Eid el Fitr: PETRA!

Day 5

After hitting up a palace, synagogue, and church, we hired a taxi to take us back to Jordan. At the duty free shop we already knew so well, the taxi driver bought a dozen cartons of cigarettes. He then proceeded to hide the cartons in the lining of the car trunk, the removable ceiling, and under the seats. He then asked if we'd carry additional cartons in our bags. (Each person is allowed one carton of cigarettes). At first we said "Hell, no!" But after discussing it, we agreed to each take the legal limit of one carton. At the border crossing, he was jumpy to get across without being searched, so he shouted to the soldiers, saying, "Look at these girls! They speak Arabic!" It apparently worked, because they smiled and waved us through. When we arrived in Amman, and began negotiating the price of the trip, we used the smuggling as ammo, at which he agreed to a third of his original price. We then hired another taxi to take us to Petra.

Day 6

Petra: in a word, incredible. While it's unclear how old Petra really is, there is evidence that dates it to the sixth century BC. It is thought to be a Nabataean settlement at the center of a vigorous trade route. There is frustratingly little known about this magical kingdom that is famously described in a sonnet by someone called Burgon, as "a rose-red city half as old as time." This description is surprisingly apt, given he never saw Petra.

Examples of a sophisticated society, like the tapered pipes for carrying water that engineers wouldn't solve again for hundreds of years after Petra's demise, are everywhere. If approaching the site through an eerie narrow gorge, to emerge suddenly into the glow of the treasury facade isn't enough, seeing the architectural extent of the site is humbling. Petra's decline is attributed to the period's transition to sea-trade, which effectively isolated and impoverished Petra, depriving the bustling city of revenue. Fast boats and changing trade are a sad and unsatisfying answer to the disappearance of such a brilliant city.

Afterwards we napped in a tent cafe so that we could see the sunset in the rose and orange-hued mountains. I woke up to find two Bedouins counting pills for a drug deal. I was deeply surprised and unnerved by the pills.







When we returned at night, candles in glowing paper bags lined the mile-long canyon path to the treasury. We were asked to make the hike in silence. As close to a religious experience as I expect I'll ever have.

Day 7:

In the drive back to Amman, we stopped briefly at the Dead Sea and splashed around in the warm and painfully salty water. You open your eyes and they get pickled. That's a mistake you make once. It was probably the least refreshing ocean swim ever. From Amman, we caught our plane back to Cairo.