Where were we....

Last thing I remember was packing again, this time for Jordan and....PETRA! We really missed "Checkpoint Charlie" in Berlin - there were some remnants and photos and a small recreation but none of the atmosphere - but we got it recreated in spades at the Israeli/Jordan border.

We got escorted through the process by our guide from Eco Tours of Israel and brother, we needed it. First exiting Israel - examine passport, questions, check my photo to see if this was really me (take glasses off, pal), have luggage scanned and examined for security and finally a couple of stamps. Walk our luggage approx. 100 yards through the "Phantom Zone" (for all your Superman readers) to the Jordanian side. Re-examine passport, Jordanian visa, get a Jordanian X-ray of luggage and met our Jordanian relay from Eco Tours and......we're in. On to Petra!

See that dark canyon in the center of the photo? That's the entry to Petra that was a valuable stop on the twice-yearly caravans coming up from Yemen. Why valuable? When you got water in the desert, you have something precious - Petra had and still has water. But Petra is suffering these days from want of tourists - since ISIS started chopping people up in Syria tourists have stayed home - our hotel had room for hundreds more and there were a ton of empty vendor stalls all throughout Petra.

We were the first group that our guide from Eco Tours had since the first of the year when Jordan also introduced new visa requirements that just added to the grief. But ironically our hotel was staffed by a bunch of young women from the Philippines while Jordan still has 20% unemployment.

OK, OK, back to Indiana Jones. Our guide manipulated us as we got close to the entrance "Look over here at this interesting aqueduct, now turn to the left and..." Bazinga!" Surprise achieved.

Can you say "Lost Crusade?" This is Jordanian Disneyland with a town that has grown to over 50,000 supporting this UNESCO World Heritage site. Bedoins lived inside Petra until 1985 when a new village was created to better exploit the site for the thousands of world travelers - it's up on the hillside above Petra.

If you were like me and thinking all of Petra was like the most famous image at the entrance you are forgiven. Once you turn beyond the "Treasury" this very tight canyon opens up and you can see all of the tombs carved into the sandstone cliffs. And these guys did it their way - no starting at the bottom and working your way up - "Amateurs!" they would scoff. Real stone cutters begin at the top and work their way down. And do they ever cut stone.

Here's the "Monastery" at the top of 900 steps cut into the hillside. For those of you who count flights of stairs on your I-device, that's over 60 flights. They actually didn't use this as a Monastery but the Nabateans (that's the pronunciation emphasis) held religious meetings inside, then when the Romans arrived they eventually got Christianized and that became a place for Byzantine dudes to meet, ad inf.

This was one of the heights overlooking Petra but if you wanted to get the real McCoy, there was always this view......

I didn't take up the opportunity - surely some other enterprising guy would have HIS sign advertising "Best View over here, 400 meters" as soon as I got close. Petra exhausted us in our 1-day whirlwind tour but I can now say, "Dun" and cross this off my bucket list. I carry mine, laminated, in my wallet - doesn't everybody?

And Becky has her own Bucket list and she achieved one of her lifelong dreams