Jordan - Petra

The guide met us at the airport, and the said,  "this isn't Egypt!"

Our fist stop was - believe it - Safeway!

Strangely enough, a retired fiend of ours worked for Safeway.  When we laughed and told him about this "first stop" he told us he was offered the job of helping to build this Safeway and manage the fruit & vegetable department - he turned it down.

All houses MUST have white marble - depending upon what district or block you're on, 

it can go from all four outer walls to just one.

O Madaba, the oldest preserved ancient mosaic map of the Holy Lands.

Mosaics are a major art form and industry in this area

On the road to Petra

                                                                              Black tents, above, belong only to Bedouins 

                                                                              Beware the third cup pf coffee!

The mount peak above Petra where Moses brother 

is buried

The "Entrance" to Petra

Under the watchful eyes of camels and horses

we walk the 2.5 k to Petra

                                    Some ride - carriages or horses

Tombs on along the path

Into the SIG

      Looking up - a lot!

Hidden water troughs

On the left - for people; On the right - for animals

At the time they were completely hid den

Look for Roman paving stones

Yes, it gets pretty narrow & dark

Look for carvings in the walls - 

Can you see the out line of the very famous camel carving?

And further down we go 

And our Tourist Police companion (a really nice guy) said - 

"Close your eyes and let me lead you a few steps - 

don't open them until I tell you to."

Yes - the Treasury!

We'll NEVER get as good a picture as you see in magazines!

Out of the Sig

Into a grand panaroma!

                      The top of the Treasury, above, where soldiers 

                          & Bedouins shot - thinking it full of money 

                Steps carved into the wall beside the Treasury

            where workers climbed to carve out the building 

Inside the single room in the Trasury 

some of the most spectacular "carvings" are made by weathering 

Tombs are everywhere 

Spectacular buildings surround you

As do steps to no-where and paths to the heights

And then there's the stage / theater /coliseum 

The Bedouins "owned Petra and lived their day-to-day lives there, 

up until the government saw Petra as their "oil wells" for tourist trade.  So they paid the Bedouins a large sum of cash, gave them sole rights for all Petra shops selling to the tourists, and built them the village pictured below, high upon a ridge looking down on Petra. 

Bedouin shop, using old tomb as a storage area

More carvings, tombs and a temple, on the long way up and out the Sig

The horses provided to tourists are from this organization -

They are exceptionally beautiful & full of themselves 

(both the horses and the riders)

We leave Petra and the Mountain guarding it.

The road back - passing an ancient grave yard

More desert tents and desert towns 

One of the rarer green spots with camels, sheep and cows

The famous rail road protected by the more famous 

Lawrence of Arabia 

The fort from which he rode