Petra, Part 1
Petra was an amazing weekend. If I wouldn’t have taken the pictures, I’m not sure I would have believed the memories that I have of the time I spent in Jordan.
Josh and I left early Thursday morning from the central Jerusalem bus station on an autobus headed for Eilat, Israel’s southern-most city and port on the Red Sea. The trip, which lasted about four and a half hours, took us through the Israeli countryside and through the Negev Desert. The waters of the Dead Sea looked temptingly refreshing as the morning sunshine streamed through our window and warmed the bus.
We reached the border crossing, paid the exit fee from Israel, and walked across a stretch of no-man’s land. It was eerie to be between two nations -- it felt almost like a state of perdition. We reached the Jordanian side, got our passports stamped (they asked us what our religion was), and began looking for a service, a cheap shared-van to Petra. We had heard that we could find one for a dinar and a half (one Jordanian dinar = 1.41 American dollars), but the entire crossing was desolate, save a few Jordanian officials shooting the breeze like Sheriffs in an empty Old West town. As we exited the crossing, a Jordanian official approached us and pointed us to a cab that was waiting. We told him we wanted a service, but he lied through his teeth and claimed that there were none running. There was nothing we could do, because we were foreigners, no one else was around, and it was a really long walk through military checkpoints to the nearest city. So, we were taken advantage of and required to pay 35 dinari for the ride to Petra. We passed up several services on the way there.
We reached the hotel in one piece, paid our extravagant cab fee, and settled into our room. The room, which was just 15 dinari a night for both me and Josh, was huge, looked luxurious, and had an incredible view. The toilet wouldn’t flush anything down and the shower-head was broken, but other than that the hotel was really nice.
For dinner, I met Sam, Eric, Leanne, Deb, and Rachel in the hotel’s restaurant. We had a huge meal of traditional Middle Eastern food. It was Rachel’s birthday, and apparently the son of the hotel’s owner, a fellow our age, took a liking to her. He told us all to go up to the girls’ hotel room after the meal so that he could bring Rachel a birthday surprise. We were kind of worried, thinking that this fellow, whom we had only met that day, may present himself or a friend of his as a birthday present/groom for our unsuspecting friend. Our fears were eased, though, when he brought up a huge birthday caked with the richest frosting and filling I’ve ever tasted. His motives still remained questionable, however, because he then invited Rachel to the hotel’s Turkish bath for a free birthday treat. Seeing through his poorly disguised advances, we decided that Rachel would not be going to the Turkish bath alone with the hotel owner’s son (whom we called the Prince of Wadi Musa, because he knew everyone and was related to just as many in town). Long story short, while I went to bed, many of my traveling-buddies got free Turkish baths (with their swimming suits on) because the Prince liked Rachel.
In the morning, I awoke, had some coffee in the hotel’s restaurant, and was able to spend some time speaking with an older lady I had seen on the bus ride from Jerusalem. Come to find out, she was exploring the Middle East like we were and was spending most of her trip at a hotel in Bethlehem. I spoke with her for nearly a half hour, discussing topics like Israel’s role in the End Times, the dilemma of Palestinian Christians, and many other themes regarding Israel, the West Bank, and our faith. I thought the lady was a saint, and I agreed with her on nearly everything we spoke about. I thought she may be a Baptist or perhaps a Presbyterian with a heart for the people of the Middle East. I noticed later, however, that she wasn’t drinking any coffee. Come to find out, the kind little lady I was speaking with was Mormon. Apparently, Mormons like Israel and discussing End Times theology just like Christians do. It really bothers me, though, that much of her faith is heresy. It was a good reminder for me to pray for Mormons, that they might come to know the Christ and faith of Christianity.
Josh and I left early Thursday morning from the central Jerusalem bus station on an autobus headed for Eilat, Israel’s southern-most city and port on the Red Sea. The trip, which lasted about four and a half hours, took us through the Israeli countryside and through the Negev Desert. The waters of the Dead Sea looked temptingly refreshing as the morning sunshine streamed through our window and warmed the bus.
We reached the border crossing, paid the exit fee from Israel, and walked across a stretch of no-man’s land. It was eerie to be between two nations -- it felt almost like a state of perdition. We reached the Jordanian side, got our passports stamped (they asked us what our religion was), and began looking for a service, a cheap shared-van to Petra. We had heard that we could find one for a dinar and a half (one Jordanian dinar = 1.41 American dollars), but the entire crossing was desolate, save a few Jordanian officials shooting the breeze like Sheriffs in an empty Old West town. As we exited the crossing, a Jordanian official approached us and pointed us to a cab that was waiting. We told him we wanted a service, but he lied through his teeth and claimed that there were none running. There was nothing we could do, because we were foreigners, no one else was around, and it was a really long walk through military checkpoints to the nearest city. So, we were taken advantage of and required to pay 35 dinari for the ride to Petra. We passed up several services on the way there.
We reached the hotel in one piece, paid our extravagant cab fee, and settled into our room. The room, which was just 15 dinari a night for both me and Josh, was huge, looked luxurious, and had an incredible view. The toilet wouldn’t flush anything down and the shower-head was broken, but other than that the hotel was really nice.
For dinner, I met Sam, Eric, Leanne, Deb, and Rachel in the hotel’s restaurant. We had a huge meal of traditional Middle Eastern food. It was Rachel’s birthday, and apparently the son of the hotel’s owner, a fellow our age, took a liking to her. He told us all to go up to the girls’ hotel room after the meal so that he could bring Rachel a birthday surprise. We were kind of worried, thinking that this fellow, whom we had only met that day, may present himself or a friend of his as a birthday present/groom for our unsuspecting friend. Our fears were eased, though, when he brought up a huge birthday caked with the richest frosting and filling I’ve ever tasted. His motives still remained questionable, however, because he then invited Rachel to the hotel’s Turkish bath for a free birthday treat. Seeing through his poorly disguised advances, we decided that Rachel would not be going to the Turkish bath alone with the hotel owner’s son (whom we called the Prince of Wadi Musa, because he knew everyone and was related to just as many in town). Long story short, while I went to bed, many of my traveling-buddies got free Turkish baths (with their swimming suits on) because the Prince liked Rachel.
In the morning, I awoke, had some coffee in the hotel’s restaurant, and was able to spend some time speaking with an older lady I had seen on the bus ride from Jerusalem. Come to find out, she was exploring the Middle East like we were and was spending most of her trip at a hotel in Bethlehem. I spoke with her for nearly a half hour, discussing topics like Israel’s role in the End Times, the dilemma of Palestinian Christians, and many other themes regarding Israel, the West Bank, and our faith. I thought the lady was a saint, and I agreed with her on nearly everything we spoke about. I thought she may be a Baptist or perhaps a Presbyterian with a heart for the people of the Middle East. I noticed later, however, that she wasn’t drinking any coffee. Come to find out, the kind little lady I was speaking with was Mormon. Apparently, Mormons like Israel and discussing End Times theology just like Christians do. It really bothers me, though, that much of her faith is heresy. It was a good reminder for me to pray for Mormons, that they might come to know the Christ and faith of Christianity.
posted by Jason | 10:50 AM
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