6. Petra – in the footsteps of Indiana Jones

After leaving Luxor, surviving the hair raising three hour ride back to the port of Safaga, and our driver being denied access to the port, we walked the last kilometer from the port gate to the Silver Cloud, moored alongside the Silver Shadow, her big sister (quite an unusual event) – it just so happened that she was on a world cruise in the same last four ports that we were in – Safaga, Aqaba (Jordan), Sharm-el-Sheikh (Egypt again) and then Athens.

Returning to our suite after a night away was strangely similar to a mini-homecoming, and we settled in as the ship was readied for leaving for Aqaba.

Nadee, our Jordanian guide and driver who was waiting alongside the gangway as we disembarked in Aqaba was a very pleasant surprise after the Egyptian driver we had at Safaga – he was a dignified, Omar Sharif type father figure, who spoke very good English, and was clearly extremely proud of his country and what it had to offer, besides being an expert and careful driver.

En route to Petra he punctuated the trip with useful information about the countryside, social issues and the history of Jordan and Petra in particular – so by the time we were handed over to our local guide in Petra, we had already been already familiarized with what we were about to see. Again this was very different from the Luxor trip, where the hell raising driver did not speak a word to us all the way – he was not able to speak English at all, as far as we could see. Neither was he able to get into the port to fetch us, requiring us to hitch a ride on the Silverseas tour bus to the port gate, and then take a short ride in a 1960’s Peugeot station wagon taxi before finally getting to our transport. Happily none of this happened here in Aqaba.

Petra is the site used in “Indiana Jones – the Last Crusade” – to get to this long hidden city, high in the mountains, you have to walk the last kilometer through a narrow cleft in the mountain (the Siq) which itself is an experience.

Once into the Siq, our young guide (also excellent) showed us how the ancient Nabataean occupants were excellent water engineers who used ceramic pipes (still in place) to carry water from a diverted river (the Siq was its original bed) down into Petra.

Petra itself is fascinating – emerging from the Siq you are faced with the Khazneh (“Treasury”), but leading off from this is the whole hidden city – over 40 square kilometers in size, containing an amphitheatre (Roman origin) seating 3,000 spectators, and many other buildings – the unique thing is that everything is not built – it is carved out of the actual mountain – and the stone is rose red. This pic shows me in my Indiana Jones hat in front of the Khazneh.

The Khazneh seen here is the building in which Indiana Jones finds the Holy Grail.

On the right is Rose standing in front of the Khazneh - this shows the scale and how big it actually is.

When this picture was taken Rose was starting to experience a severe headache. It was unfortunate that it soon became clear that Rose had became dehydrated and for a time was quite ill – and we had to walk the full length of the Siq, now uphill, in the noon heat and dust. It was quite concerning, as there is no other way out.

Fortunately, Nadee had given us his cellphone number, and with his very concerned assistance, we found a quiet, air-conditioned room in a local restaurant, bought some rehydrating solution from a pharmacy, and managed to get Rose (lying on the back seat most of the way) back to the ship. On the trip back, she began to recover and by the next morning was back to her perky self.

I must recommend Nadee highly - if he represents the quality of the tours provided by his company (Nyazi Tours, http://www.nyazi.com.jo/), then you should look no further when deciding who to use in Jordan. Wadi Rum, by his description, is very well worth a visit as well as Petra, if you ever visit Aqaba.