The rule was that we were not allowed to leave the hotel before 4:30 AM. Of course, that means that if we have any hope of accomplishing what we needed to do for the day, we should be out the door at 4:30 AM. We had until 10:00 PM to scavenge for the “day”. First stop: Petra.
We really liked our taxi driver from the day before, so we arranged for him to be our man to drive us all the way to the south of the country to do the scavenges farthest away, figuring that less was at risk with other taxi drivers closer to Amman. The Petra scavenge required that we must take the King’s Highway either to or from Petra. Strategically, it made more sense to get to Petra quickly on the alternate Desert Highway, which would allow us to arrive at Petra when it opened. As the day wore on, we could move over to the slower King’s Highway. Christine had already been to Petra twice. I had never been. It was as much of a thrill as I had hoped it would be. It helped that we were there before the crowds and in the pleasant morning air, before the sun was fully above. Our taxi driver had coached us extremely well as to what to do when we got into the gate. The scavenge required riding a horse or a horse-drawn buggy through the Siq down to the Treasury. He advised that we hire the buggy to take us all the way to the end and to wait for us to finish our sightseeing so that he could return us to the front gate. Riding in our silly surrey, jostled on the rocky road, we passed the people on foot who were experiencing this ancient site in a more serene (and sane) way. The Siq is a narrow canyon of red rocks, reminding me of Bryce Canyon’s Wall Street. After gentle twists and turns, the Treasury dramatically appeared before us. It is breathtaking. The sun played on the reddish yellow rocks and it was gorgeous. The surrey trundled down to the end of the Street of Facades where the wide road ended. At that point, again well-advised by our taxi driver, we hired donkeys to carry us up a very steep hill with slippery rock steps, to the Monastery. The round-trip deal we cut with the driver, we later learned, was key. Some of our fellow travelers were abandoned by their donkey guides, left to descend the tricky canyon by themselves. The ride up was one of the more magnificent experiences I have had. We had the canyon to ourselves and our Bedouin donkey guide. As the donkeys plodded up the worn stones and wound us up into the mountains, alongside deep chasms, we marveled at the beauty and serenity of the place. Later that evening, we confessed to each other the dark thoughts that crossed our minds. Mine was that if I fell off the side, I hoped I would be conscious enough so that I could instruct Christine how to use my cell phone and where my MedJet Assist card is so that she could get me helicoptered out of the canyon. It didn’t help that each of our donkeys stumbled a few times. And, later we learned that the donkey that one of our fellow travelers was riding fell down and she fell off. Fortunately, the fall was at the end of the ride, and on a flat spot near the bottom. Good to know after we were finished. The ride down required mind control into an altered state. But, enough of that. The monastery is kind of like the façade of the Treasury below (the Temple of Doom from Indiana Jones). The difference is that it is way, way, way up on the mountain. After returning to the bottom of donkey-ride challenge, we rejoined the main road where we met up with the buggy driver who had waited for our one hour donkey adventure. A footnote about the meeting place. There are ruins of a structure perched on the hill at the junction of these two paths. Flying above the tallest pillar of the structure is a pennant for Brown University. What?!? I had to rub my eyes to see if they were tricking me. The Bruin’s flag is flying in the middle of nowhere in Jordan? I must remember to find out if there is an archeological project underway in Petra.
Next was Wadi Rum, a beautiful and exotic nature preserve. The Seven Pillars of Wisdom is a rock formation rising abruptly out of the ground, which we approached by walking into the desert part way to it. We did not pay one of the 50 or so 4x4 drivers lined up waiting for a customer, of which there were none.
After we finished some additional silly scavenges in the Wadi Rum park, we headed north to Amman, picking up the King’s Highway. Our plan was to get back to Amman and do more scavenges until the 10:00 PM deadline. We did eleven more when we got back into Amman. The highlight of them all was being at the Temple to Hercules at sunset. The Temple ruins are large pillars atop the Citadel Hill, which is an expansive field of ruins peppered with grassy spots. Amman city rings around the hill. As the sun set, Amman seemed to spread out before us in all directions. The buildings appear as tight white boxes pressed together. Lights started to twinkle as the sky became inkier and the sun’s golden glow compressed down to the earth. All at once, the muezzins’ nasal, singsong calls to prayer filled the sky from all directions. What a beautiful, spiritual end to a very full day.
Next stop: Vienna