Jordan

It is really pretty interesting that in my last post I mused about how near and yet so far Israel and Jordan are from each other, specifically Eilat and Aqaba which literally share a small stretch of coastline.  Well, on a spur of the moment plan, a few of decided to spend our last couple days before school started on a whirlwind trip across the border to Aqaba and up to Petra, staying the night first on the beach in Eilat and then in a Bedouin tent.  To get the theatrics over now, here is the view from the main siq in Petra, walking down a stone path with 50 meter stone walls around you, imagining the endless stream of caravans from the east carrying spices and eastern goods to trade.  Getting to the end, the most miraculous wonder of Petra, build by Nabateans about 300 BC, is the Treasury, a near immaculately preserved facade 50 meters tall.  It is largely this iconic image that won Petra membership among the new seven wonders of the world. Pictured below is the Treasury in all its glory:

So how did this trip come about?  Well, in honor of Juliette's (one of the volunteers) departure to Tel Aviv and the beginning of school for the Arava Institute students, we decided to take a little trip.  Juliette, who knows about 6 languages, had met a Venezuelan woman on the bus from Tel Aviv to Ketura, and struck

up a conversation in spanish.  It turned out that this woman knew some Bedouin around the Petra area, who hooked us up with a car, a tour of Petra, and a place to sleep in Wadi Musa, the modern town built up around Petra.  They were some of the kindest people I’ve ever met, and even invited us to their family home in Wadi Musa, but more on that later.  The whole trip from start to finish probably cost only 150 canadian, and that’s including bus, car, food, tour, and accommodations.  Not Bad!  The following pictures are a little photo essay about the trip.

The first night we spent on a beach in Eilat, camping out on a pier looking back on the city.  Camping is much more relaxed in Eilat than it would be in, say, Florida.  This is a picture looking into Jordan from our camping spot at sunrise.

   In the morning we had to cross the Jordanian border, which cost us about 25 dollars canadian.  The change in atmosphere between Eilat and Aqaba was more drastic than between Toronto and Tel Aviv.  You could feel it in the air.  Especially striking was the shot of one of the members of the Jordanian Royal Family with the flag waving in the background.  It was then that we really felt we had entered not just a new country, but a whole new culture.  On the drive up from Aqaba to Petra we got lost, and had to ask a Bedouin man, his family at his side, where to go.  This was the only good picture we got of them before they ran from the camera.  Here is a picture of Ibrahim, our tour guide through Petra.  He was brilliant in many aspects, like physically knowing the place like the back of his hand and taking us through much less travelled areas, but the history we were likely to get from him was not exactly textbook.  At one point he suggested that if I had trouble believing him I should go read the sign to find out what the "government" said about the place.Here are some pictures from our Bedouin experience.  One of the massive delicious dinner they made us, one of the outside of their house in Wadi Musa, one of the view from their house over Wadi Musa, and one of Gabe playing on the floor with one of their nieces, who's 5 months old.  They were lovely people, open and hospitable, and very lively.Finally, here is a very picturesque Bedouin with the Jordanian Desert in the background.

  So right now, having only been back for less than 24 hours, the other students are arriving!  I must go out and meet my new friends and colleagues!  I will be writing about that soon enough!