About Me

My photo
I am a bohemian nomad, someone who acts and lives free of regard for conventional rules and practices, but also one who moves according to the seasons. After traveling to over 100 countries and all 7 continents over the past 12 years I feel that I truly subscribe to the words of Mary Poxon, who said. "I sought to see the amazing as normal and the daily as unique, and in that swirling paradox I found the joy of travel." I will be forever in pursuit of new sights and adventures and hope that maybe I can convince a few more to give budget travel a chance. Budget travel gives those with little money an opportunity to travel and those with money an opportunity to travel longer.

Monday, November 3, 2014

JORDAN, Petra

November 8, 2014

1 train, 2 flights and 2 buses and I arrived at PETRA, one of and LAST of the 7 Wonders of the World for me to visit. I arrived at Amman Airport at 4 am and after paying the $56 Visa fee, waited until 5 am for the cheap bus shuttle to Abdali bus station. That is where the Jett Bus to Petra was to depart at 6:30 am. Of course, that's not what happened. EVERYONE told me we stopped at Abdali bus station but no one told thebus driver. Lol  ended up at another bus station and had to take $10 taxi to catch the bus to Petra. PLUS, since I was visiting Petra from the airport I had my 15 pound backpack to carry for the 5 hours I hiked around the ruins which were spread out. The climb to the viewpoint overlooking the Monastery was 914 steps. No sleep in 36 hours, 15 pound backpack and already walked 1 hour BEFORE climbing the steps. Just part of the "backpacking" job description. Lol A luggage storage would have been nice. Lol  

The "Treasury" and "Monastery" were my favorites and quite impressive. No doubt why it is considered one of the modern 7 Wonders of the World". 

Wikipedia

Petra (Arabic: البتراء, Al-Batrāʾ; Ancient Greek: Πέτρα) is a historicaland archaeological city in the southern Jordanian governorate of Ma'an that is famous for its rock-cut architecture and water conduit system. Another name for Petra is the Rose City due to the color of the stone out of which it is carved.

Established possibly as early as 312 BC as the capital city of the Nabataeans,[2] it is a symbol of Jordan, as well as Jordan's most-visited tourist attraction.[3] It lies on the slope of Jebel al-Madhbah(identified by some as the biblical Mount Hor[4]) in a basin among the mountains which form the eastern flank of Arabah (Wadi Araba), the large valley running from the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Aqaba. Petra has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1985.

The site remained unknown to the Western world until 1812, when it was introduced by Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt. It was described as "a rose-red city half as old as time" in a Newdigate Prize-winning poem by John William Burgon. UNESCO has described it as "one of the most precious cultural properties of man's cultural heritage".[5] See: UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists. Petra was chosen by the Smithsonian Magazine as one of the "28 Places to See Before You Die".[6]



































Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)