To Petra

Our young filmmaker friends, Gita and Aron, invited us to join them on a trip to
Petra and Wadi Rum for the weekend. Kevin and I, unlike many of you, had no idea
what to expect. The only thing I knew was about T. E. Lawrence’s connection to
Wadi Rum from The Seven Pillars of Wisdom, a favorite book of mine in my youth, later the basis for the film "Lawrence Of Arabia." We were in for a wonderful surprise. It was just a magical time for the four of us. Maybe because it was Gita’s twenty-eighth birthday!

We started on Friday morning. Gita and Aron have this wonderful driver, Mario,
who helps them with their filmmaking in the Palestinian refugee camps. His
price, inclusive of everything was 80 JDs a person —the entry fee to Petra alone is 21 JD-- about $130). We drove to Petra, making a stop at a tourist shop for 
coffee and to use the bathroom. I bought the blue sunhat I’m wearing and a Jordan mug for our collection. Soon afterwards we stopped for a photo op which shows Petra behind us.











We arrived in the outlying city around lunchtime. Mario went off and picked up eight falafel sandwiches for us—“one for now and one for later in Petra.” He gave instructions,” the guides will try to get money from you. Don’t let them know you are from America. They will only try to get more money from you. I will meet you here in parking lot around 4:00.”

And we were off, following closely behind a bevy of women in black hijab from
Bahrain or maybe Yemen. Walking through the long narrow gorge known as As-Siq that leads to Petra, we joined a crowd made up of tourists from all over the world, young bedouin boys riding donkeys and horses, other bedouins driving carriages with tourists, gypsy-like Bedouins selling silver jewelry and other souvenirs. It was like being part of a colorful parade.

The sunlight was wonderful as it burst through the top ridges of the gorge (we have been told it is even more wonderful at night when it is lit by candles). You could not help but imagine going into the bustling city of the Nabataeans, those ancient arabs who dominated the frankincense trade in pre-Roman times. It is called the Rose-Red city and while red is the dominant color, the striations of the sandstone are multicolored—pink, red, golden, yellow, gray, teal gray.  

As-Siq meanders to a huge city square with magnificent buildings carved into the sides. While my photographs do not show the splendor of the color, you can see that the road is paved. The Romans paved over the pavement made by the Nabataeans. There were all kinds of flora, including fig trees, growing in the crevices of the wall. There were lots of openings cut into the walls. Maybe there were
tombs or apartments? We did not have a guide.

We had our picture made with the guard guarding the magnificent treasury.

Wyatt and Poppy would like the camels resting in the middle of the square.