Petra, Jordan - Out Through the Mountains

The Monastery - last glimpse

“Are you afraid of heights?” We all answered ‘No…,’ as our guide planned the end of our tour. “In that case, we’ll hike out the far side of Petra and through the mountains. Someone will pick us up on the road at the other end and drive us back to the hotel.”

Scree covered ledge

It’s hot and dry – don’t venture out without water, we were told. So, I bought two bottles at the Petra site from the Capt Jack Sparrow twins’ café – well, that’s what we called them – their young swarthy faces capped with tight Arabic headscarves and their eyes traced top and bottom with black khol (eyeliner). They looked the image of the Johnny Depp pirate. So much so that I copied the look for Halloween (...as the good Captain’s grandpa, Carol said)!

We left the Monastery* and headed away from Petra along a mountain path, climbing at times steeply, at times along precipitous narrow ledges, a sheer drop to one side. And, sometimes we scrambled up loose, scree-covered hillsides. It was late afternoon; shafts of sunlight cut through the ridges, throwing valleys into deep shadow. We came upon the foundations of Neolithic buildings. Why would anyone live up here? To safeguard themselves and their families; to be found was instant death.

Local Shop-Owner (silhouetted)

From time to time, Abdullah would call out; usually the response was an echo but once someone high on a mountaintop above us called back …and the two of them had a conversation. Oh, he’s a friend of mine; he lives up there. What does he do? He runs a shop! You’d hike miles from civilization, it seemed, and you’d struggle round a rock to find someone offering tea and selling local trinkets. But today, other than this guy, we came across no one.

Like all good guides, Abdullah made our trip memorable; our favourite was when he lined us up on a mountain ridge with the sun behind us for a photo; only when we saw the picture did we realize we’d become the ‘evolution of man’ poster. Good job we didn’t know what he was doing or we may have questioned the order of the line-up!

The March of Humanity?

Disturbingly, two hours into our hike, he got on his cell phone to arrange our lift home… And, as we climbed, we could see for miles, but there was no sign of any road. As the sun disappeared behind a peak, we started to question how far we’d have to walk. ‘Not far now,’ was always his response.

Eventually, with the light fading quickly, we clambered up to a dusty plateau. There was our vehicle – a battered Isuzu pick-up truck. All nine of us, four in the flatbed and five inside, squeezed in. Then we drove off; this wasn’t a road in any traditional sense. The track had deep holes and was strewn with rocks; at times it disappeared. As with our hike, the truck edged along ledges, slid down slopes and occasionally seemed to hang motionless for no reason. The driver and our guide talked, laughed and answered their cell phones without a pause as the vehicle lurched from side to side. We drove like this for more than 30 minutes, passing the occasional Bedouin tent or lighted cave; reminding us that yes, people live here. It was dark before we reached a real road and finally, the hotel. On the mountain many of us had said: ‘Wow, when I get in that vehicle, I’ll be asleep in seconds’, but, none of us were able to remain still long enough to doze.

That was Petra! Next day, we went back for more…

Petra - Late afternoon mountain vista

* The Monastery is described in my last blog: Petra Jordan Rose Red City of the Nabateans 

For Tour Guide info https://www.facebook.com/TourInJordanPetra