Petra...The Last Crusade!

Petra was really amazing. Having recently come back from Egypt and being a little wary of aggressive vendors and mediocre accommodations, we weren't sure what to expect. We were surprised and delighted at how clean and "modern" (think relatively here) it was, and how friendly and helpful the people were. No disrespect to those in countries where they are desperate to earn enough to feed their families, we just find it uncomfortable to deal with. And I pesonally feel rude having to look away, say no thankyou and walk a little faster. This was not needed in Jordan. Although, we did get hosed on a rain jacket that we paid 5 JD for and 30 metres away a guy offered it to us for 2 JD...will we ever learn!!???

We drove in our rental car here in Israel ($25/day) and took an inland route down to Eilat, about 4.5 hours away. We went right to the border crossing, parked the car in a gravel lot, grabbed our bags and walked to the border control. We had to first check out of Israel - about 5 window stops and 101 Shekels each later, and then walk the "no man's land zone" to enter Jordan - about 5 window stops and free! Wow...that's refreshing! We liked the place already.

 Our hotel had arranged for a driver to pick us up and take us to the Valley Stars Inn in Wadi Mousa - very near Petra. Samir was a very nice man, studying to be a guide so he explained a few things on the way - although Matt, Ross and Jessie did find time for a ziz on the 2 hour ride.

The Inn was simple, clean, and nice with friendly staff. We had a welcome juice upon arrival and then shown our rooms. Free Internet and a good buffet breakfast included. Next morning we took advatage of the breakfast, and then took the "shuttle" (a staff member who drove us in his car), to Petra, about 1.5 km down a steep hill. Weather was yuck! Cold, wet...I had 4 layers on top and if you can believe it, I wore my PJ bottoms under my pants on the bottom! Jessie did too. Ross...well, he borrowed a jacket from Matt and Matt bought a plastic rain coat...the one for 5 JD mentioned above.


What can I say...the weather improved and the place was "wow!". I'll let the pictures do the talking....at the end of this post.

Food here is also pretty darn good...we had found a nice place with a mix of local food and pasta for night one, a really good pizza place for after Petra snacks, and a good local restaraunt (although a little too much lighting) for dinner the second night. After a good night's sleep we had Samir take us back to the border near Aqaba at 10 am. We had some very interesting chats about Egypt, Jordan, religion, the difference between Sunni and Shia Muslims. He also took us for a quick driving tour of Aqaba, a beautiful resort city on the Red Sea and then to the border where we did the 5 window check out of Jordan and paid the 8 JD to be let out, the walk over "no-man's land" and the 5 window entry back to Israel.

We were hungry to a quick drive into Eilat, the Israeli resort town on the Red Sea, and found a nice, hip, on-the-water restaraunt for a good meal, and a wade in the Red Sea. Then off for our drive home up the Dead Sea this time...as we had to try out a dip in that! See the next blog for details!