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. 

Wadi Rum

I made it to Jordan, the 3rd country, on my list. After spending a day at the beach in Eilat at the Red Sea, it was time to move on. And since it reached 104 degrees, being right next to the sea for a day was definitely needed. 

I had some recommendations on what do do in Jordan and obviously Petra was at the top of the list. Others had also recommended Wadi Rum. So I figured why not. From Eilat, I took a bus close to the border, walked through passport control, dealt with the taxi mafia on the other side, and arrived in Aqaba. From here I took a minibus to Rum Village. I had a very entertaining ride as these 2 Jordanian girls nonstop chatted with me on the hour long ride. Too bad most of it was in Arabic so I didn't have a clue what they were saying most of the time. But we were helping each other out in the language department. I helped reinforce some of their English and I learned a bit of Arabic. We did work on counting to 10 in English and their mom taught me a few basics phrases in Arabic. There were some other women on the bus who asked if I spoke Arabic as well since I'm sure they wanted to talk. It's too bad since they also talked the entire hour ride to Rum Village. 

Once I arrived, and after making sure I was with the right camping/guide company, I got a cup of tea, played soccer with a few local boys, and finally hopped into the jeep to head out to the campsite. We did make a couple of detours (checked on the camels and saw the Chicken Rock), and the guide let me drive for a bit. I haven't driven a stick shift in several years, but I'm happy to say that I was able to drive through the desert without stalling. Go me. The desert is known for their sunrises and sunsets, and we arrived just about sunset, but it wasn't promising. Too much cloud cover. Instead my camp mates and I sat around the fire, played some sort of guitar instrument, smoked some hookah (unsuccessfully for me), and drank tea. We then headed to the living room hut and proceeded to eat a ton of food that the hosts had prepared. On full stomachs, we chit chatted a bit more under the moon.

Attempting some local music.

I mentioned I was camping. Yes, there was a tent. But they are a bit more rearmament and actually had a bed and electricity. And way more sturdy than a tent, especially as it proceeded to thunderstorm that first night. It was kind of fun, but the thunder felt like it was right above me and woke me up several times. The following morning, I woke up to hopefully see the sunrise, but the clouds were in the way, again. Fortunately, after some more thunder and lightening, the weather proceeded to get better. Good thing since I was going on camel ride. I spent about 5 hours wandering around the desert checking out the various sights of Wadi Rum with my own personal tour guide. Only the best when you travel solo.

Riding Foo Foo.

I saw some springs, went into a canyon, ran part of the way up a sand dune (and walked the rest of the way), ran all the way down the sand dune, climbed up some rocks, and just took in all the beautiful ('jamil' in Arabic) scenery. The camel ride was pretty cool. Getting up and down was an experience in itself since it has to do this dip thing in order for me to get off.

We ended at the village, where I proceeded to go to a Jordanian, Arabic, and Bedouin wedding that I had gotten invited to. Of course I'm not traveling with wedding apparel, let alone apparel that would be appropriate. However, I made do with what I had (pants, dress, and scarf). There was a range of outfits among the women, from traditional Arabic clothing, to nice dresses, and jeans and tank-tops. The wedding was a 2-day event and separated by gender. Fortunately I was in the more fun tent as we got to dance. Apparently the men just sit around, drink coffee and tea, and chat. We also chatted, but we got to dance, so that already made it better. I made friends with a French girl who is volunteering in the village for a few months. The younger girls latched onto us and proceeded to teach us some of the dancing and kept providing tea for us. It was a long afternoon and evening though. And to think there was another day for celebration. I didn't meet the bride though. I don't think she comes until the 2nd day. After dinner, I made my way back to the campsite and met all the new people staying that night. The sky was much clearer so we played music and had more tea under the moon and stars around the fire.

Lawrence's Springs.

Since I wanted a down day to relax a bit more at the campsite, I actually decided to stay another night. After the sunrise, I went into the village to get wifi and connect with the girl I was staying in Petra. Well she didn't react in the best way and I decided to cancel my reservation with her. So I made new accommodations, and hiked a bit near the village. Afterwards, I headed back and relaxed at the campsite for a bit and watched the sunset. I also did a photoshoot with a Chinese girl staying overnight with her mom. I decided to spend the night under the stars. Which was pretty cool. No animals were lurking around. I only saw one fox and some lizards in mountains so far at that point. The moon was very bright, but it was nice as it reminded me when were kids and would camp out on the deck in the summer time.

Camping under the stars. 

Before moving on to Petra, I had one last sunrise. I drove with the owner of the campsite to a different location where we climbed a rock barefoot. He may have also proposed to me, which I managed to brush off. I think he was kidding, but a part of me wasn't entirely sure. But the sunset was really nice. 

I rode a camel, went to a wedding, may or may not have been proposed to and spent the night under the stars. All in all, a pretty nice time in the desert.