The Treasury Building
John and I left Tel Aviv last Saturday afternoon and flew to Eilat, on the Red Sea. From there, we crossed the border into Jordan, and a driver took us to Petra. We checked in the hotel and had a late dinner.
We met our guide the next morning and made our way into Petra, through the winding Siq, a narrow passage through the red rock canyon. At the end of the Siq, we were rewarded with a spectacular look at the Treasury building.
We walked on to the center, poking our heads in caves and tombs along the way and saw more beautiful facades. After lunch, we headed back to the hotel, repeated saying “no thanks” to offers of camels, donkeys and horses to ferry us back uphill.
Since we arrived in Jordan after dark, we had not seen the countryside, so it was fun to see it in daylight on our way back to Israel. It was very mountainous and brown, with a few olive trees and some type of scrub brush here and there. This is Bedouin country, so we saw their tents and camels and herds of goats and sheep – an odd juxtaposition, given that we were speeding past on an excellent highway.
Click for more pictures of Petra.
Back in Tel Aviv, we went to Trivia Night with a group of Embassy employees at the local Irish Pub. I kept score, and John played on a team – lots of fun.
We went to a fun dinner on Wednesday – “Pakistan Night,” hosted by our upstairs neighbor who served in Pakistan on her last tour. She cooked a Pakistani meal for several of us who are heading there next year. It was a lot of fun – she even had a loop of photos from Pakistan projected on the wall.
Last night we went to another nice dinner party and had a delicious meal – Naz is known for her cooking and she didn’t disappoint. Good wine and company, as well!
At the Jordanian border
Walking through the Siq