocolate and a ton that sold wedding dresses!  It was strange, but cool.

We headed back to the residence where I met the ambassador, Mark, and their eleven year-old son Jack.  They immediately made us feel at home, and we had dinner and played rummy before organizing our excursions for the next few days.  Mark gave us the name of a driver that we could hire to take us around that was recommended by the embassy.  His name was Abu Wassim and he agreed to take us to Jerash, a city to the north of Amman and to the Dead Sea the next day.  We got ready for an early start and that was our first day in Jordan!