Trekking in Jordan - Day by Day Account - Petra

We didn't exactly get an early start to the day.

Abdulla started the day with a surprise to me, “Do you want to ride Ferrari?” Now, those of you used to speaking to people who do not primarily speak English might think he was hacking out a word or two. Perhaps he meant to say “in a?” Actually, he spoke perfectly. Ferrari was his mule!

I never really knew why Ferrari was coming with us, but it didn’t take long before Jennifer was taking a ride. 

Our hike in the morning was totally reminiscent of hiking to the Sun Gate along the Inca Trail in route to Macchu Picchu. We hiked the back way into Petra. I didn’t comprehend how awesome this was until we actually did it. First the views were spectacular. The rocks dripped like melted candles.

The trail cut through and there was even a sign already created for Jennifer.

When we got to the Monastery, I saddened that although the building was as magnificent as the pictures, it was in shadow. The problem with travelling with a group is you can’t just wait out the sun as you can when you are alone and can just bribe your wife with good food and wine while you wait.

Fortunately, I had another plan. Shoot at the top of the monastery. Sadly, when I asked Abdulla, he said it wasn’t allowed anymore. After a few unsatisfactory photos I asked again, this time in private. Success! He asked, “Just you and Jennifer?” “YES! And we will be really quiet about it,” I replied.

Next thing we knew he got a young guard, his cousin, to scurry us up over the sides of the rock to get to the top.

He was very careful. Having each of us go over the dangerous areas one at time and then coming back for the other. He also helped with my bag in any areas the warranted extra caution. When we pulled the wedding dress out he was stunned. We got our shots and in great light.

I wanted to call down to the gang for them to get photos from below, but I didn’t want to draw attention to us. We headed back down and offered our guide a tip. He initially refused stating he didn’t do it for us, but as a favor to his friend Abdulla. We implored and he accepted. While many people will feign not wanting the tip, there was an air about him that he was really not interested in it as much as the bond between Abdulla and himself. Having a truly local guide had such huge advantages. I fear in 10 years the locals will be pushed out by commercialism of the trekking world and then all the beauty will be lost.

Luckily, the gang caught what was going on and snapped a few photos of us from below. Gotta love Michael F's super zoom!

We high tailed in through the back end of Petra to meet up with our guide. We did stop to buy a few trinkets from Abdulla’s mom, who had more presents for Jennifer. This time a camel bone necklace. We got a kick out of the “local foods” sold on the path through petra. Not exactly local.

We met up with the company guide and were hours behind schedule. Jennifer and I planned a separate excursion with Ray so we politely told him to tell Ray we were headed out directly and apologized for missing the talk about Petra. It was still a good hour hike out of the massive complex and we loved every step of it.

That is until we hit the wave of people pouring in through the gates. We were leaving just in time.

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This trip was organized by Discover Jordan. We can not praise them enough. If you are considering a trip to Jordan, please reach out to them. They were wonderful to work with an exceeded all of our expecations!