City Of Petra

On Saturday - while the rest of the group hiked in the Red Canyon - Chris and I opted to take a day trip to Jordan to see the ancient city of Petra. Established sometime around the 6th century BCE as the capital city of the Nabataeans, Petra is a symbol of Jordan as well as its most visited tourism attraction. Hidden in a canyon near the modern day city of Wadi Musa, it is now listed as one of the new seven wonders of the world. Petra was made famous (at least in the USA) in 1989 by the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (one of my personal favorites) and since then has been a place I have always wanted to see first hand.

Our day started early in the morning. After breakfast, we were met by a rep from the tourist company nearby our hotel. They quickly escorted us to the Yitzhak Rabin Border Terminal, which is the point of entry to Jordan - and to the city directly opposite to Eilat on the Jordan side of the border, Aqaba. After about 30-40 minutes of processing (i.e. visas and stamps were issued) we crossed the border from Israel to Jordan. Once we crossed we were met by our tour guide, driver, and a tourist policeman, who would all accompany us for the day.

"The entry point to Jordan with the poster of King Abdulla looking on"
Photo by Christopher Rajashekar

From the border entry point, our tour bus - which included us and about 18 other tourists (mostly Europeans) - proceeded on the road north to Petra. The drive was about two hours, but the scenery along the way was amazing. We skirted the Wadi Rum area - also known as the Valley of the Moon - which was featured prominently in the classic film Lawrence of Arabia. We also drove through some beautiful back country (there was a detour off the main highway) where we saw many Bedouin settlements.

"Walking through the Siq on my way to Petra"
Photo by Christopher Rajashekar

Upon arrival in Petra, we walked from the parking lot into the archeological site. The path through the entry path, the Siq, took us about 30 minutes. The path winds back and forth through a narrow series of canyons before finally emerging into the most recognizable landmark in Petra, Al Khazneh aka The Treasury. To finally see this amazing architectural site in person was so incredibly cool! What was even cooler though was to realize that this was only the tip of the iceberg in Petra.

"Chris and I stand in front of Petra's fabled Treasury"
Photo by Christopher Rajashekar

Over the next two hours we were mostly free to wander the site and explore on our own. I very quickly was overwhelmed by the sheer size and scope of this settlement. The city stretches over an area over 26 square kilometers - meaning it would be impossible to see it all in such a short amount of time. At its peak, Petra must have been a magnificent capital. It was also one of the most unique - in that almost all the homes, shops, and temples were carved directly into the cliff sides. Unbelievable!

"Me looking out over the expansive Petra site"
Photo by Christopher Rajashekar

Before heading back to the border, our tour group stopped for a bite to eat in the adjacent, modern city of Wadi Musa. Having spent the past ten weeks in Israel it was interesting to compare the similarities and differences in culture - especially given that from a geographic perspective - this town wasn't that far from Israel. All in all, I think their is more in common than either side would admit, but there is definitely many stark differences, too.

"A view of Wadi Musa on the bus back to Aqaba"
Photo by Christopher Rajashekar

The ride back to the border was uneventful. Once we were back near Eilat, the tour guide took us on a ride through the center of Aqaba. Though there is definitely a lot of construction - Aqaba is still a lot quieter than its next door neighbor, Eilat. The number of resort hotels is still significantly lower, and the supporting businesses just aren't there yet. Give it a few years (and enough investment) though and I'm sure Aqaba will catch up.

"Crossing back into Israel from Jordan"
Photo by Christopher Rajashekar

The time to cross the border back into Israel went by fairly quickly - though the Israel custom control definitely asked a lot more questions than their Jordanian counterparts had earlier in the morning. Back at the hotel Chris and I joined the group for dinner. It was a great side trip and we both agree was well worth the time, cost, and effort!

Fun In The Sun, pt2

On Saturday, the team awoke early again for another hike, this time to the Red Canyon. For Chris and I, this day was an opportunity to travel to Jordan and see Petra - which is about a three hour journey from Eilat. Quite a few members of the group will be traveling on to Jordan after then trip concludes later this week, but since I don't have that option I took advantage of the chance. I'll cover this trip in a later post. Anyway, back to the main group.

"The team explores the Red Canyon"
Photo by Kristin Thompson

The Red Canyon is a gorgeous narrow passageway carved into the desert mountains not far from Eilat. Unlike the hike the previous day, this trek  (at least according to the group) was much more relaxed, and also significantly cooler, since a lot of it is in the shade. After a little over an hour, the team had made it through and were back on the road to the hotel in Eilat. Following breakfast, the team had some time for the pool and then headed to a beach area for snorkeling by the coral reef - very near to where I'd scuba dived the day before.

"Gil climbs up from the canyon floor"
Photo by Kristin Thompson

In the evening, many in the group got ready for some late night partying in Eilat. The party started early in the hotel and then migrated out into the city - eventually to the Three Monkeys Pub - a real staple of the Eilat scene. Gil and I both called it a night early (before everyone left the hotel) since we wanted to get up early for some more scuba before leaving Eilat the next afternoon. It's a good thing we did - since people didn't make it back to the hotel until almost four in the morning. What a night they had!

"Anne leads the group in the Wakka Wakka dance"
Photo by Brad Husser

Bright and early on Sunday morning, I returned for two final dives at Marina Divers. Both dives were wreck dives - the first to a small pleasure yacht and the second to the missile boat I'd already seen on Friday. At one point in the dive we saw an octopus (we'd seen him previously) which was pretty cool! I returned to the hotel after diving where the rest of the group was ready to go. Once we'd all gotten our stuff together and checked out of the hotel, we departed for Eilat's underwater observatory and aquarium. They had some really interesting sea life, including sea turtles and sharks, as well as tons of cool fish.

"Anne and Sean look on in awe at some very cool jelly fish"
Photo by Kristin Thompson

Eilat was a great place to see at the end of the trip. It was hot, but very chill, and some of the sights we experienced were definitely one of a kind. With the trip now quickly wrapping up - we have only a few days left. We're now heading back to the north with stops at the Ramon Crater, Masada, and the Dead Sea, before one final night in Tel Aviv.