Saturday 3^rd July

Breakfast at 6.30 am and started to walk through Petra by 7.00 am to try to avoid the heat and the crowd. (This is actually a very quiet time of the year here as it is too bloody hot!) We made our way to the far end of the city (4 Km) and now faced the daunting climb up to the site of the ‘monastery’ which is the most impressive of all the rock tombs, but is perched on a mountain top and reached only by a long and precipitous pathway containing over 800 steps and a lot of rubble strewn track. Being old, we opted to ride up on mules which seemed a good idea at the time and after some sharp negotiations we set out with Steve, Chris and myself perched on robust mules and poor Sarah riding on a rather smaller donkey. In retrospect this was not as cute as it seemed as the route is fraught with hazards. Firstly Steve’s mule was given its head by the lad with us and it led the way rather slowly. I was also allowed to ride my mule without assistance but she (Monica) was a lot fitter and more enthusiastic than Steve’s and constantly tried to squeeze past and overtake at the narrowest and most frightening spots. Chris probably had her eyes closed for most of the rather harrowing journey up, but poor Sarah had a donkey that was simply not strong enough any longer to cope with the climb and having a passenger and so it slipped and stumbled, even ending up on its knees at one point. Not helped at all by the 10 year old drive frequently cajoled it with a stick when the donkey then skittered sideways.  The driver would not agree to Sarah getting off and walking despite the constant admonishments to sit forward or in the middle of the travelling saddle secured by a piece of string.... The only thing that we all agreed could be more frightening than going up the trail and the 800 steps hewn out of solid rock with precipitous drops on both sides, was the thought of the descent. So we thanked the two lads who had brought us up and opted to return down on foot. The prize for making the climb however was well worthwhile and Sarah even climbed a little higher to an observation point for a few more photos. The descent was a good deal easier that we had imagined, but as the mules came down past us, without riders, we were reminded of how pleased we were not to be on them. Smooth rock and hooves are a poor combination if you need traction and it is hard to believe that there are not a few casualties each year.

On the way down we were passed by the delivery trucks on the ascent – 3 donkeys, two with water unaccompanied and the third far behind with the donkey driver carrying diesel.   (see photos at www.rhbell.com)

We made our way finally back out of the city and the Siq and returned to the hotel for a swim and lunch after which we were picked up by another ‘people carrier’ (one with air con this time) and were driven to Wadi Rum.

Wadi Rum is the desert made famous by Lawrence of Arabia and this magnificent desert and mountain landscape is both fascinating and dangerous. We climbed aboard a modern Land Rover at the visitor centre and our Bedouin driver drove us at speed down the road leading into the desert before leaving the tarmac and heading out into the wilderness. This was the first signs of life where a group of six camels being ridden by – would you believe it, but the same three crews we had met at the border two days ago! We stopped and chatted for a while before we lurched off again on a fascinating and informative tour. This is the true home of the Bedouin and is a most unforgiving place and it is now largely a protected area as they try to look after its fragile eco system. We were shown a number of sites including very ancient rock carvings with three different languages and features before stopping by a large rock so that we could watch the sun go down over the desert (photos will be posted shortly at www.rhbell.com ) and as we waited, our driver collected a few bits of stick and grass and soon had a very small fire burning, onto which he placed a small kettle containing water and sage and in no time at all we were enjoying sage tea as the sun set dramatically. We then set off again in the Land Rover in the gathering gloom and he took us to a Bedouin camp by way of a VERY dramatic drive down the almost vertical slope  of a very high sand dune. Finally we ended up racing across the desert in near total darkness before rejoining the tarmac road and returning to our people carrier.  We were then taken back to Aqaba where we checked into a different hotel from before (much better) and after a quick late pizza we went to bed exhausted.