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!