Petra and Amman

I have reached Kandy, Sri Lanka in case you are all keeping tabs on me. Which I assume you are. I left Jordan yesterday afternoon and after almost 24 hours of traveling by taxi, plane, bus, and train I reached my next destination. I'm excited to see what Sri Lanka has to offer. I have a tentative itinerary planned. 

Before that, we need to go back to Jordan. After Wadi Rum, I spent a couple of nights in the village of Wadi Musa in order to have a base to explore Petra, which became very popular because of Indiana Jones, and because it's amazing. 

There was a group of us leaving Wadi Rum and a few were staying in the same hotel as me. Which actually worked out, since I ended up having people to hang out with over the next couple of days. One thing that I was missing out by doing Airbnb. 

After dropping my bag, I walked down the hill to the entrance of Petra. The ticket price was actually pretty pricey (50 JD), but since I decided to take 2 days to explore, the extra day was only an extra 5 JD. I was definitely going to get my money's worth.

I took my time, but of course was hassled by all the adults trying to get you to take donkey, horse, and camel rides and the kids trying to sell postcards, bracelets, and other knick-knacks. After the 20th person trying to sell me something, it was definitely getting ufrustrating. I had heard it was pretty bad. And it was. It's unfortunate though, since at some points I just wanted to get away so I rushed through a few spots. One more reason getting the 2-day pass worked out.

Other than that, which just became a running joke, I had a great time hiking around and exploring. One of the groups of people from my bus,  were some students from Peru who were studying abroad at various locations, including NYU Abu Dhabi. We started chatting since we were all on the bus from Wadi Rum. I walked through the Siq, saw the Treasury, and hiked the 800 stairs (apparently) up to the Monastery. Of course that was named the 'best view'. And it was pretty great. We then met up with 2 guys from the bus, a Frenchman and a Dutchman (there should be a joke somewhere in there). They were staying where I was, so we headed back together. I felt like I got less attention since I was with 2 guys instead of by myself. So that was a nice break.

The Treasury.

The following morning, I went for a short run around Wadi Musa. And it was hilly. Surprise, surprise. However, I'm ok with the hills. But I'm not ok with the honks and catcalls. When I felt like I should, I would say something in response, even though I was probably just wasting my energy. I understand that it's a rarity to see anyone running, let alone a woman. It's just too bad men think they can just act inappropriate. Of course they don't even know they are being inappropriate. I try to let it slide. But it's hard after a while. 

After getting a few miles in, I headed back to Petra. It was actually a bit quieter, and I think it was because of Shabbat and there just weren't as many day trippers. I hiked up to the Obelisks and ran into the Frenchman and the Dutchman. We stuck together for the rest of the day. It worked out perfectly as I had company, and they were up to doing everything I was. So we continued to hike up and down mountains to get competing views, one of the Treasury from high above. We actually chose to hang out there for a while and may have taken a nap. All those stairs made us tired. We then met a couple from Germany and The Netherlands (who met in college in the US), who we ended up hiking through this canyon with. It was a little off the beaten trail and definitely involved some rock climbing and the sort. We made it through and called it a day. We grabbed a few folks from the hotel and rewarded ourselves with a beer at the only place that sold alcohol in town. It was called Petra Beer and came in a wide range of alcohol percent, up to 13%! We stuck with the 8% beers. And since it costs 6 JD (about $8.50), we only had one.

Super View.

It was time to head to Amman. Since I had decided to stay an extra night in the desert, I only had one night in Amman before my flight to Sri Lanka. I was ok with it, but another day still could have been nice. 

I hitched a ride with one of the workers at the hotel since he was picking a group of people for a tour. It worked out since I arrived earlier than I thought I would. Although it still took a while due to the rain. I had put off my long run and had to do it Monday morning. A part of me regrets waiting. That was one of the most frustrating runs ever. I had done some research so I knew what to expect. But it didn't help. It's not a runner-friendly city for sure. After dodging cars, trying to avoid the high curbs and going up hills, I made it to a nice trail in the middle of the city (which took me a while to find) to get some peace. But it was such a short trail (a little over a mile), it was going to be tough to do many miles on it. I ended up cutting my run short by 2 miles. I was so over it. I also needed to get back to get my hotel room to pack up. And since I got slammed with rain right at the end, I was happy to be done. I hope next week's long run will be better. 

After getting showered and dry, I wandered around a bit. I didn't have much time, but walked up Rainbow Road, checked out the market, and the Citadel. And got what will probably be my last falafel and hummus for a while. Time for some different food. 

Umbrellas.

Besides some of the unwanted attention, most Jordanians I encountered were really nice. Even in the bigger city of Amman. People were giving me things. They were small items that I would have happily paid for. So I got a couple of postcards, some Dead Sea soap (I hope it's legit), and a free beer. 

I think one of the few things that was cool about visiting Jordan, was the range of visitors. People came from all over including Peru, Germany, England, France, The Netherlands, Italy, Romania, Hungary, China, Taiwan, Australia, and of course the US. I know many people thought it wouldn't be safe due to it's proximity to Syria, but it was totally fine and I didn't encounter any issues. 

There's still lot to see in this small country (as my cab driver was telling me), so a future trip may be warranted. 

Now time to explore a different part of the world.