Getting Petra-fied

Wow, it's been awhile since we updated this!
Last update was in Oman. Since that time we've done a good amount of moving around. We first spent 3 days in Dubai, which was great. It was rich, semi-modern (ultra-modern in some parts, ultra-not in others) and overall a lot of fun to be in. We ate Taco Bell 4 times in 3 days, visited the top of the world's largest building, saw the world's fanciest hotel, walked around in the 1st and 2nd largest malls on Earth, watched the world's largest fountain show, and swam in our rooftop hotel pool; overall not a bad way to spend 3 days. The pictures are a far better way to see what I'm talking about, so just check out the U.A.E. Pictures if you'd like.

After Dubai we flew to Amman, the capital of Jordan. This place is the center of the Middle East geographically, and is a world away from the Gulf States we had been in previously. Culturally, it's much more in line with the traditional view of the Mideast, and after dealing with 100 degree heat in Oman and Dubai for awhile, we were pleasantly surprised to get off the plane and find that it was 66 degrees. Amman has a Euro-tinted feel to it... it’s distinctly Middle Eastern, but the layout feels like a European town (meaning there isn't really a layout), the police cars are all Audi A6's and it feels quite safe. Police officers and soldiers carrying heavy weaponry are omnipresent due to the Palestinian situation just to the west, but they are professional, friendly, and in no way imposing (as opposed to India, where the soldiers seemed like gun-toting buffoons.

After Amman we went south to the Gulf of Aqaba. We spent about 3 days in a hotel there because there was nothing to do; the resorts all charged ridiculous sums for using their beach and the public beach was so full of locals you could barely get to the water. That's OK though, because after that we visited Petra, which has undoubtedly been one of the highlights of the entire trip. Petra is a large city that was literally carved into the side of cliffs starting in about 300 BCE. I’m not talking about carvings like the Native Americans did in New Mexico or Colorado. The Nabateans (the people who lived in Petra) carved massive, incredibly intricate designs upwards of 150ft in the cliff sides. Equally impressive, there isn’t much rain in the area, so in an effort to control the drought/flash flood tendencies of the canyons they created some of the first large scale dams and water channel systems in the world. This allowed them to successfully guide water from the surrounding hills down a few miles into reservoirs and to keep floods from wiping out their homes. We found it ironic that 2000 years ago the Nabateans were the first real hydrological engineers, and their modern descendants in nearby Wadi Musa can’t seem to put the drain in the bathroom floor in the right spot (hint: it’s not the highest point of the floor).

But again, the pictures are a better illustration of what I’m talking about (Petra, not the drain). The landscape itself looks very similar to our beloved southern Utah, so seeing something so unique done to it was really an experience, and we enjoyed all 3 days of it.

For now, we’re back in Amman. It’s cheap, the internet is convenient, we just found a place with fried chicken around the corner (score!) and we’re waiting to try and link our schedule with a friend of mine in Israel. Eran and I met in Nicaragua a couple years ago and have been in touch since then, so hopefully we’ll be able to solidify a meeting before Michelle and I make the journey across the Palestinian Territories (West Bank) and into Jerusalem. There isn’t much time on this trip left, but we’re definitely going to make the most of it.

All pictures are updated- have a look!