Wadi Rum Dunes

This one was fun. Biggest dune in Wadi Rum.Alllllll the way down.

Amman

Having spent time in Doha and Dubai, it was really refreshing to scope out Amman in Jordan, to get a feel for the buzz of a true middle eastern capital city. Doha and Dubai are super modern, new, even botique-ish, and finding any grit, bustle, or history is difficult. They are the 21st century middle east. They say, however, that Amman is on route to become the next Dubai & Doha, given its economic prowess and political neutrality. Even if it does, being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, I can't imagine the materialistic feeling of those cities taking over completely.

The whole central part of the city felt like one big souk. Covered fruit markets, clothes markets, spice markets, toy markets, and more.  Lot of people milling around and hawking things. It seems to be centered around a large central mosque from which streets and markets diverge. Although I've been to a few mosques in Dubai and Istabul, I shyed away from entering this one as it seemed crowded and actually very much used for practicing Muslims and simply for congregating. One thing I love about the middle east, albeit probably just for the novelty of it, is the sound of the call to prayer radiating across the city over the speakers. It reminds me of how far away I am from anything very familiar, culturally and geographically. The call, in fact, can be quite nice, depending upon the voice and melody. It can definitely sound like a broken record too.

The city is home to well preserved Roman Amphitheatre, right smack in the middle. On a hill towering above it is the ruins of a fortress, with architecture spanning many eras. Assyrians, Persians, Macedonians, Nabataeans, Byzantines, Umayyads, Ottomans all had their share.

The city is built amongst seven large hills, making all the roads windy and hill walking difficult.  I decided not to test out the bus system, as I heard neighborhoods in some of the other hills are pretty westernized and don't have much going on. The historic center with all the hustle and bustle is where I spent most of my time (not having a host), but I did manage to huff and puff my way up one hill to check out a different neighborhood, Rainbow Street, where it suddenly turns very Western, shops begin having English signs (frozen yogurt suddenly appears, which is a complete contradiction to the old world feel at the bottom of the hill), and a more tranquil yuppy feel exists.

One night at the hostel there was an American girl that went out to get some cash. She came back without cash in hand, saying that men were asking her out to dinner and staring at her. She was dressed conservatively with a long dress on. So she asked if I could stroll around with her to ward off the eyegazers. Later, I stood on the roof of my hostel watching people walk below, and verified that surely the average middle eastern man is free of any tact. I saw several time women walk by and men do a 180 degree turn just to follow them for half a block to get a good look! Definitely wouldn't be a pleasant experience to be a single western woman here.

Whitewashed buildings

This is actually one of the tallest flagpoles in the world. What a claim to fame.

The amphitheatre from the fortress

 

A vegetable & fruit souk (with tons of these mini, sour green apple things)

Love it.

Spices, nuts, & grains

Delicious sugar cane juice

Central mosque

Nightfall. Mosque lit up in green.

The High Altar

This is the high altar of sacrifice in Petra. A pretty substantial hike up narrow stairs chiseled out of the rocks, to one of the highest peaks in the region and a view over a large part of the city. The top was probably used for cultic ceremonies, as the name subtly suggests.

Roasting in the desert heat, but well worth the hike and sweat

The hike up through a bit of a gorge

Some sort of monuments or ritual items at the top

Tombs look a lot smaller from this high up

 

The Siq

The siq is a seriously cool, super narrow, meandering gorge which you enter Petra through. The walls are towering, and like most things in Petra, contain a variety of brilliant colors which seem to change by time of day as light hits it from different angles. The most amazing thing I found were the water channels the Nabataeans carved into each side of the siq to transport water downhill to the city, which could probably be functional to this day. Along the Siq there are various carvings, steep stairwells leading to places, and remnants of arches and other architectural features since removed. The Siq abruptly ends after 1 km when it opens up and you are struck with the view of the behemoth Treasury, the symbol of Petra. You can literally spend at least an hour just sittin there staring at this block of carved stone, feeling puny, while checking out the architectural details and the ridiculous scale of things. Its friggin impressive.

Check out the size of the people!

Water channels curving around with the walls

The donkeys are mainly for show, but you can pay a couple bucks (after hard negotiating), for a ride elsewhere in Petra. I skipped the camel but did take a donkey a few times.

dang

Petra

This place is magnificent and massive. I'm going to take a quite a few posts just to put up pictures of different places in the complex and maybe explain a thing or two, because it is not a place that can be summed up so quickly. It must be on a similar scale to the pyramids. You look up at some towering entrance-way and scratch your head and say 'dang, that is incredible, how the heck did they build that thing?' I spent two full days meandering desert and canyons to the various tombs and structures constructed by the Nabataeans thousands of years ago, marveling at their grandiosity. Aside from the still standing monuments, just walking around and seeing thousands of fallen and piled monoliths, ruins of former structures, makes you wonder what this place was like before the earthquakes. It must have been a bustling and wealthy city. The colors of the rocks are hundreds of brilliant shades of red and orange, which draw a sharp contrast to the vast and cloudless blue sky and blend with the barren desert valley landscape.

Before you even get into the Petra complex, mega structures start, and just get more impressive as you go on.

This road is at least 1 km or more, leading to the entrance to Petra valley. I walked it the first day but then took a donkey back up after 8 hours of solid walking. In the beginning I was all gung-ho and exited and wanted to walk it all, but by the end I was saying 'Surre, I'll pay a dollar or two for a ride up this'. My feet were dead after the first day.

Djinn Blocks

 

 

Mr. Djinn.

Read and learn

Wadi Mujib

Wadi Mujib reserve ends at the Jordanian dead sea, 410 meters below sea level, as a narrow-walled rock-cut gorge of incredible oranges, yellows, and reds. Prior to this gorge, it opens up into a mountainous, canyon style region, and at some points raises to 900 meters above sea level. The dramatic change in elevation lends to hosting a wide range of wildlife and vegetation.

I was able to go to just the gorge. At this time of year, the water level is between only ankle and waist level. I initially thought it was going to be just a hike. Then my driver told me to change my shoes, into something sturdy. Luckily, I brought a spare pair that I didn't care about.

The walk starts out nice enough. Go into the shallow creek, and start walking, admiring the towering yet narrow nature of the gorge walls. There are 5 or so passable waterfalls of progressive difficulty, which are haphazardly outfitted with thick ropes that you must use in order to traverse to the next section of the gorge. The approach to each waterfall is made more difficult by the fact that the water can reach chest level at the waterfall base. The first two waterfalls in and of themselves were not so simple. I had to severely brace myself against the rocks with my legs, holding the rope, and clamber up the rocks and over the fall. The third fall, however, was my defeat. Although I maintain I could have surmounted it with a little more drive and effort, my problem was my glasses. With water rushing down the falls and crashing all over the place, I just could not risk losing them by getting hit in the face. Chalk up just another case for laser vision. Screw you, glasses! :)

I had to hijack a few of these photos because I did not bring my camera very far into the reserve due to the rushing water. Especially in the most beautiful, narrow area with towering walls.

The entrance to the gorge, before it narrows

 

The first waterfall

The gorge narrows and curves

 

Mount Nebo

And Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho

—Deuteronomy 34:1

Mount Nebo is said to be the place where Moses climbed and then died at the end of his life. The view from the top is breathtaking (it was said to have given Moses a view of the promised land). From Jordan you can look over the dead sea and peer into Israel in the distance. Three churches and a monastery have been excavated at the site. Some impressive mosaics have been excavated at the site, as well.

You can see part of the dead sea, normally Jericho, and Jerusalem on a very clear day.

The winding road up to Mt. Nebo, and the arid climate

This rolling stone was used to fortify the door of a Byzantine monastery