Petra - The Wonder of Wonders

Finally we're off....

Departure from Catania on 26/12 at 9.20, in business class courtesy of the airline Turkish Airlines, landing in Istanbul at 13.30 perfectly on time (time zone of 2, we move the clock hands forward); the connection for Amman is delayed by almost 2 hours, so we will depart at 23.05 landing in Jordan after midnight (hands back for one hour of time zone). At the airport we don't waste time on the currency exchange and go straight to the customs checks, which we pass quickly also thanks to the Jordan Pass purchased online (cost 75jd, includes the 40 jd entry visa as well as access to very many sites of Jordanian interest); having collected the luggage after a 30-minute wait, we move towards the Thirfty car rental agency where they entrust us with a small car with automatic transmission.

In 20 minutes through the middle of nowhere and in absolute darkness we reach Madaba and have quite a hard time finding the hotel; the local police make themselves available, and between handshakes and improbable manoeuvres, we manage on our own to find the hotel right in front of the checkpoint!! The external appearance of the Moab Hotel is terrible, but comforted by the reviews on the internet, by the warm welcome of the owner, and by the splendid view of Saint George that can be enjoyed from our room, we manage to spend a quiet night. We park the car in a nearby area, with a fee, 1 jd per day.

From Madaba to Wadi Musa via castles...

27 December. Wake up at dawn. Icy water in the bathroom, shower tray flooded simply because of having fearlessly subjected ourselves to a jet of water for 5 seconds (read 5..). At 8 o'clock sharp we cross the road to enter the very famous Greek Orthodox Church of Saint George and admire its 6th-century mosaic map of the Holy Land (the 2 jod ticket is not included in the Jordan Pass); were it not for the ritual photos, the visit would be over in 30 seconds…. I am disappointed after the high expectations I had because of the numerous travel diaries I had read. We go back into the hotel and reach the rooftop for a very frugal breakfast (too frugal indeed..). The plans for after Madaba are numerous, and all fascinating; taking into account the time and the time available, we decide to visit Mount Nebo first, then reach the desert castles.

At 9 we leave the hotel; at 9.30 we are already at the entrance to the site (this too paid, excluded from the J.P., 2 jod). On Mount Nebo Moses was buried, who here had the visions of the Promised Land, and here a Byzantine church was built (between the 4th and 5th centuries), over the centuries enlarged into a much more varied complex; the view from the mount spans from the Jordan Valley to the Holy Land, and on the clearest days it is possible to see Jerusalem; inside the baptistery of the basilica of the memorial of Moses, some mosaics are excellently preserved. Outside, a sculpture depicting intertwined serpents recalls the staff of Moses: by looking at it, whoever was bitten by a serpent remained alive.

In about 30 minutes we finish the visit; we then plan the day's tour: we calculate the travel times with the navigator, and evaluate the possibility of reaching, alternatively, either the desert castles to the east, or of setting off immediately for Petra, and stopping to see one of the castles on the way. We have enough time available, and we opt for the first hypothesis; we move east towards Madaba, then further east we take the road that leads to the borders with Saudi Arabia. There are very many freight trucks we meet. After 85 km, about 1 hour and 20 minutes, we stop to visit one of the most renowned castles, Qasr al Kharaneh.

Few tourists venture as far as this site, immersed in an absolutely inhospitable landscape, and moreover today battered by a very strong wind that lifts the sand making driving difficult, and visiting the castle impossible, which is just under 100 metres from the car park; having got out of the car we are pushed by the wind, the sand gets everywhere. We barely manage to take a few photos and beat a retreat. We hope that the next destination is less exposed to this sandstorm, also because it is the first of the UNESCO World Heritage sites we will visit in Jordan, Qusayr Amra; we reach it in 15 minutes; built in the 8th century, this castle with its singular structure is excellently preserved, and its hammam with frescoes still reasonably maintained can still be visited; the wind is less impetuous, and we manage to devote about half an hour to it without too much trouble.

Having taken the car again we head west, and this time a light rain and a rainbow in the distance make us realise how we have so far avoided further bad weather, which will instead accompany us when we turn onto the route heading south. The rain in some places will be annoying, so we decide not to stop for lunch and to cover as much ground as possible, postponing the choice of whether to stop or head straight for Petra. Towards 14 we are near Umm al Rasas, the weather is reasonable, the site is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and we decide not to miss it; free entry with the Jordan Pass; the cold wind will accompany us during the brief visit, and we will finish just in time to avoid the rain.

Umm al rasas has surely earned the UNESCO World Heritage recognition in memory of its past, since of the original site, which surely must have been majestic, very little remains; it is hard to distinguish the Roman ruins from the Arab and Byzantine ones (hard is a euphemism obviously… ). The mosaics still excellently preserved in the church of Saint Stephen are spectacular. In general the site is not kept in good condition, and there is not the due attention to the signage of the points of interest, which have to be sought among the rubble of the ancient city. 14:20: we are still very far from Petra.

We have to choose between 2 castles on our route south, but considering that Al Karak would require a detour of a few kilometres, and the weather is still hostile to us, we decide to go straight on and aim for Montreal, that is Crusader Castle, or rather Ash Shubak, or Shoubak, or Shawbak (I would have liked to name it in some other way too, but my ideas were already confused enough looking for information from home on the internet….); after two hours of fairly smooth driving we are on the top of its hill, but the wind and cold do not allow us to devote enough time to this medieval fortress, which in any case presents itself in optimal condition only externally, while inside it is very difficult to distinguish emplacements, rooms, spaces; all in all I do not think it is worth visiting except as a short detour along the road that leads to Petra from Amman.

We will arrive in Wadi Musa in the late afternoon, we will sleep two nights at Le Maison hotel. Fortunately in front of the hotel there is a very expensive supermarket which we will discover is actually the cheapest in the city; here we will stock up in particular on water and dried fruit, which we will need to face the following day in Petra, and on the necessities for future breakfasts and snacks. Exhausted after a very demanding day, we turn to the reception at the hotel to book both dinner and Petra by night (17 jod each). At around 20 we are in front of the entrance to the Petra visitor centre, after having refreshed ourselves with a shower and a decent dinner.

Petra by night is an appetiser for the daytime visit, evocative in that you walk the almost 2 km that lead from the entrance to the Treasury almost in complete darkness, and after a short musical performance little by little El Khasneh is lit up revealing its majesty. No photo, no video, can bear witness to the beauty of the site. At 22.30, exhausted, we leave the Nabataean city to go and rest.

Petra

We are awake even before the sun rises! But the tiredness is too much and we leave to others the exhilaration of crossing the entrance gate of Petra at 6 in the morning… we will go in at the second hour! Petra is a UNESCO World Heritage site, one of the most astonishing wonders that nature and man have ever created, not by chance recently named one of the 7 wonders of the modern world; called by the Arabs Wadi Musa (valley of Moses), it is the best-known site in Jordan, an ancient Nabataean city carved into the rock whose first settlements of nomads date back to the 6th century BC, conquered by the Romans in the 1st century AD; in 264 km2 are hidden over 800 monuments and 500 tombs; immortalised in numerous masterpiece films, its best-known images are linked to Indiana Jones, with the entrance on horseback into the siq and the chase as far as the Treasury.

For a long time I had dreamed of living that scene and presenting myself before the Khazneh (or Khasnè) and marvelling like millions of other visitors before me. The siq is a gorge over 1 km long, entirely carved into the rock, with walls that rise up to 80 metres, and that at times leave barely 3 metres of space to pass through; walking it is thrilling; the experience should be repeated at different times of the day to savour the different shades of colour, predominantly tones of pink. At 7 we show the Jordan Pass at the entrance to the pink city (we do not pay the 50 jd otherwise required).

At the visitor centre the paths that can be walked are well indicated on a huge panel; we immediately take the Main Trail, postponing the choice of the other alternatives only once we have tested our endurance on the ground (by the end of the day we will have walked almost 20 km); we walk the stretch that leads to the siq, stopping to admire only the Tomb of the Obelisks and the Triclinium, aware that this remarkable construction is only a miserable appetiser compared to the feast of treasures we will have! We approach the Treasury of the Pharaoh with the spirit of that explorer who, first among Westerners, managed to see what many for centuries had only been able to imagine… and reality at Petra surpasses imagination… step by step the Khazneh slowly reveals itself until you find yourself before it, a façade 30 metres wide and 43 high, entirely carved into the rock: the wonder of wonders!

The kids who try to convince you to accept a camel ride take care of dampening the mysticism of the place. We decide to negotiate the ride as far as the stairs that lead to the Monastery, the furthest point and the most arduous experience among all those that Petra can offer: 30 Jod to the camel driver and we also negotiate more photo stops; our photographer however thinks only of his goal (getting us quickly to the stairs that lead to the Monastery) and will prove to be a goat with a reflex camera in his hand! On camelback we leave the Khazneh behind us and prepare to go back in time a good 2000 years; sandstone carved everywhere, tombs, theatres, houses, obelisks, altars, a city that flourishes again with the presence of hundreds of animals, men with kefiahs, long tunics, beards, many made up as their ancestors must have been; we walk the streets where once the silk and spice merchants

coming from China and India perhaps met Egyptians, Greeks, Romans; only the presence of tourists distracts us from our fantasising. Nothing remains of the Nabataean houses, but the tombs were built to last forever, and about 500 are present in the site today. We pass the street of facades until we reach the theatre, leave other tombs on the right, continue without stopping at the refreshment point, nor for the artisans' stalls, nor to see the modern museums, and head straight for the passage of the colonnaded street, beyond which there is the fork for the path to the Altar of Sacrifice (whose route can also be taken from the street of facades); we turn right, refuse the camel driver's proposal to get off and enjoy the landscape (and allow him to go back to pick up other tourists!!), and make our way towards the least crowded and most arduous part of the route.

We say goodbye to camel and camel driver, after the latter has tried to convince us that in front of the Treasury we only paid for the rental of the means, but not the driver! We then set off on foot along the Ad Deir Trial, 2.5 km round trip. At the start of the climb we admire the façade of the Triclinium of the Lion, it looks like the keyhole of an enormous lock, but I can't find the key… The Monastery al Deir is the most majestic construction of Petra, even more so than the Treasury, although less well known and more hidden, inaccessible to many. 800 steps carved into the rock, a fairy-tale route that it is unthinkable not to walk at Petra. Halfway along, my consort is tired and decides to stop and rest next to some stalls with a fine view of the canyon; we therefore decide that I alone will reach Al Deir.

At the end of the route, you pass between two enormous boulders, descend towards a broad terrace, and here the spectacle begins. I will not go further, I will not go up as far as the tholos of the Monastery: the view of this place already satisfies me. Al Deir is the largest Temple of Petra, 50m wide x 45 high, built between the 2nd and 1st century BC, it owes its name to the numerous crosses that were carved on the walls in the centuries to come; of the original columns present in front of the structure nothing exists today. I stay a few minutes in front of the kiosks taking photos.

Although there are thousands of visitors daily at Petra, the vastness of the site gives the impression that it is sparsely frequented, with the exception of the square below the Treasury; in some areas you will even remain for several minutes in solitude appreciating and enjoying breathtaking landscapes in absolute silence. Having come down from the Monastery to the valley, we move towards the start of the colonnaded avenue, in front of Qasr al Bint; I look at the signs for the altar of sacrifice, but I understand that both time and energy need to be rationed, so we continue on. We stop to nibble something, meanwhile we read our guides on Petra. We visit the buildings that overlook the cardo until we reach a little kiosk where we try a local fresh juice.

I visit some of the most majestic tombs, then I decide to face alone the last effort of the day: the Al Khubtha itinerary, 3.5 km round trip, the ascent that from the royal tombs leads to a refreshment point that overlooks the Treasury. The slope is steep, the elevation gain considerable, I stop often to drink, eat dried fruit, the tiredness of hours of walking makes itself felt, but I am in a hurry to reach the top to enjoy the spectacle, and in a hurry to get back down to those waiting for me (and who cannot imagine that 30 minutes of planned waiting, due to erroneous directions, and my miscalculations, become over 2 hours….). The views of the city are spectacular.

Having reached the end of the path you find no signs, nor do you see the Treasury, but by entering the only bar on a rocky spur, and having a drink, you have the possibility of enjoying the most evocative panorama of Petra: the Treasury seen from above, from what is a belvedere on one side of the siq. The descent too is demanding, the stairs are steep, at times dangerous; I will take 30 minutes, without stops. At 15 I find my kind consort in front of the start of the trial, in front of the Theatre. Satisfied with the day, we stroll among the stalls looking for souvenirs, and slowly move towards the Treasury, stopping every 3 steps to immortalise the landscape. At 16 we reach El Khasneh and consu

Wadi Rum

Wake up, quick breakfast in the room. Having definitively abandoned the idea of reaching Aqaba, we consider whether to move towards Little Petra; considering what we saw the day before, we understand that after a Lucullan lunch one cannot order an appetiser, and that it no longer makes sense to see Siq el Berid, a miniature version of Petra. We therefore decide to relax a bit, and set off calmly towards another UNESCO site, the Wadi Rum desert, where at 13 we have an appointment with Saleem, owner of the Quiet Village. We leave Wadi Musa at 10.30. We move very slowly and enjoy the landscape.

At 12.20 we are at the entrance to the protected area of Wadi Rum; we have to leave the car in the car park and get our jordan pass stamped at the Tourism Center (as an alternative to the jp you pay 5 jod), then we pass the checks and after a couple of photos of the 7 Pillars of Wisdom we continue by car for 7 km to the village where Saleem should welcome us in the car park of a restaurant. Having arrived at our destination we rudely get rid of a swindler who would like to pass himself off as our guide, asking us where we are from, if we have booked and with whom, considering that he is waiting for some tourists; when I ask his name and for which camp the guy works he refuses to answer and goes back to asking questions… we affectionately say goodbye exchanging a few f**k yous…..

Alas the directions on the meeting point with our guide are not very precise; fortunately the smartphone has excellent reception and the SIM is enabled for use in Jordan, so I manage to contact Saleem. In 2 minutes we unload the luggage from our car, which we leave parked in the restaurant's lot, and set off in a jeep in the company of the guide Youssef; instead of heading to the camp we decide to start the desert tour right away.

Why the jeep and not the camel ride? First of all a question of time; we have little available, and there are many things to see; moreover, it was already in our plans when we planned the trip to take a camel ride at Petra, or alternatively to check on site in the desert the possibility of small movements (as would also be possible at the booked camp, and at the visitor center); finally, the camel (or dromedary as it may be) for me is quite uncomfortable and I would have suffered considerably staying for hours in the saddle. Wadi Rum is a little Monument Valley, known to most thanks to the film about Lawrence of Arabia, but also thanks to the usual Indiana Jones and also to Matt Damon who here played The Martian.

Sitting on the bed of the Toyota 4x4 we head towards the Lawrence Spring; unfortunately to see the spring, the landscape from above and the ancient Nabataean aqueduct, we would have to climb a very steep and demanding ascent; considering that our guide estimates the time to reach the top at approximately 30 minutes, we would have very little time to devote to the following attractions; after the exertions of Petra we decide to save our energy and wander among camels and camel drivers and devote ourselves to photography.

We move between the nothingness of the rocky desert and the mountain spurs that even exceed 1000 metres in some cases until we reach what was the dwelling and headquarters (today a pile of stones) of T.E.Lawrence during the Arab revolt against the Ottomans (it was the years of the First World War, and the British hero helped the tribes defend themselves, conquer Aqaba, and reach as far as Damascus); we take the opportunity to take some of the most beautiful photos of Wadi Rum. The next stop is at the small arch; a fine view of the desert, but an excessive density per square metre of Japanese, stubbornly determined to get an old lady up to the highest point dragging and pushing her in the worst ways..…. With the 5-hour tour we would have reached the less crowded and more panoramic Great Arch, but time is a tyrant and we will regret this choice. We continue the tour in the desert.

Thousands of rock inscriptions bear witness to 12,000 years of human settlements in this territory. We observe some Thamudic engravings at the entrance to a narrow gorge, the khazali canyon, explorable for about 200 metres; to see the most significant ones we would have to climb up a demanding and dangerous slope (also because of the presence of water it is easy to slip), so we give up, and recover a bit of time that we can use in the next stop. Last stop of the tour with Youssef: the red dunes. They are a small thing compared to those of much sandier deserts, but it is certainly worth also living the experience of climbing the dunes almost to the top of the mountain.. Our 3-hour desert tour would surely seem to most people quite poor compared to the longer tours; in reality we manage to see a good part of the attractions of Wadi Rum, but we manage to devote little time to each of them.

If on the one hand we regret not having reached the top of the red dunes, or the view of

Back to the north ... up to "Betania"

Cold and windy morning. Breakfast, then Saleem organises the jeep transfers to the village. At 8 we say goodbye and go to collect our small car. The day promises to be very demanding, we have to reach the Dead Sea, and skirt it until we arrive in the north in the hotel area, over 200 km of route. At 11.30 we make a stop at El Kerak, a Crusader castle known for having resisted numerous attacks by Saladin in the Middle Ages; we are too far behind schedule and decide to take just a couple of photos from the road. We then head towards the Dead Sea. We skip the Ma'in Hot Spring; too contrasting reviews cast doubt on the beauty of the place, and considering that we still have other wonders to visit, and time is a tyrant… we continue on...

The Dead Sea is a depression that in some points exceeds 400m below sea level, it is a closed sea, with salinity 10 times greater than all other seas, so that the life of any being is impossible (but it is ideal for those who cannot swim since they will have no difficulty staying afloat!!); evaporation on site causes the deposit of salts and minerals, used in industry, agriculture and medicine; the black muds of these areas are renowned. Around the Dead Sea biblical cities were born, a few km from it the major sites of Christianity, with Jerusalem in sight. The road that skirts the Dead Sea has interesting views, and we stop to take photos shortly before arriving at the hotel.

We reflect for a moment on the alternatives for the afternoon; it is 13:00: it is late to move on to Bethany, very late to aim for Jerash, but still early for hotel check-in, scheduled for 15:00; we could calmly go to the hotel, relax and spend the evening in Amman, but this option would stress us more because we intend to limit car travel for a few hours. We therefore opt to visit Bethany right away. We head north, pass the junctions for the hotel area, and take the turning to skirt the Israeli borders; the navigator does not find Bethany although it must be in sight. We consult the numerous guides and maps at our disposal, and understand that the navigator would like us to write: Al-Maghtas.

9 km north of the Dead Sea, on the banks of the Jordan River, we find Bethany, a Unesco Heritage site, the place where according to the Holy Scriptures John the Baptist baptised Jesus, where the resurrection of Lazarus took place, and where the first Christian places of worship were born. We leave the car in the parking lot, pay 12 jd each for admission, then wait 20 minutes for the bus with guide that will take us to the site (it was possible to pay the extension online with the Jordan Pass at a small discount, but given the packed schedule of excursions in Jordan we were not sure we would also manage to visit Bethany). The walking tour lasts about 1 hour and leads to the baptismal site on the border with Israel, the visit continues to the Orthodox church of St. John the Baptist; we witness a baptism and touch the water of the Jordan River. My wife gets emotional about the experience.

Me? Definitely not!

At 15:00 we are back in the car and move south. At the entrance of the Dead Sea Marriott we undergo numerous checks, but that is the price to pay to access this nabobs' hotel! Fortunately we found a super discounted offer on booking, and we will enjoy the heated pool thinking of our relatives in Sicily dealing with Christmas decorations and a lot of cold!! For dinner the alternatives are: go to Amman (and risk losing 2 or 3 hours in the car in traffic), move to the Dead Sea Panorama Complex (a few km from the hotel, moderate prices, but doubtful reviews on quality), stay at the hotel and enjoy our anniversary dinner 20 days late. We choose to stay at the hotel and the Marriott buffet will be a nice discovery; eating all you can eat for 21jd each will be an unforgettable experience!!

Jerash and Amman

A demanding breakfast, perhaps the best I have ever had… sweets, little fritters, crepes, all worthy of applause…. Praise, praise, praise… we are forced to rest for a few minutes to digest before going down to the hotel beach... My experience at the Dead Sea is not exciting, since on a windy day in 2 minutes I managed to squirt water into my eyes and almost drift away despite the hotel area being delimited and safe... without the lifeguard's intervention I would not have recovered my sight who knows when… I therefore find it unthinkable to go to beaches without facilities, and that do not have the care that the Marriott puts into the managed strip. Considering that equipped beaches also cost 20 jod per person, I still recommend booking a hotel with access to the Dead Sea.

My kind wife carefully avoids the water and smears ill-smelling mud on her body… We stay at the hotel until check out at 12; in a few minutes we pack our bags, put everything in the car and off we go! Only in the afternoon, walking around Jerash, will we remember that we left our swimsuits on the little balcony of the Marriott… We head for Jerash, we are counting the minutes given the morning delay, but about 3 km from the hotel on the right there is a sign for a Dead Sea factory… my kind wife lights up and looks at me… what better opportunity to leave a few tens or hundreds of euros in Jordan??? Inside the Dead Sea Levant a shopkeeper speaks Italian better than 99% of the Italian population itself, he probably boasts ancestors from the Accademia della Crusca, and without even reciting the Divine Comedy he manages to achieve his goal….

We leave the centre with salts, muds, creams, and whatever else is needed to keep our bodies young until the next century… We reach Jerash at 14:30!! Considerations: how can other places in Jordan and in the world be protected by Unesco and Gerasa not be? Mystery. A complete ancient Roman city, very well preserved. Preserved under the sand for 2000 years, brought back to light in the last 70 years, it is an example of the majesty of Roman works. It stands on some hills, on which temples and theatres rise.

In the lower part one enters from the Arch dedicated to Hadrian (Jerash was his favourite city, from which the importance and prosperity of the city derive), passes the Hippodrome, the largest building in the city which could hold up to 15,000 people, and immediately admires the splendid oval-shaped Roman forum, with its well-preserved colonnade, the most striking image of the Jerash site, at the foot of the temple of Zeus. One then proceeds past a colonnaded street, the Cardo Maximus, which overlooks houses, fountains, squares. As many as 3 theatres, all perfectly preserved, give an idea of the greatness of the site; in one of these some musicians perform. Leaving the site we stop at the local bazaar to buy a keffiyeh. 16.30. A few hours remain until the departure of the flight to Istanbul; we have a hotel booked in Madaba to rest for a few hours; we have not yet visited Amman.

We set off again south, weighing the pros and cons of stopping in the capital; we decide to visit at least the theatre of Amman, and have dinner in the centre. It will take us over 2 hours to cover just 50km. In Amman lives almost half of Jordan's population, 4.5 million out of 9.5, which is why its traffic is so chaotic! A metropolis that rises on 7 hills!! We attempt the approach to Amman at sunset, facing the chaos by car until we reach the Citadel; the stress of driving in the centre, as well as the considerable slowdowns at rush hour, would have as the other side of the coin the possibility of visiting the site in absolute solitude. Alas, we remain stuck in traffic, and even when our gps tells us we are "above" the Citadel we cannot see it, nor does anyone manage to give us correct directions; true, we are now past the deadline, but maybe we would have managed to peek at something.

We do, however, manage to get directions to the Roman Theatre; this too has long been closed, but in fact we should only pay to sit on the tiers since the whole site is visible from the square opposite, from the street, from the buildings in front. At the end of the visit we decide, very calmly, to look for a place to have dinner, and we find it by crossing the street in front of the theatre: the kebab shop!! We discover that the climb to the Citadel starts right from the alley next to it…. We joke with some young people and with the kebab shop owner inside the place, waiting for our takeaway box; we will eat our dinner in the square with a view of the theatre for the modest sum of about 3jd. We are struck by the cosmopolitan, open character of the city. Women, some with veils, others without, are in the square with or without men; some smoke hookahs.

It is difficult for a Westerner with his prejudices to think that one can spend a peaceful evening buying a sandwich in the centre in an Arab country, sit on a bench to eat and enjoy this spectacle…. We leave Amman in the direction of Madaba. The traffic after 20:00 allows us to reach our hotel in about an hour. We organise our luggage so as not to waste time upon waking. At about 22:00 we are already resting.

bye bye Jordan

Wake-up at 1. Just the time to send a few greeting messages and we set off for the airport. We return the car without too many problems. 5.45 flight to Istanbul, arrival at 9.20; departure again at 14.25, arrival in Catania on time at 14.55. In just 5 days we discovered that Jordan is not only Petra, but has many wonders to discover; it is certainly a welcoming and safe country, with an open and hospitable population, where cordiality and helpfulness disconcert a Western citizen. To organise a fly and drive trip, it is enough to overcome one's prejudices and organise with the precautions we would use when approaching a trip in Europe. In an Arab country one can live well, very well.