Aqaba, Jordan

On Tuesday morning we arrived in Aqaba, Jordan.  We will be here for two days.  We did not swim this morning as we are going to Petra and it is quite a lot of exercise for both of us.  Breakfast in La Veranda and then readied for our tour "Ancient Petra".  The last time we were here, Bob did Petra and I just wandered around Aqaba.

This is from the port where we were docked.

Petra is at 2657 feet elevation.  The ride to Petra takes about 2.5 hours.  They did stop at a rest area where we were able to shop, etc.

We were on bus number 14.

The view from the rest area.  This country is very barren.

More view from the rest area.

Some of the crew were able to take a bus to Petra.  This is Ksami who is one of our favorite bartenders.

Petra is an archaeological part and is Jordan's greatest tourist attraction.  This lost city was carved into sheer rock but the Nabataeans more than 2000 years ago.  After a period of decline and a series of earthquakes, Petra was essentially abandoned and forgotten.  Local Bedouin tribes continued to inhabit and fiercely guarded Petra until the early 19th century.  Petra was rediscovered by the Western world when Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt visited the ruins.

The ancient main entrance to Petra is an impressive 1200 m long deep and narrow gorge of natural beauty.  the Siq is hemmed in by cliffs soaring up to 80 meters.  We walked down but there were these horses that you could rent to take you to the opening.

Or you could rent a carriage to take you all the way to the Treasury.  It cost about $50 each way and the ride was a scary thing.  The horses lose their footing on the rocks and they go down at a quick pace.  The people riding in the carriages look scared.

On the way to the opening you pass these caves.  Some of them are tombs.

You can get an idea of the size of the area by looking at us.

A description of the following picture.

And now we have entered the Siq.

After this walk down you emerge from the Siq and come face to face with Al-Khazneh, the pride and joy of Petra better know as the Treasury.  The architectural style of it was quite unique in the ancient world.  The main inspiration was Hellenistic, Alexandrian Hellenistic, plus the unique Nabataean artistic touch.  The facade is 30 m wide and 43 m high.  It is truly breathtaking.  It was carved in the 1st century BC as a tomb of an important Nabataean king.  Some scholars believe it was later used as a temple.

The walk down is not so bad but then you have to come back up.  Ugh!!!

The entire area is awesome.  That is me on the right. I will dump the hat before I get home.  Seems I forgot to bring one with me so I bought this one in Australia.  It has served it purpose.

Please notice I am not the one sitting at this point.

And after that walk you come to what you came to see.  Quite impressive.

And if you wanted to go further down, you could rent a camel.

But this is as close as I got to the camel.

This was a little further in the walk.

So we walked all the way past the Treasury to the Theatre but I could go no further so I headed back while Bob walked on a bit.  As I walked back, I stopped several times as it was hot, humid and a difficult climb up hill.  I did run out of water.  Bob caught up with me at the top and gave me water and then we both decided to ride the horse the rest of the way.  Probably spent too much money for the ride but it was a live saver.

Just the view Bob got of me on the horse.  I am not a horseback rider, as you can tell.  I was holding on for dear life.  But he got me back up and I am forever grateful.

We had lunch at a guest house that Bob thinks was new since the last time we were here.  We sat with Steve and Barbara from New Zealand, and Bev and Don from California.

We drove back to Aqaba and what a ride.  The bus driver must have had a heavy date that he wanted to be on time.  We were the last bus to leave Petra by a half hour and we beat two buses back.  We passed everything on the road.

We got back to the ship and cleaned up.  We decided if we laid down, we might not get back up.  Had a cocktail in Voyager Lounge after we turned in our tickets for Wadi Run.  Then dinner in Compass Rose and back to the suite and bed.  We were tired and beat.

The next day we did not do any touring.   We were going to take the shuttle into Aquaba but everyone we spoke with said don't bother.  So we did nothing but our usual sea day activities.  Swimming, needlepoint and such.

Bob did go around the ship and take pictures.  The Europa2 was docking in front of us and Bob got some pictures of the rear of the ship.  Seems they have a deck where clothing is optional.  They put up towels so we could not see but the towels did not cover everything.  To each his own.

We did go to the show the second day in Aqaba.  It was the arial show and we enjoyed it.  I think we have seen it 3 times.  This is a new cast except for Cindy and Stephan.  They all did a great job.  Then back to the suite and bed.