Petra-fied

Happy Valentines Day!!!

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This was a trip of a lifetime and we were so close to one of the Seven Wonders of the World: Petra.  Thus, we decided to extend our family trip into Jordan. 

My lovely parents.

A little hesitation is expected for first-time Middle East boarder crossers but I assured my parents everything would be okay.  And it was! It was early, it was chaotic, but we made it over the border crossing at 5:30am. “We’ll beat the heat,” I said. “We’ll beat the crowds at Petra,” I said. We did not beat the heat. And we did not beat the crowds.

We walked across the boarder.

Once we were through customs a swarm of taxi drivers offered to drive us to Petra for a “fair price” (glad I did my research and had that itinerary with us!)

Eventually we bargained down a taxi driver who was willing to take us for a fair-ish price. He didn’t speak English, which of course, is fine, BUT it did prove to be a little difficult when we tried to understand why he had pulled over on the side of the road. Turns out, the car had broken down, and he needed his cousin to take us the rest of the way.  #sigh

Eventually we made it without any harm.

Cue the Indiana Jones theme music.

Managed to snap a pic with only a few tourists and a camel!

Like I said, Petra is one of the Seven Wonders of the World. But the thing about Petra was that it felt like everyone in the world was there; although, we did manage to end up in some cool (and relatively empty) spots!

(like this one!)

(and this one!)

My parents hung in there like champs!

Here’s a list of some other fun stuff we saw in Petra:

-Petra

-Sea of tourists amongst Petra

-Sea of tour guides and horses trying to sell us things at Petra

-Sea of aggressive vendors offering “no charge for looking” goods throughout Petra

No wonder it’s a “Wonder of the World” *wink*

Indiana Jones and the Rocks of Petra: Coming to a theater near you in 2018

Don’t get me wrong. It was beautiful, but it felt….like a lot.   When we left, I think it’s safe to say we were all feeling pretty relieved to get out of there, and we fled to the nearest vendor for some much needed ice cream and a seat in the shade.

Modern stone age family #TheNewFlinstones.

If I’m being completely honest, the whole experience was really hot and underwhelming.

Luckily, there was still more to see, more to do… more that could convince my parents that Jordan was really the worthy destination I knew it to be. I had no doubts we would find Jordan’s gems (foreshadowing to Wadi Rum Desert).

And anyways, what’s an Indiana Jones movie without a whirlwind of adventure?