Karin: We emerged at 6.00 this morning to search for a taxi to take us the 250 km ride to Petra and back again in time for our flight out to Delhi at 20.30. After some efficient assistance by our kindly hotel receptionist (ED: Who I think was quite affected by Karin’s blonde hair and obvious femaleness!) we were soon scooting through Jordan’s Martian-like landscape. It was quite a shock to be in this desiccated land when only 24 hours before we had been cruising through England’s green fields on our way down to London from Leeds. A UN jeep which sped past reminded us that we were not so far away from some pretty war-torn places. We remembered the adverts for armored cars that we had seen at the airport the previous night, which advertised that they were "ideal for traveling through Iraq". In spite of our initial reservations (mainly cause he insisted we got into the car and started traveling before agreeing a price!) our taxi driver, Khalid, turned out to be a real gem. He got us safely to Petra and set up a rendezvous with us 4 hours later to make sure that we were back in time for our flight. After all the hard months of life-reorganization up in Leeds, both Daniel and I had begun to turn grey both inside and out. In one day the grey has been banished by the awesome sights and bewitching beauty of Petra. Several years ago when I lived in Manchester, a friend recommended that I go. It has been in the back of my mind since then and today, almost by accident, we were there and it was every bit as wonderful as I had imagined. When the city was abandoned by the Nabateans some time in the run up to the 14th Century, it was lost from western view until a Swiss traveler, Johann Ludwig Burckardt rediscovered it in 1812. To reach the city you have to walk 40 minutes through a narrow gorge (the Al Sik) which is 1200m long and has walls up to 80m high. The rocks here are an orangey pink shade and when lit up by the sunshine it is a truly spectacular sight and then, as if by magic, through a gap in the soaring 80 metre-high gorge you catch a glimpse of the towering structure of the Al-Khazneh (Treasury).

View of the Treasury from Al Sik

This is the most beautiful monument at Petra. It was carved in the 1st Century BC as a tomb for an important Nabatean King. It is enormous, and seeing it for the first time is one of those moments in life that you will never forget. 2 hours just isn’t enough to explore Petra properly. It takes about 3 days to do the visit properly as the site is so huge. Petra’s second most famous monument is the Monastery, which can be reached by climbing a flight of 800 steps cut into the mountain of Ad-deir.

The Monastery at Petra

Dan and I had to race up these steps (and down again) as in trying to visit this distant part of the site we were in grave danger of missing our rendezvous with Khalid. After a full-on endurance run of about an hour we did finally make it back in time and slept like 2 exhausted babes all the way back to the hotel. After a somewhat shambolic transit check-in back at Queen Alia airport we are now airborne again and on the 6 hour flight to Delhi.

Additional Petra Photos:

Dan: The day has arrived – the start of our 3 month holiday!

We leave London bound for Jordan, where we have an overnight stay in Amman before our connecting flight to Delhi tomorrow night.

The flight from London to Jordan is 6 hours, and we’re a bit apprehensive about it after reading bad reviews about the airline, Royal Jordanian Airlines, online.

Karin: Thankfully the flight was not the horror that we had feared. We picked it from the bargain basement of flights – a £350 deal with Royal Jordanian including a 24-hour transfer in Jordan. Despite some bad reviews on TripAdvisor.com the service was pretty good and even the tiny new-born who screamed much of the way through the flight had little effect on our spirits. Whilst on the plane Daniel and I began plotting our whistle-stop tour to Petra – we weren’t sure if we could do it.

Dan: Karin mentioned that Petra was one of the must-see things in the Middle East, and we endeavored that if we find a way to go visit it, we would. Petra is an ancient city carved into the stone walls of a valley, and was hidden from Western view until the 1800’s. According to everything we’d read, we needed at least 3 days to see Petra properly, and that was assuming we were in Petra to start with! Getting to Petra and back again in a single day was going to be our biggest problem. Buses (the cheapest option) were out of the question, as there were only 3 a week, and none on Tuesdays (the one day we had in Jordan).

Taxi looked like the only option, providing we could agree on a reasonable rate.

We arrived at Queen Alia airport in Amman, Jordan at 11:30pm.

The first idea that we were in the Middle East (and very close to Israel and Iraq) was the array of advertisements for armored cars and limousines which apparently were “perfect for traveling in Iraq” according to the poster. Hmmm….!

The transfer desk told us that there was a bus outside to take us to the hotel – we said how would we recognize it, and he said, “Easy – it’s the only bus out there”.

We went outside… and discovered there were 4 buses! And none of them were the transfer bus. Hmm, welcome to Jordan…

Still, eventually it arrived, and we were in our room and asleep by 1:00am, ready to be up at 5:00am to track down a taxi to take us to Petra…

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