Petra- Jordan part 2

After Jerash we headed to the Petra Guest House which was about 4 hours drive. We stopped and had what was sold to us as a "traditional Jordanian meal" but was in fact a really bad, over priced, truck stop meal. On the way to Petra we passed A LOT of snow. It had been snowing in Jordan the week before and a lot of it was still around. Fortunately for us the weather was actually very nice and all of us agreed that there's no way we would go in the summer.

We got there some time between 8:30 and 9pm- just a little too late to do the night tour for that night. I wish we would have got there in time for that because doing it all in one day is exactly what we ended up doing the next day and it makes for a VERY long and tiring day. Our hotel is the closest hotel to the entrance to Petra- which was awesome. I would totally recommend it.

There was a security check point with an x-ray machine and metal detector at the entrance to the hotel. That was a first for me, but totally understandable since Jordan is in a very unstable area and they just declared war on ISIS. We felt safe the whole time and it was nice for us because there were a lot less tourists, but you could see how it was hurting the local people that rely on the tourists.

We had a great guide, Ali, for our tour of Petra We started at 7am- or maybe it was 7:30, I don't remember exactly but we spent the whole day in Petra and left around 4pm. There is a lot of walking but we stopped A LOT and took pictures. We didn't hike to all the places that you can hike to but we did hike to the Monastery, because we were told was worth the hike and it was. They have donkeys you can hire to take you up the 800+ "steps" but I totally didn't trust that. Our driver had told us that they get scared and people fall off them-- not how I want to spend my vacation.

We pretty much spent the whole time saying-- This is so amazing! Other random things from the day: The softest, cutest kitty jumped up on my lap at the Treasury. I swear cats can pick out the cat lovers of the group. We ran into two other groups of people that work at our school also on vacation there. Long underwear was a good idea in the morning but a very bad idea in the afternoon when hiking. There were lots of wild tulip plants and I would love to be there when they're in bloom.

Our driver had insisted that we needed to purchase our Petra at Night tickets in the morning so we did, but I don't think we needed to and I wish we hadn't. When we hiked out of Petra at 4pm to go find some food and take a rest we were EXHAUSTED. Sinae and Sybil decided not to go and just lost out on the money. If I didn't want those night time shots so badly I probably wouldn't have gone back. That's why it's better if you can break it up over two days- it's just A LOT for one day. The thought of walking back in and back out was not a happy one.

The night time part was kinda cool. The path is lit with candles in bags and then the Treasury is lit with lots of candles in bags and then a spot light thing. They have some music or something-- a very short show and then you hike back out. Overall it's not super impressive, but I liked it for the pictures. I didn't get exactly what I wanted though. My new tripod was not holding the camera when I put it in a vertical position- it would slowly go down and since my exposures were for 30 seconds I was ending up with light streaks. :( Super frustrating because that was a really cool shot... *sigh* I guess I'll have to go back. :)

I always look for Mecca in my hotel room now. :) 

The tour company we used was pretty awesome.
They had wifi in the van and they gave us a cell phone to contact them when we needed to. 

hotel security

the patio area of our hotel- it was awesome

this was a little bar at the hotel

a horse ride for about 700 meters (I think) is part of the ticket in, but you have to tip

I've never mounted and dismounted from above-- it was weird and kinda hard

elephant

it looks like someone dropped paint

this used to be a man with a camel

first glimpse of the Treasury

kitties find me

I think Sinae made good friends with this guy while waiting for us to get down from the Monastery later. 

WiFi!!

old coins found at Petra

lady selling the coins and other stuff

so many amazing colors

little break

wild tulips

donkeys we could have taken up the mountain, but glad we didn't

resting for a minute

mountain kitty

the Monastery

more kitties

little place to chill at the top

"stairs"  but check out the cool stripes of the rock

we did take the donkeys once we got off the mountain just back to the Treasury

selfie with a camel

this was for water