Minnesota Tim and the Temple at Petra

Minnesota Tim and the Temple at Petra – 13^th February 2010

Well so begins my enormous task of trying to explain in detail my trip to Petra. Here we go…

On the 4 hr bus ride down to Petra, we decided to get in the explorer mood by watching the one and only Indiana Jones on our bus tv. However, I could barely see it and people were too loud for me to hear it. The more interesting part of the drive down was getting to ride on what is known locally as the King’s Highway. (Grammy, I’ve been photographed by his photos and now I’ve driven on his highway, I’ll let you know when I get to meet him!) The road stretches through a variety of Jordanian landscapes. We drove by both rolling hills of the desert as well as the flat, barren wasteland that you see only in movies. The first stop on our two-day trip was at a place known as Shobek Fort. This fort was built by the Crusaders as one of a series of forts along the eastern border of the Crusaders conquests. Specifically built on a hill with a n advantageous view over the entire area, the purpose of this fort was to essentially act as a look out post for incoming Persian invaders. Our tour guide explained to us that this fort as well as several others in the region were part of the conquests depicted in the movie “Kingdom of Heaven.” It was in fact the forces of Salahhidin who retook these areas from the Christian invaders. My coolest experience at this fort was having the opportunity to explore two tunnels that stretched beneath the fort. The first one I went into, I was able to go all the way to the end (about 100 steps in all) to see the giant stone safe they built at the bottom. The second tunnel acted as an enclosed water supply for the fort (in case they needed to hold out from any sieges), but the tunnel essentially reached from the top of this mountain to the bottom, i.e. I was not able, with my tiny cell phone flashlight, to reach the bottom. It did make me feel very Indiana Jonesish though!

Following the trip to Fort Shobek, we continued on our way down to a small village bordering the site so we could check in to our hotel. We actually got to visit a site known as “little petra,” which was exactly that. A smaller version of the actual petra. Its purpose, it is believed, is to reroute the trade caravans to the outskirts of the lost city of Petra so as not to disturb the entire city, seeing as how the entire economy of Petra was based on trade. Interestingly enough, Petra was located at a very advantageous position in regards to trade. It was essentially the crossroads between all trade routes from Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. (Petra is considered the West end of the Silk Road.) Getting to see little petra was amazing, but it was nothing in comparison to the actual Petra coming up!

There has always been something I had wanted to do in the Middle East but had never found the opportunity to do it. It has always been on my “things to do” list, but with school, its hard to get out and go places. HOWEVER! As our bus was pulling up to our hotel in southern Jordan, our tour guide announced over the intercom several important facts for tonight and tomorrow. He told us that we had a 6:00 am wake up time, dinner was at 7:00, and if we wanted, we could purchase a ticket to the Turkish Bath located inside the hotel….. In an instant, my world froze, eyes glazed over, and I began to drool. (okay, not really.) Has it finally come true? Maybe it was destiny that I was to enjoy a Turkish Bath, the idea of it reaching back to the Turks (duh) as well as the Greeks and Roman, on the evening before I visited the lost city of Petra? TWAS! For, not only did I indeed purchase a ticket to the fabled “Turkish Bath,” but it was everything I hoped it to be and MORE! In a nutshell, it is essentially a 4 stage spa. First, I changed into a towel and swimming trunks and sat in the coolest steam sauna I have ever experienced. As I first walked in, there was a distinct line between the steam at the top half of the room and the “not so steamy” air at the bottom. As I sat in the sauna, the steam built up so much that it was nearly total sensory deprivation. The best way I can describe it is like wearing a permanent pair of fogged up glasses. I could barely see my hands and there was no chance of me being able to navigate around the room effectively. After about 15 minutes, the gentleman in charge of the bath came in and ushered me to my next step: the scrub down. I laid on a granite table that was soaked in warm water. The masseuse began to apply this soap that was designed to exfoliate your skin as he scrubbed you down with this weird, rough glove. Following this, I moved on to my 15 minute, full body massage, which needless to say, was pure heaven! After this, I was dressed in three separate towels to help me dry off. (one around my waist, one around my chest, and one tied around my head, I felt like an absorbent ninja!) As I sipped this amazing herbal tea in their special sitting room, the woman at the desk was trying to usher me to the changing room, but I wasn’t having it. Nope. Because there was one part left to my bath that they forgot, but I didn’t. After adjusting to a water scarce culture, showering every other day, and not as long as I was used to, there was no way I was missing out on the most important part of the evening: the Jacuzzi. I sat for the longest time just enjoying the hot water and bubbles in an aura of pure utter happiness. I don’t think I have ever been that relaxed, ever. If there is cash left by the end of this trip, I may do it again. (PS: I highly recommend you do it if you ever get a chance!)

Already this blog is reaching into the second page and I have not even begun to talk about Petra, so hold on to your socks because I am about to knock them off! Here is a little historical background:

Petra is not only a monument; it is an entire lost city that died out due to a shift in the trade route, which their economy was based on. Their descendents are believed to be the Bedouin who still inhabit the area, but no one knows for sure. The people who inhabited it were the Nabateans. At the city’s largest, it is believed to have once housed about 80,000 people. They lived in stone houses, which were destroyed in an earthquake somewhere in the BC time period. Following Roman conquests, Roman influence, especially architectural influence, made its way into Nabatean society. Besides the remains of ONE somewhat standing building, the only thing left from their civilization are the tombs they carved into the sides of the mountains. After the civilization died off, it wasn’t rediscovered until 1812 when Johann Ludwig Burckhardt rediscovered it. The reason it was so hard to find was because Petra is located on the inside of a cluster of hard-to-access mountains. The only way in is through something known as the “siq,” which is a winding path no more than 30 feet wide at its widest point, essentially located between two mountains.

Our trip into Petra began with the offer to horses from the parking lot to the “siq.” With fairy tales of Indiana Jones and Lawrence of Arabia blooming in my head, I jumped on the offer. (I have not ridden a camel yet, I am saving that for the 3 hr camel ride in Wadi Rum.) My horse was named Musa and he was very well behaved.

As we entered the “siq,” it was captivating to be walking through a geological landscape such as this one! Our tour guide pointed out some eroded ruins of camel caravans carved into the mountains. As we reached the end, our tour guide made us stop and get into a single file line, close our eyes, walk about 30 paces forward, and turn 180 degrees. As we opened our eyes, he began explaining the geological significance of the mountain formation, he directed our attention to a line in the stone and told us to follow it all the way to the end behind us. As we followed it with our eyes, we were soon welcomed with the sight of Petra peeking at us between an opening in the stone walls. It was breath taking and exciting trying to imagine what it was like in the explorer’s mind when he first discovered it. Standing in front of it was breath taking. Located at the top, center is this stone vase sitting atop a large stone cylinder. Treasure seekers used to believe that there was a removable top to that vase and that this is where the Nabateans hid all their gold! (Its always about eh gold, isn’t it?) You can see in the photos that there are bullet holes of people trying to shoot holes in the cylinder so that the “gold” would come pouring out. Our tour guide told us we were allowed to go inside the actual monument, but in my mind I knew we weren’t allowed to. So I went with philosophy “go until you get yelled at.” I.e., I got to go into the monument! J

We continued to go throughout the ancient city of Petra and got to see a large amount of monuments carved into the stone walls. We were told that we were more than welcome to take a 45 minute hike to the top of one of the mountains to see a monastery located at the top. Jumping on the idea, several friends and I immediately went for it, and oh boy was it worth it. The monastery was beautiful and was another version of the most famous tomb of Petra, but the cool part was the way we were able to see it: from a vantage point on the top of an adjacent mountain (small mountain) with a Bedouin tent located at the top of it! I nearly peed my pants when the Bedouins living in the tent invited me and my friends in for tea! It was an awesome experience to sit in their tent, with a fabulous view, sipping tea with the Bedouins! Off in the distance, I could see another goal of mine. Located on the top of a mountain far away, the tallest mountain in the area, is Aaron’s Tomb. (burial place of the prophet Aaron.) It is regarded at one of the most important, but least accessible biblical sites in all the Middle East! One thing I am really interested in is the Bedouin culture. Did you know that hospitality in the Middle East is one of the most important aspects of tradition? Did you know that it is tradition for Bedouin to house you for up to three days without even asking a question about why you are there?

Another “art” I have become more capable in is the art of bartering. But not only bartering, bartering in a different language! There is a large number of souvenir tents set up in Petra offering everything from batteries to scarves to daggers to jewelry. The hardest part is getting a good deal for it. The people who got the worst deals were the naïve tourists who had no idea about the culture of the language. In salesmen speak, “this usually goes for 15 dinars, but I’ll give it to you for 10” actually means “this usually goes for 5 dinars, but I’ll give it to you for 10.” I did witness one older lady, most likely American, fall for that trick while buying a scarf. There are several rules that you need to follow to get a good price. 1: Speak Arabic. If you speak Arabic, people will drop the price instantly! I should know, one man said to me in Arabic, “10 dinar….you speak Arabic? 7 dinar!” 2: Always try to ask for 60% of the price they are offering you. They tried to sell me a kaffiyeh for 7 dinar, I bought it for 4. 3: Walking away from a deal or talking about a competitor can also lower the price, but if the person is being too stubborn, sometimes you just have to walk away. It was interesting to see all the different “angles” people used to try to sell you things. Mostly it was flattery, but there were two guys offering camel rides that were working the “Rastafarian” angle. The phrases they used were “HEY! My brotha from anotha motha! Pretty sly for a white guy! Camel ride?! 5 dinar!” Other friends of mine heard someone yelling “no money, no honey, no chicken curry!” It doesn’t have to make sense, it just has to make money.

On the way back to prepare to leave Petra, we stopped in front of the most famous monument just to take it in one last time. I did, however, notice two police officers and one Bedouin Officer standing in front of the monument. Thankfully my friend Liz convinced me to go up and talk to them so I could get a picture with them! I expected them to brush me off as just another tourist, but they engaged me in a really great conversation! (Yes mom, in all Arabic.) They were very friendly, and were more than willing to take a photo with me! The Bedouin Officer even offered to come up to the University so I could try on his uniform! If I knew it didn’t hinder him at all, I would have loved to do that more than anything!

As we hit the parking lot, I got to see a bit of British influence on Jordanian Culture: Jordanian Bag Pipers dressed in robes, sashes, and kaffiyehs. They were pretty good and people danced along to the music!

As you can tell by the length of this blog, this was the experience of a lifetime! But it aint over yet! Scuba diving in Aqaba next weekend!

FUN FACTS:

Lines on the road here act more as “guidelines”

SHORT STORIES:

I saw a man crossing multiple lanes of speeding traffic, paying more attention to not spilling his tea than not getting hit by a car.

Whenever you have a guest over, you serve tea, coffee, and biscuits. It was my host mom’s birthday last week. I drank 5 separate cups of tea and 1 cup of coffee. EVERYONE came by to say hi.

QUIZ QUESTION: Why, in Jordan, did I see a bus leading to Philadelphia University? (I know the answer, do you?)