World Cruise Day 101/152 - Aqaba, Jordan - Magnificent Petra!

Cruise day: 101/152

Ports days: 43
Sea days: 58
Countries: 17
Continents: 5
Ports: 31

Today, we ventured out to the ancient city of Petra, about 78 miles north and a little east of Aqaba, in the Ma'an Governorate region of Jordan, near the town of Wadi Musa.

First, let's talk about Jordan.  Jordan is interesting, geographically, as from Aqaba, you can see, or nearly see Egypt, Israel, and Saudi Arabia.

The temperature in Aqaba today was forecast in the upper 90s, but Petra was expected to only be in the mid-80s. 

We drove through the desert on the way to Petra.  Let me first address our bus driver - Mario Andretti.  The roads in Jordan range from good (in Aqaba) to fair, to bad, to awful.  These in no way fazed Mario Andretti who whipped down the roads like he was vying for the lead in the Indy 500 in a Mercedes Benz tour bus with 15 terrified passengers.  Some of the roads made the suspension test roads at the automaker's proving grounds look like smooth German autobahn, but did that slow down Mario Andretti?  No.  Curves rated for 30kph?  50-60, at least.  He almost ran over two women that were off the curb in Aqaba - seriously.  If he had not violently swerved at the last second, there would have been two dead Jordanian women.  It was seriously a crazy ride with him at the helm.  He had two modes - full speed ahead or slam on the brakes. It was not pleasant.  Our tour guide was the exact opposite - funny, knowledgeable, and huge - he looked like a contestant in Mr. Olympia.  I think he could bench press the bus if he wanted to.  He was a genuine pleasure and really made the day.

The view was interesting as we saw the start of the rocks, first as small outcroppings and then building to full-scale hills of rock.  Along the way, we passed mosques, Bedouin camps, and herders, before stopping at a gift shop with a pretty impressive view.

This is one you don't see every day - camel crossing - we only saw one camel on the road and it was tied up

Bedouin camp

Note the laundry drying to the right of the tent

Jordan has adopted wind energy as a way to generate electricity

The shop was located near the highest overlook and the view was spectacular

Moses' brother, Aaron is revered here - they built a mosque as a monument to Aaron - can you see it at the top left of the right peak?

Right here

Here's a closer look

And a better look from the side as we approached Petra

This 18-inch beetle was crawling by as I took pictures
(he's lying - it was only about an inch...)

 Our guide said that three weeks ago, the area was covered in so much snow that the road we had just taken was impassable.  It will be close to 100-degrees in a few days.  Amazing.

Craggy rocks as we approached Petra

Petra dates back to around 300 B.C. The Nabatean Kingdom made Petra its capital and it was an important stop on the spice and silk road trade routes.

We arrived in Petra and got ready for the walk from the visitor's center to the city - roughly a 1.5-mile walk in each direction.

We headed off to march to Petra.  The first part of the walk is just getting from the visitor's center to the entry of the canyon that leads to Petra.

Our guide pointed out some of the flint stones that were laying all over - these were used to fashion tools for carving the stone

There were many holes in the rocks - some were for tombs, others for homes.

The first of three Djin Blocks - freestanding tombs

Goats were just hanging around

I know this sounds crazy but they had wild tulips growing all over

We finally arrive at As Siq - the entry into the canyon.  We headed in.

You may have noticed the golf carts - those were available at a cost for folks with mobility issues

I think the guide said this was a fig tree

Our guide with two guys dressed as the guards back in the day

They designed water channels to bring both irrigation water like this as well as potable water where the channel was sealed with ceramic pipe to keep the water fresh

There were niches cut into the stone where marble statues of the gods were placed

This was a scary-looking rock - all natural

Arlona thought it resembled Edvard Munch's The Scream

Some of the veining in the limestone was amazing

Juniper berry - like that used to make gin

We finally entered the canyon - this is about 1,200 meters or nearly 3/4 of a mile long and all-natural except for the path that has been smoothed with paving - it was created by erosion from the Red Sea and earthquakes

Seeing people, you can really get a sense of the scale of this place

Another niche to honor a god

The only standalone niche - the carving at the top has four pillars to represent the four stages of life - birth, life, death, reincarnation

Reeds, like the ones that were used to weave the basket baby Moses was placed in

If you look closely, you can see the lower part of a carving of a man - his robe, feet, and sandals - to the left of him, you can see the feet of a camel, and looking at the background rock, you can see the belly and shape of the camel - this was a carving that honored the trade routes that crossed here in Petra

We get our first glimpse of The Treasury

The Treasury was built most likely around the first century BC and had a facade about 40 meters high and 20 meters wide.  This was all hand-cared into the limestone without the use of any modern tools.  The detail and workmanship are simply amazing to see.  It was a combination temple up top and a tomb below ground.

This urn was thought to have housed jewels that were gifted to the gods as well as leader's cremains

A guardian eagle statue that had its head removed

The tomb was below ground

Vendors were offering camel rides near The Treasury

We continued our walk along the Street of Facades to the Theater and then about halfway to the Great Temple.  At that point, we turned around and started heading back to the visitor's center.

We entered this home

It was perhaps 10-15 degrees cooler inside  - the difference in air temperature was amazing

The Theater - carved directly into the rock, it can seat 4,000 spectators

The Great Temple

We started heading back at this point. Thanks to Rob Rothley for the next three photos.

The colors and layers in the stone were stunning

Back in the canyon

This cat greeted us as we departed the canyon

We enjoyed a once buffet lunch at a hotel and then had some free time to explore the Petra Museum.

On our ride back, we stopped at the same gift shop.  We assumed that was so our guide could collect his commission from sales to his tourists earlier in the day. We were surprised to see Viking banners and tents in the parking lot.  Much to our surprise, Viking officers and staff in full Arabian dress were there with spiced juice drinks, baklava and other sweet treats, and fresh dates.

It was yet another nice Viking touch for weary travelers.

One thing we noted on the drive was the huge amount of garbage strewn across the desert areas.  There were literally (and I know how to use "literally") tons of trash all over.  It looked like people toted their trash out of town, just tossed it along the roadway, and let the wind distribute it everywhere.  That was somewhat disappointing.

After we got back to the ship, we grabbed a quick, light bit for dinner and then showered off the day's dust and grime before joining friends for her birthday celebration.  Viking provided a nice cake and we spent a fun time in the Explorers' Bar before heading down to the room.  It seems that someone has about 150 photos to process and post and still try to get some sleep tonight!

When all was said and done, we hit around 16,500 steps or somewhere around 7.5 miles of walking, and at least half of that was uphill.

Tomorrow is another day in Aqaba.  We had the included excursion - a bus tour in Aqaba - scheduled, but friends that did it today said it was horrible - worse than the awful tour in Yanbu.  We'll reevaluate and figure out what to do tomorrow.

A quick look at Aqaba at night for a signoff.