be like Indiana Jones!

After leaving Wadi Rum village we realized we are bit late and probably we should expect an overcrowded Petra. With this idea in our minds we decide to get stronger and we are stopping at some tiny village on the road for a lunch. The owner of this shop/window is a bit surprised by us and he is serving us only thing he has on menu - a sandwich, pepsi and tea (it cost us 4 JOD all together). As we leave highway the driving style changes. Please forget what I said last time - the driving level now corresponds with the general expectations. There are no rules, not speaking about use of blinker (they are honking instead) or laws of physic. And the bumpers. It's going to be my nightmare - they are everywhere, no warning sign around them and they are pretty high. I try to concentrate as much as possible, but their mimicry are better (we are lucky to have a SUV and not a sport car). Maybe a local TV is making funny videos of tourists damaging rental cars. Otherwise there is no reasonable explanation for this bumper obsession.

a sandwich with hummus, falafel and other godies

Few bumpers away we are safely arriving to our hostel in Wadi Musa (Rafiki hostel), finding out we can check in after 2 pm (it's only eleven now) and deciding to go straight to Petra. Surprisingly, there is not as much tourist as we expected (probably all of them went in morning) and we are enjoying the views of this ancient beauty. Well at least we try, by ignoring all the offers for donkey/horse/camel ride, guides for viewpoint, bedouin scarfs or plastique magnets with Petra. 

the road from entrace to Petra

those tourists got organised

If you expected Petra to be just a Treasury, oh you were so wrong. It's an extensive complex of tombs, caves, columns and roads. There is several roads you can take and we are choosing the longest one - the path leading from Treasury to Monastery. Don't be mistaken, it's not sightseeing, but a small track up to the hill (well, several hills).  We are meeting lots of tourists, but also local animals (usually malnutrition-ed)  and their master repeating same mantra:

Yeah, just like that, aloud. Whatever, it somehow belongs to local atmosphere, after some time our brain simply blocks it out. Daylight start to fade and we finally approach the Monastery, just in time for a "golden hour" of sunset. I get a sage&mint tea for my sore throat (of course overpriced, 4 JOD) and we enjoy the view. Until there is a local guy climbing up to the monastery, with a speaker playing music. We start to make bets for the injuries, falls, bloody scenarios,  but he knows his way and in a while he is sitting on the top of Monastery. Just normal Monday afternoon. After this live performance we get back on the road and we are returning to the Treasury (now it's easy, all the way down the hill). We are considering to visit Petra by nigh, but in the end we rather spent the money for a dinner.  

Inspired by the monastery guy, we are coming back in on Tuesday morning to climb for a view to Treasury, to get a nice picture for our mum (she is terrified from highs). Again we are hearing: "Do you need a guide? Just few dinars! You can't go to view, it's closed today!" and variation of "you can't go alone, it's dangerous". Yes we can. For normal person it's ok and the view really worth it. We go on the left side from treasury, passing all guides talking to us, and we follow the path in the rocks - on some parts are even stairs. 

mum, I am ok :-)

don't worry, the jeans were already damaged before...

It starts to be again late (we have some issues with time....), so we go back to Wadi Musa, get our backpacks from hostel, start the engine and drive to get salty taste of the Dead Sea.