Petra, Jordan – December 2010

Our tour of Petra began with a walk through the Siq, which is a narrow canyon surrounded by huge cliffs.  At the end of the walk down the Siq we saw the Petra Treasury for the first time.  It was beautiful!  The red stone glowed in the sunlight at the end of the tunnel, it was a breathtaking sight. 

After a few Kodak moments our tour guide gave us free time and we were able to hike and look at the ruins for a few hours.  Half of our group took a hike and the rest of us stayed and explored the tombs and structures in the site.  It was fun to explore the area that was featured in “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.”   The red city, or rose colored city, must have been marvelous at the height of Nabatean history.   We spent time at the amphitheater and practicing speaking English with a local child that was selling souvenirs.  The guide told us before we arrived at the site not to buy anything from the children.  They are forced by their families to work rather than going to school.  We didn’t buy anything but we helped her practice speaking English.  

 

When our free time was over we rejoined the group for the walk back through the Siq to the parking area.  We had the option of taking a horse ride or walking.  I rarely get to ride a horse so I thought it would be fun, wish I had chosen differently.  The horse guides were aggressive because they wanted our money.  I picked one based on the horse.  The horses were the saddest I’ve ever seen, they weren’t starving but they were very thin and worked long days.  The whole way back to the car my guide made inappropriate comments to me.  I’m still not sure if he was being inappropriate because he didn’t know what he was saying in English or if he meant to be perverse, but it was really annoying.  If you are ever in Petra and get the opportunity to take a horse ride as part of your tour, take the walk instead.

Once we got to the top of the Siq we stopped and had lunch before hopping back on the bus to Amman.      

This is the spring. I was sad to see the trash people left.

On our way back to Amman we stopped at a building with a spring.  It is believed that the spring at Wadi Musa (Valley of Moses), is where Moses struck the rock to get water.  It is also thought that Aaron, Moses brother, died in Jordan and was buried in Petra at Mount Hor, now called Mount Aaron.  The guide told us that this was also a meeting place for the three kings, who took frankincense, gold and myrrh to baby Jesus in Bethlehem.  During this part of the trip I wished I was more religious so I would better understand the significance of the history of Petra. 

Finally we made it to Jordan! – December 2010

 

Two camels in a Toyota!

After spending the night in Cairo we said goodbye to our horrible Egyptian tour guides and then returned to the airport so we could catch a flight to Amman, Jordan.  In Amman we boarded another tour bus with a new tour guide and headed down the Kings Highway to Petra. 

Ruins of a castle we saw along the way.

Within minutes of our arrival in Jordan we realized our new tour guide was going to be great.  We had horrible experiences with our guides in Egypt so we were relieved to see that our new tour guide was kind and attentive to our tour group.  During the bus trip he stopped at a store, similar to an American mini-mart, and let us shop for snacks since he knew there was no food available until we reached our hotel for dinner.  It was fun to see the mini-mart, the stuff they sell, and meet some local people on our adventure to the hotel.  

 

Rob at the mini-mart

Jason found some treasures!

The Taybet Zaman is the hotel we stayed at near Petra.  The deluxe hotel was created out of an old restored Bedouin village.  It sat high on a hill overlooking the desert.  When we arrived it was cold and the wind was howling which gave it a spooking yet fascinating feel.  I loved staying at this hotel because it was unlike any place I’d ever stayed.  The rooms were really nice and the hotel was very close to Petra.  We had the option to go on a night visit to Petra but we passed to save money and stay at the hotel for dinner.  If I had it to do over I’d go on the night visit to Petra.  I’ve seen pictures and it looks amazing at night, probably worth the extra cash.  

View from the hotel

After dinner we all took it easy and went to bed.

Aswan Dam - December 2010

This was another strange part of the trip where we weren’t sure what to think of our tour guide.  She took us to Aswan Dam to take pictures and be tourists but there were signs everywhere that said no pictures.  After a few minutes of us taking pictures guards came and yelled at the group.  Another great moment brought to you by our awful tour guide (who was fired after this trip due to several huge problems).  

The Aswan Dam was built between 1898 and 1902 to provide power and control the flow of water enabling Egypt to increase agriculture output.  The first dam proved to be too small and was unable to handle the Nile and its unpredictable flooding.  The solution was to construct the High Dam between 1960 and 1971, which created Lake Nasser.   

Lake Nasser, Egypt looks just like Pyramid Lake, Nevada, USA

The new dam has increased agriculture production and the hydroelectricity has greatly benefited Egypt.  There have also been some consequences though.  The dam flooded many areas that had ancient monuments.  The change in water flow also changed the way silt moved and was deposited on river bank farmland.  Since the silt now stays in Lake Nasser and is no longer deposited on the Delta, the farmers there have to use chemicals rather than the old silt deposits for farming. 

After seeing Aswan Dam we went to a granite quarry.  At the granite quarry we were able to see a huge cracked obelisk that showed how the stone was carved out of the rock.  

Aswan Airport

 After that part of the trip we went back to Aswan airport for a short flight back to Cairo. 

Aswan, Abu Simbel and my first felucca ride - December 2010

Abu Simbel – Great Temple of Ramses II

First thing in the morning Ron, Chris and I went with a few others from the tour group to the airport to catch a small plane ride to Abu Simbel. 

Abu Simbel (spelled both Simbel and Simbil) is a modern ancient marvel made out of an ancient monument.  The temples are located in southern Egypt on the bank of Lake Nasser.  There are two temples that were originally carved in a mountainside during the reign of Pharaoh Ramses II dedicated to him and his queen Nefertari.  The modern marvel part of this temple is that it was originally located in an area that was to be submerged after the creation of Lake Nasser due to the Aswan High Dam.  The temple was moved from the mountainside in 1968 to its current location on an artificial hill high above the Lake Nasser reservoir. 

You can only take pictures in the entrance way if you hold the key of life and pose.

This was an extra excursion that we added on to the trip and it was well worth the time and money to see this amazing temple and learn about what it took to save it when the dam was built. 

Philae Temple

After returning from Abu Simbel we joined the group for a tour of the Philae Temple, the holiest site for Isis worshippers.  The temple was half submerged after the Aswan Dam was built.  It was completely dismantled and then rebuilt on the island of Agilika.  When touring the temple we saw some very old graffiti, the tour guide said Napoleon did the graffiti but who knows if that is true.   

Aswan

Location "A" is Abu Simbel on this Google Map

Located at the ancient trade crossroads of India, Egypt and Africa you will find the southernmost Egyptian city Aswan.   This is also the place where I finally found a pharmacy and bought myself some Cipro antibiotics over the counter.  After asking my tour guide and the cruise ship staff several times to help me get antibiotics I decided to take things into my own hands and find a pharmacy.  The antibiotics I bought worked and every day I felt a little better. 

Aswan can best be described as the place where the desert meets the Nile.  We were fortunate enough to take a felucca (a small Egyptian sailboat) ride over to Kitchener’s Island to see the lush botanical gardens.  The felucca ride was fun.  Our security guard was teaching us about the area and the boat captain was entertaining.  This was one of those times on the trip where we realized these guys were way better than our tour guide and we weren’t sure if anything she had told us on the trip was true.   

"Can you hear me now?"  Yes, our Nubian Felucca captain is on his cell phone.

Our security guard / tour guide for the afternoon and the boat captain

Our walk around the gardens was lovely.  It was interesting to see all the cats and dogs that live on the island in the beauty of all the plants.  They are pretty lucky to have such a spectacular view.  The gardens were unique because on the other side of the river bank was the desert and miles of sand. 

When the felucca brought us back to Aswan we got back on the bus and returned to our Nile cruise ship.  It was the last night on the boat…thank goodness!