Despite hundreds and hundreds of tourists (I understand Petra surpassed a million visitors last year), the blokes selling camel rides (which actually added to the colour of the place), those selling donkeys (which added to crowding and poo), those selling pony and trap rides (for which there really isn't the room) and all the kids of barely primary school age who can sell you postcards in 7 different languages, Petra still couldn't disappoint. The Treasury coming into view through the narrow gorge through which you enter the site (the Indiana Jones moment) is still quite something. So are the temples. It takes about an hour and a half to get to the restaurants at the end, even if going at a fair lick.
However the "end" isn't really the end. Beyond is the climb to the Monastery, to which to my disappointment large numbers of visitors still flocked, despite the sign warning that venturing beyond that point without a guide is dangerous (bollocks), the 800 plus steps and the fact that it was midday and 30C. But the Monastery is still a great sight (like the Treasury it is in fact a great rock cut tomb, but on the scale and superficial appearance of a temple). But having plodded all the way up there (with a handily placed restaurant opposite doing a roaring trade in cold drinks to the gasping and expiring pilgrims), there are then further temptations - a series of great viewpoints. But all just a bit higher requiring just a bit more climbing, and when you have come so far, well it would be a pity to to stop short wouldn't it? Sadly my photos don't quite capture the enormity of the drops as my vertigo kicked in near the edges. Indeed as I type I can feel the backs of my knees going weak at the mere memory.
Well I was up there from 8 am to 4pm (well 5 past 4 to be accurate, so I was 5 minutes late getting back to the bus - black mark!). On return to the coach, I must admit every muscle I had below the waist was begging for submission and tendering their immediate resignation from my carcass, including many muscles I didn't know I had but only indicated their presence by sending messages of pain to my brain. But yes worth it all. What is particulary amazing is to try and imagine Petra in its pomp. It had a water supply, fountains and trees and so would have been this lush oasis of grand temples and colonnaded streets in the middle of the desert concealed by the mountains. And the Naboteans (who originally built the place) had the endearing habit of absorbing the best bits of the artistic styles (and just in case, the Gods) of all the big powers of the time, Syria, Greece, Rome and Egypt. So the Treasury has statues of Castor and Pollux, Isis, Tyche and Nike Athena with a couple of Amazons thrown in for good measure (all sadly defaced (literally) by the moslems), Roman columns mix with Egyptian oblisks in designs, and the great temple doesn't just have bog-standard Corinthian capitals which you find throughout the Roman Empire, but ones with elephant heads added.
So top tips, don't think you can beat the crowds - they are there all the time - and don't use the toilets at the "cheap" restaurant unless very desperate. I won't explain why - this is a family blog and you might be eating as you read.
From Petra the standard trip is to nearby Wadi Rum in the desert. The theory is to stay at a Bedouin camp in the desert. What a swizz. Okay technically this might be a camp and there are a few Bedouins there to run it (badly), but it is a real let down. Imagine (British followers) a 1950s Butlins shut down by sanitory inspectors and you would have it. The camp is basically courtyards of conjoined chalets, only instead of solid walls they are of canvas. And they contain nothing but two camp beds and a light bulb. (One of our party, in passing further of these camps, described them as looking like concentration camps.) There were four toilets and two showers for the I guess about 50 male guests. And how about this for a euphemism from our guide - "there is just normal water here" (as opposed to hot water). And even cold shower doesn't quite describe it, since "shower" suggests some sort of water dispersion, and these were just spouts of cold water - just taps in the air.
Buffet dinner was taken sat in monstrous large versions of Bedouin couches, with a fire in the middle and piped music alternating between modern arab and standard euro disco stuff like the Macarena. At one stage guests were encouraged to join in what I can only describe as an Arabic hokey-cokey, in which I am proud to say only two of our party participated. The Germans and Dutch showed no such inhibitions. If you can picturee my lips curling in disgust and contempt at the whole charade - spot on! And if there is one thing the Bedouin are famed for its their coffee. We got instant for breakfast - just the powder and hot water. And no spoons.
Next morning, with little sleep (being able to hear every snorer in the group through our terraced canvas hovels), several mosquito bites and largely unshaven and unwashed (well you wouldn't lightly queue for a cold shower in those numbers), I went for my first camel ride. Compared well to horses and elephants, but I don't think I would have wanted another hour, nor to go any faster than the sedate pace at which we were led along. The Bedouin camel herders happily chatted on their mobile phones while they walked us round the block (the block being a huge sandstone outcrop. And after the ride I looked forward to spending the rest of the day with my aching thighs tightly clamped together. I have said it before, if God had meant men to ride horses (or camels) he would have given us wider legs.
Then onto a 4 x 4 trip into the desert to see a spring which Lawrence used (yes this part of Jordan is Lawrence of Arabia territory), some early rock-carvings and to climb a sand dune (which I decided to quit halfway up when my shoes had filled with red-hot sand.). But pretty amazing scenery, flat desert plain surrounded by rugged high mountains.
Then onto our final destination in Jordan, the rapidly growing resort and port of Aqaba. By far the most western and efficient city in Jordan. Full of proper (especially seafood) restaurants and hotels of western standards. Went on a trip in a glass-bottomed boat to see some local coral reefs. The younger members of our party proceeded to go snorkelling, but I just didn't fancy it, not least as it was only a few hundred metres from various container ships coming in and out of the port. Still, a pleasant enough city to be in and to end my stay in Jordan.
So time for a view on Jordan. Based on my extensive research as a tourist here for less than a week, well the people are very nice. The hawkers are nowhere near as persistent as in Egypt (deep breath as I have that to come). Not very well set up for tourists, though I am sure they would argue otherwise. But frankly they just don't spread us out enough, so their answer is just to pour more and more people into the same places until they become unbearable. Amman the capital is a bit of a hole - not an easy city to love. But the people are really friendly, right down to the child hawkers at Petra who are more sweet than irritating. A lesser man could have been persuaded to part with his cash for them, but I am made of sterner stuff.
As with Syria, it is growing rapidly, has the most tenuous of ecological policies (if in doubt, just chuck any rubbish out of a window and the pollution seems pretty bad) and the most superficial of democratic systems (lots of voting for a powerless parliament, no policies and pretty pointless as the king can just dismiss prime ministers at will). And unlike much of western Europe, its a very young country (ie you see lots of children and the population will get way out of control unless someone does something soon).
No comments:
Post a Comment