It was over a year ago that we booked our trip to Jordan and Egypt with Mack and Rika. Between then and now the Middle East changed dramatically. Between assurances from the travel company that our itinerary was safe and the fact that cancellation would involve a 70% penalty off we went. It did feel safe, but there was a definite lack of tourists. Petra normally has thousands of daily visitors. There were 200 on the day we were there.
Petra is a city carved into the rocks, that reached its peak population of 20,000 in the 1st century AD. Petra has a long and interesting history and you might recognize it from the last Indiana Jones movie. We spent the day walking in the heat through the beautiful rock canyon then through the ancient the city and back. I'd post more photos, but as usual, Typepad is having uploading issues. One of these days I'm going to host my own blog, but the transfer of data from 20 yers of blogging scares me, given Typepad's track record of technical difficulties.
Afterwards we escaped the heat in the Cave, one of the only bars in Petra, carved into the mountain. Hmm it seems I have fewer issues with photos shot in landscape mode.
The view from our hotel in Petra:
The next day we visited Little Petra, located in a community of Bedouins, traditionally nomads, who have settled in a small community. A market is at the entrance to the ruins. There are no photos, and this time it's not Typepad's fault. Shortly after our arrival and initial history lesson, I wasn't feeling well and let the group go on. Chuck stayed with me. Good thing, because when I got up I fainted onto the desert. Other tourists and people who worked at the market came to my assistance. I was well taken care of and we offered the Bedouin stall owner a gift of money in thanks and he refused. Turns out, although I drank plenty of water, I was dehydrated, as the highly filtered bottled water contained no electrolytes. From that day on I faithfully added electrolytes to my water bottle.
Life's a Stitch 
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