my amazing trip to PETRA

Last weekend i went to Petra with our whole BYU group. It was a physically straining weekend and that is exactly why it was AMAZING, coupled with seeing the sites and mountains that MADE it physically hard to do.

Here are bits about it that i wrote in an email to pops:

Our trip to PETRA this past weekend was amazing! i loved it and i'm definitely sore and a little sunburned. when we first got there and walked through the siq (long narrow walkway to enter Petra) to the treasury, i was with some people from our byu group, but after a bit i found i was alone and i had a fantastic solo hike up to the monastery first thing in the morning. it was about 6:30 am, still pretty cool outside, and when i got to the top, the monastery was still shaded and the sand was cool. (picture #1) i was thankful to have the hike and time to meditate all for myself. i got there way before anyone else did. i wrote in my journal and then started back down.

At the bottom, near the little museum, i got on a mule for 5 dinars to take me all the way up to the high place of sacrifice at the other end of the 'park'.
i had made a phone call to see where my friends went, and i planned on meeting them there because i actually wasnt supposed to be alone. against the rules. i didn't feel threatened or unsafe, especially being in Petra, but i knew it was a good idea to NOT break rules and to watch out for myself no matter what. my guide, a younger Bedouin guy who usually works in marketing, was offended that i didn't immediately trust him, and that there were rules to keep me from being alone. he thought i (and everyone else who gawked at him being with me) was judging him and all Bedouins to be rapists and perverts. it was interesting talking to him and trying to dispel any concerns of racism or stereotypes. i gave him a piece of my mind about him freely criticizing Americans too. it was mostly nice conversation though. we talked about Islam and Mormonism while sitting at the top of the high place of sacrifice. it was a great trip up there and the view was spectacular.

It was neat to see the tiny little white mosque in the distance at the top of a huge mountain. there are the remains of Aaron, apparently. Some Bedouin girls invited me to eat with them, or at least have tea. i would've, if i hadnt wanted to catch up with the other BYU-ers. After descending, mostly NOT on the mule that seemed to slip and slide all the way down the stones and steps, i met my friends at the roman amphitheatre. we got ice cream and went around taking a closer look at sites like-

- mabid ilbint ("temple of the girl"? i dunno why its called that. i forget the English name. i almost got trampled by goats coming down a narrow stone staircase in this half-crumbled building.)

-brown temple (excavated by brown university. it struck me as funny that they flew their brown flag at the temple),

-temple of the winged lion (mosaic floors),

-tombs up on the mountain side (like the urn tomb).

We came back down, bought cold sodas (cuz our hot water bottles weren't cutting it) and found out that if we wanted to get an upper view of the treasury (cuz we wanted to) then we'd have to go back up to the tombs, but keep going to the left and climb up really high on the backside. so we did. i was tired but hey, 'hurts so good' right? it was really hot, but once we got to the top to sit above the treasury, i was VERY happy. it was incredible. especially since no one else does that hike, so we had the place to ourselves. (picture #2)

After climbing down and racing back to catch the last free bus to our hotel, we went swimming and had dinner. i watched indiana jones (and the holy grail) on a laptop with a bunch of friends and then conked out for the night. i dragged my mattress to the little patio so that i could actually sleep that night. the first night i probably got about an hour of sleep, because there was no AC. sleeping on the patio the second night proved to be perfect.

In the morning, we had the choice of getting on a 6am bus to do more time in Petra, or chill out at the hotel until 2pm when our bus for Amman would leave. i went with my hotel roomies, gini and katie, to the park at 6 of course. :)

Gini, katie, and i went with our friends nacia and nate through the tunnel that goes to the right before entering the siq. it leads to a REALLY FUN slot canyon. (picture #3) we walked and climbed (hard core climbing too) through the slot canyon until we got to a wadi/valley/canyon that had plenty of mountainous things to climb and rooms/buildings carved into stone. no one was around except for the occasional Bedouin children and their animals. at one point, gini, nate, and i climbed a pretty treacherous climb (i could just imagine what mom would've been yelling haha) to get to our own personal ledges to sit and enjoy the view. i wrote a bit more in my journal but not much cuz i didnt want to waste time looking at paper more than the incredible view. after exploring a bit (picture #4 - titled "headstand with goats"), and seeing sites that katie had dug at before with her archeology field study group, we made our way back to the main tourist area where we got ice cream. we tried to go and climb the steep and skinny stairs to the left of the treasury after that but we were yelled at and told to come back. we only had an hr + half left anyway. for 2 dinars we rode horses from the end of the siq to the park gates.

In town i ate a shwarma (they added tomatoes there. its always fun to taste the variations) and then gini and i split from the others to go back to the hotel. the others took a different bus. the bus ride was, again, long and sweaty and almost unbearable, but unlike the bus ride TO petra, i didn't have to worry about stomach troubles. so i enjoyed good conversations, doing sudoku (that i took from the arab newspaper) with bruce, my seatmate, and reading "wuthering heights". its a pretty good book. i like the brontes. :)

After the long hot bus ride, i made my way with some others to fuddruckers. we didnt want our vacation to be over yet. i definitely perked up and had a good time there after washing up and changing in the bathroom. i ate a big delicious salad. i know, why not a burger? but honestly i miss salad and veggies so much!! every chance i get, salad is my choice.


Ok, thats the end of the email. it was more about cramming info this time, rather than making it sound cool. but maybe it was still a good read? maybe. you guys need to GO TO PETRA!!