Petra

This past weekend was truly breathtaking. Words cant even discribe the coolness of it all.
We had a short dig week last week so that the group could go to Petra and then on to the Wadi Rum, or better known as Lawrence of Arabia land. Friday morning we left around 8 am on a very large charter bus, and headed towards Petra. After a brief stop at a reststop full of clothes, jewlery, snacks and tea, we arrived at Petra Palace, our lovely hotel for the night. We even had AC in our rooms! I can not tell you how much I miss sleeping with AC. Right now all I have is a fan and an open door on the balcony.
Petra was beyond beautiful. Hot, but beautiful. We had lunch from a trailer and then got Ice Cream at the Indian Jones Gifts Shop. Yes there is an actual "s" at the end of gifts. Once inside Petra, I decided not to take the horse ride down, and to walk instead. I have read that you get to see more from that view. Not sure if that is true, but whatever. I thought heck, I can use the work out. HA. Little did I know an hour or two later I would be climbimg to the top of one of the "hills" to see the monestary. 800 steps and many water breaks later Kenna and I made it to the top. After such a long hike up, you round a corner and what you see truly takes your breath away. Well if you have any left. The Monestary is 5 stories high and carved right into the rock. It is the coolest thing I have ever hiked to see.
Once you get up there you can go a bit farther up the rock and see the "view of the end of the world." Of course I had gone that far, why not go all the way. And being afraid of heights, not really the best idea, but whatever. Once you get to the top, all you see is mountain after mountain after mountain, but on a clear day you are supposed to be able to see Israel.
On the way down I got a $4 Cherry 7up thing, and then booked it back down to the bottom. I had a camel I had to ride and it was getting close to the end of the day. The camel ride back to the Tresaury (AKA the Indian Jones place) cost about 20 JD but Kenna and I talked him down to 10 JD each, hopped onto the camel, not an easy task, and then had the crud scared out of us as the camel stood up. Those suckers are HIGH off the ground. No joke. After a while you get the hang of it, and it is super fun. I plan on riding another one in Egypt.
After a very long day, we had dinner in the hotel, and then a few of us went to the famous Cave bar right at the entrance to Petra for a beer and to watch the World Cup.
It was a fantastic day, but I was sure ready for the bed in the AC :)