I just want to say a couple things to start off this post. Thing 1: Thank you to everyone who has read this blog and I am very sorry that I have been so lazy with posting. Thing 2: I know that the title of this post is cheesy but I'm using it anyway because I've been planning to do so for roughly 3 weeks and there's no turning back now.
Anyway: I went back to Petra and the trip on Saturday really gave me the opportunity to appreciate the site itself. Walking through the Siq and seeing the treasury again really allowed me to appreciate the grandeur of it all. Petra is much more than just the treasury, and the area itself is huge. The city has been conquered time and time again and there is a lot of history from different cultures. Basically the two most well known sites there are the Treasury and the Monastery and the two are located at opposite ends of the city. In between the two is a road that is lined with tombs and mausoleums elaborately carved into the sides of the mountains. I would like to talk more about the tombs and the buildings, but I feel as though nothing that I say here about the buildings can really do the place justice. It's really one of those places that you have to see yourself and I would definitely recommend doing so if possible. What I can talk about is the people who inhabit Petra. Though seeing sites and buildings is always interesting, I have found on this trip that I am more interested in the people. Petra brings with it a network of young and old Jordanians who try to capitalize on the tourist traffic. More or less these people can be divided up into two groups: young boys who sell donkey rides, and old women who work at bazaars set up throughout the city. In a way, both groups struck me as sad but each in different ways. There are tons of bazaars, each selling the same fake jewelry, each operated by similarly old and weak women, and each appearing to be selling very little. The boys who sell the donkey rides range from about 8-18 more or less. It's a little bit disheartening to see kids younger than you and your age whose lives will consist of selling short donkey rides to tourists everyday and smoking cigarettes. The idea of a "future" in the way that we view the word doesn't really apply to these kids and it made me sad to think that while I will be studying at an excellent university in two years these kids will still be selling donkey rides and smoking cigarettes every day. Looking back on it, I try not to apply "Western" cultural standards to things that I have seen as their cultural is totally different from ours. At the same time, though, it's hard from viewing these experiences in another way. After walking past the 6th or 7th 10 year old standing by a dirty donkey in the hot sun, I decided to stop and buy some candy bars to give to the next couple that I saw. Food, especially sweets, means a lot to Jordanians and receiving the candy seemed to make these kids' day. As I got closer to the end of the main road to the Monastery, some American tourists coming from the other direction told me that I would definitely want to take a donkey ride to get there as the Monastery is not only at the end of the road, but once you get to the end you have to hike up a mountain to get there. Now I know that American tourists are certainly not usually the experts on local affairs, but I was really tired and had never ridden a donkey before so I decided to look for a ride. I ran into a group of 9-10 year olds who had some donkeys and were standing next to a grown man who appeared to be the father of at least one of the boys. One of the boys was smoking a cigarette, and so I asked the man why he allowed him to smoke if he knew it was bad for the boy's health. The man's response was: he likes it, he does what he wants.
The donkey ride up the mountain lasted 30 minutes and, embarrassing as it is, I was scared for nearly all of them. The donkey kept rocking back and forth and for most of the ride it was almost vertical. I was almost certain that I would fall off and I did not trust my chain smoking 9 year old of a guide to keep me safe. When we finally got up to the monastery, I was relieved and excited that I was able to actually go inside of it. I think that it was the only building that allowed people to enter it. The walk/donkey ride from the Treasury up to the Monastery really lets you marvel at the city. Petra is intricately designed and expansive and I think that it is all the more impressive that it is located in a mountain pass.
The ride home from Petra was eventful in its own right. We stopped at Kerak which is another, more famous crusader castle. I thought that it was cool to see, but a little bit underwhelming. My favorite part about the place was that it had a spectacular view of the farming valley below. From Kerak we made our way back to Amman as we drove alongside the Dead Sea. It was a route that we had taken 3 or 4 times and I had just looked up from checking my phone when the Van driving in front of us tried to pull off of the rode but instead pulled into a ditch and proceeded to flip over. We pulled over and hopped out of the car and I froze up and couldn't bring myself to hop on top of the car and help out whoever was in there. I like to think that in the event of a tragedy or an accident that I would be brave enough to help save someone from the danger that they are in. Though I knew that there was a family potentially trapped inside of the sideways car, for some reason I just froze up and couldn't move. Luckily, within 10 seconds a fleet of Jordanian passerby's were on the scene and ready to help. At first they tried to flip the car, and all I could muster to get out was that they should hop on top and pull the people out before they flipped the car. Thankfully there was only the driver inside the car, and thankfully they listened. Abu Fares ushered me away from the scene and into the car, and I stopped thinking about the fact that I wasn't brave enough to help almost as soon as we had left. I think it was easier that way.
Our final stop on our journey back from Petra led us to a handicrafts store that we had been to once before. The first time I was there I had been looking at a mosaic with a sticker price of 50JD. A series of successful bargaining ensued. There are two handicraft stores next to each other and they both carry very similar products. I lied and said that I had found a similar mosaic at the other store for 35JD and if he didn't match the price I would walk back to the other store right then and buy it. He was resistant to lower the price and only as I was walking out the door did he say that he would sell it to me for 35. In an embarrassing turn of events I did not have 35JD on me to pay for the mosaic so I ended up walking out the door empty-handed, but with my head held high as I had won the exchange. We returned to the store and this time I had enough money. I approached the salesman with the Mosaic and told him that I was ready to pay the price that we had settled on in our last encounter. However, this time, the guy said that we had agreed on 40JD and that was his final offer. I had anticipated that this would happen, and I started to argue with him and tried to get him to admit that he had lied. When he wouldn't admit, I told him that I would walk next door and happily give them 40JD of my money just to spite him. This and a small push from Abu Fares got the guy to agree to the price of 35JD and to admit that I was a quality bargainer. This meant a lot to me because up until this trip I have been the world's worst bargainer and so this was quite the milestone.
Anyway: I went back to Petra and the trip on Saturday really gave me the opportunity to appreciate the site itself. Walking through the Siq and seeing the treasury again really allowed me to appreciate the grandeur of it all. Petra is much more than just the treasury, and the area itself is huge. The city has been conquered time and time again and there is a lot of history from different cultures. Basically the two most well known sites there are the Treasury and the Monastery and the two are located at opposite ends of the city. In between the two is a road that is lined with tombs and mausoleums elaborately carved into the sides of the mountains. I would like to talk more about the tombs and the buildings, but I feel as though nothing that I say here about the buildings can really do the place justice. It's really one of those places that you have to see yourself and I would definitely recommend doing so if possible. What I can talk about is the people who inhabit Petra. Though seeing sites and buildings is always interesting, I have found on this trip that I am more interested in the people. Petra brings with it a network of young and old Jordanians who try to capitalize on the tourist traffic. More or less these people can be divided up into two groups: young boys who sell donkey rides, and old women who work at bazaars set up throughout the city. In a way, both groups struck me as sad but each in different ways. There are tons of bazaars, each selling the same fake jewelry, each operated by similarly old and weak women, and each appearing to be selling very little. The boys who sell the donkey rides range from about 8-18 more or less. It's a little bit disheartening to see kids younger than you and your age whose lives will consist of selling short donkey rides to tourists everyday and smoking cigarettes. The idea of a "future" in the way that we view the word doesn't really apply to these kids and it made me sad to think that while I will be studying at an excellent university in two years these kids will still be selling donkey rides and smoking cigarettes every day. Looking back on it, I try not to apply "Western" cultural standards to things that I have seen as their cultural is totally different from ours. At the same time, though, it's hard from viewing these experiences in another way. After walking past the 6th or 7th 10 year old standing by a dirty donkey in the hot sun, I decided to stop and buy some candy bars to give to the next couple that I saw. Food, especially sweets, means a lot to Jordanians and receiving the candy seemed to make these kids' day. As I got closer to the end of the main road to the Monastery, some American tourists coming from the other direction told me that I would definitely want to take a donkey ride to get there as the Monastery is not only at the end of the road, but once you get to the end you have to hike up a mountain to get there. Now I know that American tourists are certainly not usually the experts on local affairs, but I was really tired and had never ridden a donkey before so I decided to look for a ride. I ran into a group of 9-10 year olds who had some donkeys and were standing next to a grown man who appeared to be the father of at least one of the boys. One of the boys was smoking a cigarette, and so I asked the man why he allowed him to smoke if he knew it was bad for the boy's health. The man's response was: he likes it, he does what he wants.
The donkey ride up the mountain lasted 30 minutes and, embarrassing as it is, I was scared for nearly all of them. The donkey kept rocking back and forth and for most of the ride it was almost vertical. I was almost certain that I would fall off and I did not trust my chain smoking 9 year old of a guide to keep me safe. When we finally got up to the monastery, I was relieved and excited that I was able to actually go inside of it. I think that it was the only building that allowed people to enter it. The walk/donkey ride from the Treasury up to the Monastery really lets you marvel at the city. Petra is intricately designed and expansive and I think that it is all the more impressive that it is located in a mountain pass.
The ride home from Petra was eventful in its own right. We stopped at Kerak which is another, more famous crusader castle. I thought that it was cool to see, but a little bit underwhelming. My favorite part about the place was that it had a spectacular view of the farming valley below. From Kerak we made our way back to Amman as we drove alongside the Dead Sea. It was a route that we had taken 3 or 4 times and I had just looked up from checking my phone when the Van driving in front of us tried to pull off of the rode but instead pulled into a ditch and proceeded to flip over. We pulled over and hopped out of the car and I froze up and couldn't bring myself to hop on top of the car and help out whoever was in there. I like to think that in the event of a tragedy or an accident that I would be brave enough to help save someone from the danger that they are in. Though I knew that there was a family potentially trapped inside of the sideways car, for some reason I just froze up and couldn't move. Luckily, within 10 seconds a fleet of Jordanian passerby's were on the scene and ready to help. At first they tried to flip the car, and all I could muster to get out was that they should hop on top and pull the people out before they flipped the car. Thankfully there was only the driver inside the car, and thankfully they listened. Abu Fares ushered me away from the scene and into the car, and I stopped thinking about the fact that I wasn't brave enough to help almost as soon as we had left. I think it was easier that way.
Our final stop on our journey back from Petra led us to a handicrafts store that we had been to once before. The first time I was there I had been looking at a mosaic with a sticker price of 50JD. A series of successful bargaining ensued. There are two handicraft stores next to each other and they both carry very similar products. I lied and said that I had found a similar mosaic at the other store for 35JD and if he didn't match the price I would walk back to the other store right then and buy it. He was resistant to lower the price and only as I was walking out the door did he say that he would sell it to me for 35. In an embarrassing turn of events I did not have 35JD on me to pay for the mosaic so I ended up walking out the door empty-handed, but with my head held high as I had won the exchange. We returned to the store and this time I had enough money. I approached the salesman with the Mosaic and told him that I was ready to pay the price that we had settled on in our last encounter. However, this time, the guy said that we had agreed on 40JD and that was his final offer. I had anticipated that this would happen, and I started to argue with him and tried to get him to admit that he had lied. When he wouldn't admit, I told him that I would walk next door and happily give them 40JD of my money just to spite him. This and a small push from Abu Fares got the guy to agree to the price of 35JD and to admit that I was a quality bargainer. This meant a lot to me because up until this trip I have been the world's worst bargainer and so this was quite the milestone.
David,
ReplyDeleteYour adventures are amazing! Continue to explore and to create more incredible pictures - both in words and pixels! I am proud of you.
Ruth Furst