Thanks for visiting. This blog is a meeting place for anyone who has been or is planning to go to Petra in Jordan. Please feel free to send us your stories or photographs and we will reciprocate with the latest news and advice to help plan your next journey.
admin September 14th, 2007
We like this entry from the Adventures of Bill and Kim where they arrive at Petra and climb for over an hour to enjoy the view from the High Place of Sacrifice.
We looked at all the Royal Tombs where a guy tried to sell us an “authenic, original Nabataen oil lamp”. We could tell it was fake because I don’t think they’d carve that kind of sexual position on an oil lamp 2000 years ago.
Wel, you never know.
admin September 14th, 2007
Ramadan has begun in Jordan and while many tourists would consider this a difficult time to travel in an Islamic country, many of us find something special in the holy atmosphere (well, in many places at least) and in the special buzz in the evening when bread has been broken.
The Black Iris blog quotes a 13th century verse about the daily fast:
There’s hidden sweetness in the stomach’s emptiness.
We are lutes.
No more, no less.
If the soundbox is stuffed full of anything…
no music.
If the brain and belly are burning clean
with fasting, every moment
a new song
comes out
of
the
fire
admin September 9th, 2007
Would you take a teenager on a family holiday to Jordan. Martin Symington would. And did. And wrote about it in the Times this week. Petra was one of the highlights of their journey. And remember that photograph of a camel drinking a can of cola? The met it in Petra and fed the poor thing’s addiction.
a camel, introduced to us by her minder as Zuza, sitting on the ground with head held high in haughty expectation. It was 13-year-old Laura Winter’s idea to buy some Diet Coke instead of the regular Coca-Cola. “Better for her health,” she reasoned. Then she and my son Sebastian, 14, each fed a can to Zuza, whose trick was to open it with her teeth, tilt her head back, glug the contents and spit out the twisted metal
admin September 5th, 2007
Here’s a great image of a pale rosefinch, taken among the ruins at Petra and posted on this travel photo of the day site. Of course, there are probably better ways of getting noticed than appearing in rose pink plumage in the rose pink city of Petra. But maybe that’s the point.
Keen bird-watchers heading for Jordan should take a look at this informative site.
admin September 5th, 2007
A survey of British tourists, conducted by Virgin Travel Insurance and reported by CNN recorded their disappointment on visiting many of the world’s best known tourist destinations. It seems some of these great places just dind’t live up to their billing as world must-sees.
Fortunately - and you knew this was coming - some do. The number one attraction, from the poll of 1,267 British travellers? We blush to say it: Petra.
admin September 4th, 2007
Syerah, from Toronto, kept a blog of her travel in the Middle East and has this particularly evocative description of her arrival at Petra.
The Siq twists and turns, the high walls all but shutting out the early morning sunlight, until abruptly, through a cleft in the rock, the first glimpse of the city of Petra can be seen. Carved out of pale reddish sandstone, ornate pillars supporting a portico surmounted by a central urn and two flanking blocks, jut out from the cliff face ahead. This is the Khazneh or the Treasury.
Glad you didn’t fall off that camel, Syerah.
admin September 2nd, 2007
We’ve enjoyed following Andrew and Kate’s adventures in Jordan on their Poundster blog, particularly this humorous take on the battle of Petra’s prime view points:
Just uphill of the monastery begin a series of signs enticing visitors to the two viewpoints boasting certain advantages over the other. At first, the two trails seem to be heading in separate directions, leaving visitors a dilemna and feeling as if they have to make a decision based on the strength and veracity of the competing claims. It becomes clear, after a while, that the two viewpoints are not that far apart and essentially offer equivalent
admin August 15th, 2007
Here is part of a thoughtful post on Jordan’s Bedouins in the Culturemop Blog:
On the road between Amman and the old Nabataean city of Petra in Southern Jordan, there are dots of color scattered across the flatness. From antiquated depictions like the one above, I knew they were Bedouin tents without having to ask. It’s hard to avoid romanticized notions about the free-roaming lifestyle of Bedouins; the simplicity, the rootlessness. But times are changing. 90% have settled permanently and switched to farming, and 10% continue to travel as nomads with flocks of goats or sheep, inhabiting woven tents. Someone asked our 18-year-old volunteer guide what the Bedouins own and how they survive. He said “They own this land, as far as you can see. It has been passed down by families for hundreds of years.” I tried to imagine what it would be like to belong to a stretch of desert without ever claiming one particular plot as home.
The photo of fringing on a Bedouin tent is from a Flickr set by shortbeardedduck.
admin August 10th, 2007
There is a new hand-held electronic audio guide available for visitors touring Petra on their own, or at least not as part of an organised tour, with recorded commentary on the key attractions. According to a Middle East news site:
The service, which has been available since March at the Marriott Hotel and the Movenpick Hotel in Petra, can be rented for the day for JD10. Visitors can also access the same information using their mobile phone by dialling 090099303 and following directions. They can also directly access a list of site numbers by following instructions given on the phone without a map being necessary. The service costs 300 fils per minute.
admin August 8th, 2007
James Madsen’s 21st birthday present was a trip round the world. Not bad. Some of us had to make do with socks. Anyway, he has been keeping everybody abreast of his adventures in his excellently-named travel blog, Around the world in 120 days. Cool. Let’s go.
In a recent entry he describes camping with Bedouins at Wadi Rum.
In the evening we tucked up against a towering cliff at a Bedouin campsite–vertical stakes supporting a woven blanket roof–it’s flat, not sloped, which is interesting. Dinner was chicken, potatoes, and onions cooked in embers, the whole thing buried under the sand, and served with yogurt, cucumbers, and tomatoes; it was delicious. Chicken fat on my face and hands I fell asleep under a blanket of magnificent stars, a fire burning close by, it crackling occasionally as if keeping time with the shooting stars that would streak the sky between the stars and planets that stretched down to the horizon. If you do visit Jordan, I’d highly recommend Wadi Rum.
admin August 7th, 2007
Fran, who blogs from New York, had always wanted to visit Petra and wasn’t dissapponted by the experience. One of the highlights - or at least - one of the more memorable moments - occurred in a nearby hammam or steam bath.
My first view of it all was to arrive just outside of Petra in the afternoon. I had spent hours in the desert at Wadi Rum and was hot, tired, sandy and exhausted. Upon check-in I was informed that there were appointments at the hamman.
The hamman is a steambath/massage that is common in the middle east. And the price was so inviting… what better way to wash the dust out?
Upon entering said hamman I was greeted by a man who was wrapped in a towel and wearing funny shoes with the toes pointed up, kind of like something out of 1001 Nights. He greeted me with what I was called all over Jordan “Mrs. Far-ran! You are welcome!” I must have looked a bit alarmed (was that towel going to slip off his waist???) and he saw this. To that he replied “Oh do not worry Mrs. Far-ran! Today no lady hamman, just man in hamman. Man in hammam is good! Yes?”
Did I really want to get a massage from a man wrapped in a towel with funny shoes? No. Did I really want a massage? I just said “wtf” to myself and carried on.
I must admit it was a great massage. And to my knowledge the towel stayed on the man the whole time. It was great, lasted about 90 minutes and all for about $30! He never did take off the pointy toe shoes either.
Check out the rest of her post. It’s well-worth reading.
admin August 1st, 2007
Arabianbusiness.com tells us that a new movie is to be shot with Petra as its evocative backdrop, using 360 degree video technology. Should be a head-turner.
A $100 million feature film titled City of Lost Spirits that will be shot in Petra, Jordan will give us 360° views of the ancient city. The action adventure movie, which will have a style similar to Indiana Jones and Raiders of the Lost Ark, will be co-developed and produced by Unizarre International, a UK-based film production company with Blaze Agency, a TV production firm in Jordan.
admin July 31st, 2007
Facebook user Mike Kerfeld found one of Petra’s more photogenic donkeys on his recent expedition to Israel and Jordan. Enjoy his photos here.
admin July 26th, 2007
Camping out in Wadi Rum can be a magical experience but it’s not always quiet as blogger tsaojam discovered one night under canvas.
Spending a night or two out in the Wadi Rum desert is a must. The trekking and climbing during the day is amazing enough, but nothing quite like nights in a desert…the extreme silence…cool desert night air…and unfortunately in the areas where many camping grounds congregate, barking dogs all night and cats in heat. The experience was amazing, but if you’re in one of the larger camp areas, bring ear plugs! I slept for about 3 hours and woke up to the symphony of amourous felines and marauding dogs packs. Still, the experience is a must, the ‘wildlife’ just comes as part of the package.
Thank you for voting Petra one of the New 7 Wonders of the World.
