PETRA and other magical things ;)

Two weekends ago I went to Jordan with two other teachers. I will never be able to explain to you how freaking incredible it was. It was like a live tour through the bible. The pictures just don't do it justice. I took almost 200 so if you want to see more, just ask ;)

We flew into Amman and drove to Petra, arriving around 1:00am. Shhhh don't tell our mothers. They would not be happy. Living in Dubai, I didn't think it would be that much different....I was wrong. Jordan is a very poor country from what I saw. The roads are awful. We saw people living in tents in the middle of the desert. It's really sad. We got up the next day and went to see the Treasury....aka the thing at the end of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, haha. You have to walk down this very large hill (definitely hard coming back up!) to the bottom. The whole time you are winding through this massive crador. It's actually really cool down there. I honestly cannot explain it so I'll just show you:

The entire place is completely covered in tombs. At first you would think these were all dwellings, but they were all completely hollowed out for graves. These first 3 pictures are at the top of the hill as you start to descend into the crevace. 

You can see that the square tomb has been completely chipped away from the mountain. 

Starting to descend....

Almost there!!!.....

The Treasury: OMG AMAZINGGGGG. There was a little cafe down here too. I say cafe, I mean a shack that sold Pringles and Fanta.  I seriously have a million pictures of this. It was incredible. The coolest part is that you are at the bottom of what feels like an open cave. You're surrounded by high rock walls all the way around. 

Once you get to the bottom and see the Treasury, there is soooooo much more to see. We're talking hundreds and hundreds of tombs hollowed out of the rock. Our guide told us that Bedoin (native) tribes lived in these toumbs until 1984 when the government built them homes close by. Apparently 6 families still live in the tombs. Here's just a few pictures of the area around the Treasury. All of this stuff dates back to the time of Christ. Imagine!

 Inside a tomb

Inside a tomb looking out

Laura holding up a tomb. Check out the colors of the rock.

Tombs Everywhere!

Inside Tomb

Inside Tomb

So, after you reach the bottom....you have to go back up...wayyyyyy up to another tomb that looks like the Treasury, which was later used as a monesetary. OMG this hike....was insane. It was compiled of over 800 steps carved out of stone. I reluctantly decided to join my friends and ride a mule to the top. Lots of people do it and I didn't think much of it until I saw the winding cliff/stairs to the top. We are talking drop off cliffs into the abyss. There is no way this hike would be legal in the US before they put up some railings....which there were NONE! It was terrifying. So, here I am on this mule. We were supposed to have a guide on a mule with us but the sketch ball fell behind and sent his son on foot in stead...who was 10 years old! My mule was not having it. He kept wanting to go back and the boy had to keep hitting him with a stick. So, we go about 10 minutes in and I'm staring up the winding, rocky, fall off a cliff to your death stairs and I want off this mule.....but I decide to just stay on. About 10 seconds later, my mule falls off probably a 2 foot ledge and I get thrown to the ground on top of rocks! My friend Laura said she was absolutely sure they were going to have to take me to the ER after seeing me fall. I had sand allllll over me, in my ears and mouth and eyes. That night, my butt (sorry) had the biggest, blackest, purplest, most disgusting bruise I've ever seen. It was at least the size of 2 tennis balls. I had to show Laura to make sure I wasn't going to die, haha. I still have scratches and bruises on my arms and legs. It was seriously the scariest thing ever! A US marine saw me fall and came running over to help me. Those good ole Marines, always ready to help a fallen American, lol. Other passers by were so nice and one guy on a mule offered me a free ride...no thanks.

So, we obviously decide to finish the hike on foot....which was somewhat painful and scary, but sooooo worth it. 

Laura and Heather on the hike

Imagine going up that on a mule......no

When you get to the top, you are greatly rewarded with this!

It's almost cooler than the Treasury because it's so high up on a mountain. We sat and had mint lemonade at the cafe up there. It was absolutely magical.

A little farther up

We also saw a guy who was definitely a local, not climb but RUN up this mountain and sit on the center thing at the top! It was ridiculous!

So, you get to the top and everyone is all "Go a little farther and you will see some amazing views." We were all like, "Are you kidding me?" but we did it. It was cool, but it was hazy up there so we couldn't see much. The coolest thing is that there was a little cafe at the peak too, with a guy and his camel, haha.

On the way down, we realized that the 'girl falling off the mule' story had spread, lol. Several people asked me if I was ok and a couple local boys went by us laughing and saying, "Never go up on a mule. Always donkey! Always donkey! Everyone knows that!" Apparently donkeys are better, lower to the ground, more stubborn and all that. Who knew? Another little local boy was like "How was the mule ride, hahahaha." One of the ladies selling trinkets on the hike asked if I was ok....turns out he was the mother of our little boy guide. Thanks lady. Apparently I'm a celebrity in Petra. Drop my name if you ever visit.

We went to a cooking class that night with about 30 other strangers and it was so much fun. We drank wine and learned how to make some arabic food. We met an American girl who we hung out with again while at the Dead Sea. Stay tuned for the rest of the trip. Dead Sea, Jesus's Baptism spot, and more to come!!!