You are welcome!

We had an amazing flight with Royal Jordanian- it's hard to believe that an airline can fit a hot meal service into a 1.5 hour nighttime flight!  Probably would've rather been asleep for the whole flight, but don't read that as a complaint.

There were just a few other tourists on our flight so most people breezed through immigration.  We had to find some Jordanian currency to pay for our visas, as did an American girl who arrived with us.  Unfortunately the ATM which is conveniently located just before immigration doesn't actually work, and the immigration officer didn't feel like taking card payments (we have heard that these are OK during the day, but I guess a lot of things don't work normally at 4:30am).  Eventually we changed some USD at the currency exchange office - also located conveniently just before immigration, and I'm sure offering the very best exchange rates! - USD 100 = JOD 60, just enough for 3 Jordanian visas so we were able to help the American traveller too.  She paid us back when we got through customs to an ATM that actually worked.

A long, dark taxi ride over some anonymous roads as dawn broke.  We asked the driver to take us the center of Madaba (closest major town to the airport, and apparently nicer than Amman) but he wanted something more specific, so we went to the ? Hotel which we'd read about online.  Surprisingly it was fully booked but luckily there was a hotel next door (Mariam Hotel) which had a double room available.  By now it was 6am and we were beat, so we were pleased to find out that the room was empty and we could head straight there for a nap!

We cheekily enjoyed the free buffet breakfast (with 2^nd helpings of the delicious hummus) and gazed out from the top-floor restaurant over the town. By the end of breakfast time, there was just one other person in the restaurant, so we wandered over to her table for a chat. She was from Spain and was meeting her boyfriend, a tour guide who was in Jordan with a group. We discussed the possibility of getting a lift with them in their rental car the following day, and made some vague plans to meet for breakfast...which never actually transpired ;-)

We set out to explore what Madaba had to offer, and hoped that our own plans would start to come together as we walked. The town centre is compact but confusing, with lots of twists & turns. In the end someone had to guide us to Tourist Information (although in fairness, he did actually seem to work there). He showed us a film about the history of Madaba, which is famous for it's mosaics and even has a Mosaic Institute where students can learn the proper techniques. There is also an interesting mix of religions living there harmoniously – Muslim, Greek Orthodox and another Christian sect.

Helpful Tourist Info guy then discovered that we might be interested in hiring a car (since the general consensus was that the bus service in Jordan is sketchy at best, and the bus stations are usually located a few miles from the town & city centres – how odd!). He proceeded to lead us around again, but when we got to the car rental “office” (a tiny place with no sign), it was closed. He stopped a couple of women who were passing by and they had a long discussion; the women gave him a phone number for the car rental guy and he rang from his own mobile on our behalf! This all nearly resulted in the car rental guy travelling to Madaba from wherever he was, just to open the office for us, until we insisted that we were happy to wait until tomorrow. He did find another staff member who spoke English, who had a long discussion with Chris about prices, pick-up and drop-off arrangements etc. It all sounded OK but we were a bit worried about using this local “no-name” company, so we wanted a 2^nd opinion from our hotel. In the end we did use the hotel's recommendation – they just seemed a bit more “real”, and (probably the deciding factor) they were able to take a credit card number for the deposit – Madaba guy needed the deposit in cash because his company was too small to have card facilities.

We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around the shops and chatting with lots of lovely people. One of the nicest fellows had a mosaic shop, and showed us the different techniques & results when making mosaics by hand vs. by machine. He had spent quite a lot of time in London (unfortunately both of his children have some kind of genetic disorder and had long stretches in hospital there) and was really happy to meet some Londoners to chat to. He recommended his favourite restaurant (across the street) and when we popped in to look at the menu, he appeared and negotiated a 10% discount!

Holy Land mosaic (just one part - it's big!)

We rounded off our day by visiting St George's Church to see it's famous mosaic floor. It is a huge map of the Holy Land from the Byzantine period, which was only rediscovered in the late 19^th century when they rebuilt the church on an old site. The detail is really impressive, as is the sense of scale (since map-making techniques hadn't been invented yet!). Next to the church is an information center about the history of Madaba, the discovery of this mosaic & others in the area, and what makes it so interesting & unique.

When we returned to the hotel we spent some time sitting by the pool drinking local wine, and then headed upstairs for their nicely-priced buffet dinner. It was a bit strange since dishes weren't replaced like-for-like when they were finished, so you had to make sure you grabbed whatever looked interesting while it was still there! But it was all quite tasty and there was a good selection of salads too.

The next morning, our rental car arrived at 9am (despite the fact that we'd asked for it at 11am). We had another yummy buffet breakfast, and then headed to the front desk to check out. We had a nasty surprise to find that we'd been charged for 2 nights =( Lisa had a long argument with the manager, but he insisted on charging the full price for both nights despite our 6am arrival – that's his policy for advance bookings, but we thought he could've been a bit more flexible since there was just one small sign to notify us of this fact (and the night clerk didn't really speak English or want to answer our questions). Lesson learned – read all the signs as soon as you arrive, and ask questions whether the staff like it or not!

Finally we were on the road to Petra. Well, as soon as we figured out which road it was – road signs seem to be pretty much non-existent in Jordan. Lucky for us that people are so nice & helpful, and got us pointed in the right direction! We took the King's Highway, a scenic route that winds up & down the hills in the center of Jordan. It was a long, hot drive but very pretty! And our short sojourn on the Desert Highway (the fastest, easternmost highway which runs parallel) was not very pleasant so we were glad to take our time. There is quite a flexible use of “lanes” on Jordanian highways: if you are driving slower than the car behind you, you should drive half on the shoulder so that they have more space to pass you (which they will do, even if a car is passing in the opposite direction – there is just enough space to squeeze between!); in the places where there is a center lane between the 2 lanes of regular traffic, it may be used by whomever gets there first or just the one who has the most guts (like an ongoing game of chicken).

Our first Bedouin tent experience

After a couple of construction-related detours and directions from some friendly young motorists we descended into the modern town of Petra. We continued on through the town, towards Little Petra, and our Bedouin camp, named Seven Wonders. We are greeted with the news that, yes, they do have space (phew) and that they have a brew on. This turns out to be the most delicious tea made from sage, mint and other mysterious ingredients. As we opted for the 'budget option' that did not include dinner, we chow down on some slightly old bread. The chef eventually takes pity on us and gives us a couple of bowls of 'poor man's' soup. Bedouin generosity is beginning to kick-in (more on this later). At least we saw the culmination of a traditional Bedouin meal, cooked in an oven under the ground. Most impressive! We had originally intended the 'budget option' to include pitching our own tent but, as we should have surmised, Petra is a somewhat rocky neighbourhood so our pegs made little impression. As a result we rented one of their tents made of woven goat hair and including real beds!!

The next morning we emerged from our tent early-ish. We munch on more of our elderly bread for breakfast but this time with added Nutella :-) and some donated coffee (Bedouin hospitality again). We met up with some jolly chaps from Munich who constantly seemed to be waiting for the female member of their party to get ready – no stereotypes intended. We then climbed into our trusty conveyance, named Raki after a pleasant Turkish spirit, and headed to the main entrance for the ruins. We followed the detour signs around a construction site (new visitor's center) and past lots of tourist tat stalls to a tiny ticket kiosk. Next door is a helpful guide kiosk, which gave us a free map.

The Siq

We bought a two-day ticket, in case we didn't manage to see it all on the first go. Immediately past the entrance we are asked by many kind gentlemen if we wanted to ride their horse to the ruins, about 2km away. Apparently, “No, we like to walk,” is an incomprehensible response. There are lots of signs about animal welfare, including things such as “carriages are only for use by disabled persons” which are being summarily ignored by horsemen and visitors alike.

We passed the first few 'djin blocks' and stone facades cut into the cliff faces before we reached the entrance to the Siq. This is a narrow fissure about a kilometre long that winds its way toward the main body of the ruins. It's so tall that it's nearly always in partial shadow and at it's widest is only about 20 metres. It also had a couple of cute kittens as guardians, who very much appreciated the tourist attention!

The Treasury

Your first sight of the Treasury as the Siq ends does indeed make you feel like Indiana Jones (it featured in 'Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade'). Most of the structures in Petra are tombs created by the Nabbateans, who lived in the area around the time of the Roman Empire. There are many cliff faces here and, in Petra, they have been elaborately carved in a combination of classical Greek and Roman architecture, with a few Nabbatean additions. However, the pillars and pediments are only facades, not free-standing buildings, and the room spaces in the cliffs behind the facades are often very small when compared to the size of the exterior facade.

After the breathtaking Treasury, we continued down the 'Street of Facades', which has carved frontages from ground level all the way up the sides of the cliffs. Being up for a challenge, we decided to tackle the harder climbs first. We also thought that there would be fewer tour groups on these. So, began heading up towards the 'Place of High Sacrifice'. We were right. Fewer tourists but rather steep! Apparently, only the priests would have been allowed up to this lofty point so only they could enjoy the view. What greeted us at the top, after a conveniently placed tea shop, was a wide, flat space with a deep basin and a raised 'altar', This altar had small depression, possibly for holding water, and a channel running down to the basin, possibly for the blood of the sacrifice.

Pretty rocks  =)

After getting up to the 'Place of High Sacrifice' there was some debate about how to get down and continue onwards. After a quick burst of sign language with a nearby souvenir stall-holder we headed back a little way to the tea shop and continued on down the other side of the hill. This was a very quiet path, with some colourful rock formations – reds, yellows, blacks all swirled together as if by a sea. Down this side of the hill, amongst other carvings, we found the 'Garden Tomb'. It was called this due to the remains of a small garden that led up to the doorway. It too was guarded by a cat who had a prime spot under the shade of the portico. This tomb had an intriguing window or doorway halfway up the wall that made me think it could have been connected to something else on the opposite cliff face. Next door is the 'Tomb of the Roman Soldier'. This was not only a facade but had the remains of a pillared area that extended out from the cliff, giving it a much larger area than most. It also had the weathered remnants of a bust of the soldier himself above the doorway.

Garden Tomb

As we continued down the hill we saw many caves on the opposite cliffs that seemed to be inhabited by Bedouin. This is a common practice here and, when the government made Petra a protected area, they allowed them to remain living here, as they had for hundreds of years. At the bottom of the hill is the main 'Roman forum' of the town, with lots of free-standing buildings. We bypassed these for the moment and investigated the cafe area. Luckily this wasn't too busy so we were able to sneak out our own food and have a crafty lunch on their tables, accompanied by small children looking over the wall at us and shouting, “Yum, mmm!”

Monastery

After our rest stop, we decided to tackle the other 'hard' path up to the 'Monastery'. This is considered the steepest tourist path and many people take donkeys up it. In fact, we heard from one of the people at our camp later that night that her donkey had fallen over on this path! We struggled up, taking several stops for water and a breather, and knew we were nearing the top when we encountered the obligatory tea shop, although this one also sold Bedouin silver as well. The 'Monastery' had been used as a church in Byzantine times and is impressively sited although, as always in Petra, the interior was very plain compared to the pillared and corniced exterior. It was topped by an orb, all in stone, that can just be glimpsed over the ridge from the other side of the hill. This also used to have a pillared courtyard outside the entrance so it must have been very grand in its day although what it was originally used for is uncertain.

Seven Wonders Camp, from the sunset scramble spot

By this time it was late afternoon and we stumbled back down the path to the forum. Here we passed a huge temple, only recently rediscovered, and what we overheard a guide telling his clients was the oldest tree in Jordan. We resisted the offers of horse-drawn carriages to take us back up the Siq and eventually returned wearily to the Seven Wonders camp.  We followed one of the staff up the rocks overlooking the camp for the best view of the sunset, despite it being a rather scary scramble and a few leaps over chasms - hey, if he can do it in cowboy boots then we would not be shown up!  We finally cracked open the well-travelled bottle of Cognac while we enjoyed the last of that day's sunshine.

That night we 'made' our own dinner of endless bread and tinned stuffed vine leaves. Tonight the owner of the camp had brought some guests from his hotel in town so our numbers were swelled and he made us sing (Lisa did 'The Gambler, I did 'Danny Boy'), tell jokes and stories about ourselves. We met two American girls who were studying in Israel, a British family from Dulwich and a couple where the fellow was the 2nd-youngest member of the German parliament (Green Party)! After a while a robed and dust-masked Bedouin woman arrived to serve us tea. She stuck very close to the owner and it took the German fellow ages to work our that it was his own girlfriend who had disappeared some time before!

Nabbatean ceiling painting

Going slightly off-road

The next morning, we woke up early so that we could drive to Little Petra before the heat of the day. Many of the people staying in the camp the previous night had told us of Little Petra and how it was so much less crowded than its larger cousin. This gathering of carved tombs a little distance from Petra was apparently a suburb or trade outpost for the main city. It had similar tombs, although less of them, but seemingly just as many mysterious tracks leading up to the heights. Lisa took the lead and we climbed up the ravine, with Chris only receiving minor injuries. At the end we found a great view of the surrounding peaks and a black-clad, pale skinned Bedouin who had a story. We had a chat with her and she told us that she was originally from Denmark and, while visiting Jordan, had fallen in love with a Bedouin man. She now lives in a cave, with her parents' blessing, and sells handicrafts at Little Petra. I guess it shows that you can never tell where the future will lead.

Huge Roman temple

Then we decided to make use of the two-day duration of our ticket to Petra. We'd done the most strenuous trails the day before so this morning was for filling some of the bits we'd skipped over. We spent more time taking in the 'Royal Palace' tombs, which were bigger than the Treasury but more weathered. We then took the high road to something that looked like an archaeological dig, with a big tarpaulin shelter. It turned out to be a recently excavated Byzantine church with an intricate mosaic floor depicting the flora and fauna of the area. When we peeked inside we found a small congregation singing mass in French - not what we'd expected in that desolation!

Mosaic in Byzantine church

We finished up by taking a closer look at the forum and some of the huge Roman structures that have only recently been unearthed/renovated. After a brief lunch we set of for Wadi Rum and high adventure!