Day 5

Petra! Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade brought the world’s attention to Petra, through the featuring of The Treasury façade in the last scenes of the movie. So we knew what to expect, sort of, but nothing can really prepare you. It was a truly awesome experience for all of us as we walked from our hotel into the park area (along with hundreds of other tourists – Petra is Jordan’s #1 attraction) and into the Siq, the naturally occurring crack in the sandstone cliffs that wends its way through spectacular cliffs and into the Treasury. The city of Petra was initially created by the Nabateans (1^st century BC) as a holy place and cemetery. They constructed countless tombs and built ceramic waterways into the wall to bring pure water all the way down to The Treasury and beyond. Later, Petra was occupied by the Romans who paved the roads and extended the city with shops, temples and government buildings. One of the highlights of our day was the walk up to The Monastery, which featured an even bigger but perhaps less completed façade like The Treasury. Trying to think about the logistics involved in the construction is mind-boggling. Just beyond the Monastery are spectacular views over the Rift Valley and the Negev Desert from precarious positions. Charlie was held on to by his dad very tightly!

Day 4

Moving day #1. We travelled south destined for Petra, but with some other exciting stops to make along the way. The first stop was at Macherus, the site of one of Herod Antipas’ castle, and the place where John the Baptist was incarcerated and then beheaded. Amazingly rugged yet beautiful scenery overlooking the Dead Sea. Then on through one of the most amazing gorges I’ve ever seen – the Arnon Gorge. The road wends its way down precipitously which was a little scary at times, but no problem for our fantastic driver. How he manoeuvered a 49 seat bus through steep winding roads and then through incredibly narrow busy roads at Kerak drew a number of rounds of applause. And Kerak was the last stop of the day, the site of a Crusader castle on an incredibly strategic location enabling control of trade routes in the 11^th – 13^th centuries. The day ended when we arrived at Petra, one of the true wonders of the world, but more on Petra tomorrow.