REPORT NO. 8 FROM PETRA

Petra, September 3, 2009:

We didn’t know the best way to get to Petra from Jerusalem. We needed to go to the southern tip of Israel, at Eilat on the Red Sea. Busses are slow, dirty, and awkward to Eilat. Taxis are incredibly expensive. We ended up renting a car for $133. It was a little more than a 4 hour drive, going past the Dead Sea and the same sights we saw yesterday.

We passed an exit just south of the Dead Sea where we could go to find the pillar of salt that is reported to be Lot’s wife. The exit sign said, “Lot’s Wife.” Kind of interesting. It was near the exit for Mt. Sodom. Given that the area is where minerals have been mined for cosmetics for thousands of years, perhaps Sodom and Gomorrah were also involved in that industry.

While the area west of the Dead Sea – the Judean Wilderness – is certainly desert, the area south of the Dead Sea – including the area in which the people of Israel wondered, is really desert. I believe this is the Negev desert. There is nothingness for as far as one can see in every direction. We could imagine what it was like to wonder there with nothing tangible on the horizon other than a vague promise that there was a promised land somewhere. Perhaps the people were allowed to get the report from the spies early on so that during the rest of their wondering they would know that there was indeed a land of milk and honey.

It was surreal driving through the land where the people of Israel wondered. It was especially weird coming across a new McDonalds in the middle of the desert, many miles from anything. The McDonalds was roughly half way between the Dead Sea and Eilat. The people of Israel would have definitely stopped at the McDonalds. We could have driven much faster, but the road to Eilat is packed with trucks heading to and from the Red Sea.

Eilat is a small resort town on the Red Sea. Much of the city is built around a Marina for beautiful boats. The temperature was around 105 degrees, with a hot breeze. The Red Sea was probably very warm. We dropped off the rental car and walked to a café with free internet access. We used the internet to make a reservation with Avis in Aqaba.

As an aside, we were surprised to see so many black Jews in Israel, primarily Ethiopians. They are everywhere, in the military, working in construction, working in restaurants, etc. From what we understand, there are also many of them who are Christians. It is interesting to see the diversity in a place like Israel. For the most part, we saw Muslims and Jews working peacefully side by side in Israel. There were many Ethiopians in Eilat.

After a fruit smoothie at the café, we took a cab to the Jordanian border. We had to pay an exit fee of about $30 each in order to leave Israel. We also got Jordanian dinars. The border crossing was surreal, but painless. There was almost no one there. There were guard towers and machine guns on each side, but it was almost a pleasant atmosphere, with long walks under the sun from one processing station to another. It was probably much better than crossing near Amman.

We had expected the Jordanian city of Aqaba to be immediately on the other side of the border, but it was just desert, with a few waiting taxis. We asked to go to the Avis in Aqaba. That was a mistake. We should have asked to go to the Avis at the airport. Aqaba is a pretty resort town that is also on the Red Sea. It is the Jordanian version of Eilat. The problem is that the Avis in Aqaba had cars that were a mess. Our reservation was at that Avis. The car that we ended up getting had probably been totaled and pieced back together for use as a rental car. It a previously exploded passenger airbag that was taped to the dash, the driver’s airbag was missing, the horn didn’t work, it had a shattered rear view mirror, the cruise control was ripped out, it had a multitude of scratches and dents, it was filthy and had an empty gas tank. After taking photos of everything, documenting the issues and being assured that we could return it empty, we took the car. We were obviously concerned about the reliability of the car as we drove through the Jordanian desert, but it proved reliable enough to get us to Petra. We don’t know yet about Amman.

We first stopped at a sketchy gas station where we paid in Jordanian dinars, because I didn’t want to give the guy my credit card. He indicated that he was starving and dying of thirst because he couldn’t eat or drink until sundown.

We then started the drive to Petra. The roads were surprisingly new and nice – probably nicer than the highways in Israel. However, people were broken down frequently on both sides of the road, and people were constantly walking across the highway, sometimes with animals in tow. There were also speed bumps on the highway every time we neared a town.

We drove a couple hours northeast before taking an exit for Petra. The road to Petra is very small and windy. The views along the mountain ridges and winding down into the valley, however, were spectacular. We had to be careful not to hit wondering camels, donkeys, sheep or goats. There were also many small children along the road. Every person we saw looked eager to break their fast for a Ramadan feast, because the sun was getting lower. We made it to the Marriott in time to see the sunset over the incredible mountains on the other side of the valley from Petra – quite beautiful. The Marriott is on the side of a cliff with a tremendous view of the valley.

This is the nicest hotel we have seen on the trip and it was a blessing to be here after our other adventures. The food is excellent as well. Everything here is to American standards – again better than the run down, dirty tourist hotels where we stayed in Greece and Israel. The main problem yesterday was that a hinge on my glasses broke, leaving me without prescription regular glasses – I have sunglasses that will get me through. I will need tape or superglue or something for a temporary fix.