Petra: More then just Indiana Jones

Once again, I am amazed that I am able to see some of the most magical places on the planet. Today, I am in Jordan at Petra. Petra is an ancient city with much of it carved out of the sandstone walls of the mountains. This are not little huts, these are amazing buildings, complete with columns, relief carvings, etc. All carved from the outside of the stone. It is truly an amazing sight. I had for a long time thought that Petra was one building "The Treasury", which was in the Indiana Jones movie. I was so wrong it is a city of them. They are remarkable. The other very cool thing was that the sandstone of the walls is a rainbow of colors due to the mineral deposits. I can only hope the colors turn out in pictures, it is amazing.

I was on a tour today and I will spend another full day exploring Petra tomorrow. Then I will head back to Dahab.

It only took 7 hours to get here (read sarcasm, please). I was told they were picking me up at 5:00am. Sadly they came at 4:34am. Now maybe it doesn't matter to some people, but that is a big change in time, especially first thing in the morning. I was just getting up! Other then that, the trip was fairly uneventful. Just long. There was a lot of "hurry up and wait" which is always a bit nervewracking to me.

The funny part of the story is that most people come to Petra for a day. I wanted more time. I booked to stay (through a company) for two nights. Seems fine. Another guy on my tour was staying overnight as well, but was heading to the Dead Sea, or so he thought. Sadly, his tour operator seems a bit sketchy, and so there weren't really plans for him. Somehow, the hotel puts him in my room with me! He is a nice guy and we talked a bit today, but I wasn't really expecting to share, expecially after I had to pay extra for a single room! Still trying to work out the details on this one.