waking up in a bedouin tent on day three, with my hair crunchy with sweat and dirt and sand, i was surprisingly ready to get out of bed. we headed to a seven AM breakfast of pita, orange jam, some veggies and cheese, before hopping onto our tourbuses and heading out of wadi rum towards petra, one of the seven wonders of the world.
after a couple hour ride, we descended from the town of wadi musa to the beginning of the trail into petra, where we had the option to ride a camel, a horse, or a donkey through the few mile road to the city, and through the city of petra itself. while some of us - phil... - decided to take a horse right off the bat, the rest of us began the journey through the narrow path with sky high carved rock on either side, marked with carvings and small temples throughout the sandstone. the bumpy cobblestone finally gave way to the grand opening where the famous treasury stands, beautifully carved into the red stone. the scale was unbelievable.
after standing awestruck in front of the treasury, we headed into the rest of the city, where camel-peddlers called to us, "pretty ladies, want a camel? taxi? four wheels? cheap!" and "sister from another mister! donkey ride?" among other silly attempts to overcharge foreigners for a short ride down the sandy paths.
we explored the structures carved into the stone - it is the strangest thing to see - the most intricate, carefully carved temples within the wildest-looking giant rocks. among all of these beautiful, ancient ruins, there was quite a mix of tourists. europeans in booty shorts and tube tops had us asking, in horror, "do they know where they are!?" - we've officially had the conservative dress of a muslim country ingrained in us.
after a long, but epic and amazing, weekend, we headed to the "cave bar" on our way out of the city. in the oldest bar in the world, we enjoyed our large draft amstels, before dragging ourselves onto the bus and journeying back to amman.