Year 4 - The Final Countdown 2011-2012

This was the year of the job hunt, and subsequently it was the year of carefully budgeting my travel in case job hunting didn't go as well as I hoped (the end result of the job hunt seems spectacular and I can't wait to start my new life in Mexico!).

Because there was a self-imposed budget crunch, as well as fewer school holidays than usual, I didn't travel far. That's ok, though. Not traveling far, I still traveled well!

In the fall I went to Luxor for the second time with a group of friends and next it was off to London and Lincolnshire for Christmas. In February there was a surprise (an awesome surprise!) trip home to Baltimore to work out visa paperwork (where I got to see all of my favorite people in Baltimore at one table in my old neighborhood); and in Spring there were trips to Petra (so living the Indiana Jones lifestyle!), Istanbul, and Aswan.

Life in Cairo has been good, adventuring in and around (and further afield) from Cairo has been incredible. There are so many memories. I hope you have enjoyed this 'four years of travel in pictures.' I realize it's a bit like going to someone's house and hearing them say "Hon, get out the slide projector and show them how great our cruise to the Bahamas was!"which always inspires a sense of dread. But seriously, this retrospective is for me. My memory is terrible, and I want to be able to remember how amazing adventuring these four years has been. Because adventuring is amazing!

Luxor, Egypt

London, UK

Petra, Wadi Rum, Jordan

Istanbul, Turkey

Aswan, Egypt

Abu Simbel, Egypt

Dispatch from Petra

I never post directly from my journal, but the words I wrote at lunch after my nearly 6 hour mini-exploration of Petra (if my legs could have done it, I would have loved another day or two) are the best encapsulation of the experience.

Sorry, this is going to be a long, sometimes overly dramatic, post, but I promise there will be pictures :)

            I’m writing this from a bar built into a Nabatean cave from the first century B.C. I am sitting next to a stone column that was carved from the sandstone hillside over 2,000 years ago. Living history.

            Petra has been the Adventure of a lifetime. The events of this morning cannot be captured in the ink of my pen or the lens of my camera, but I shall try to capture it here as I tried, quite in vain, to capture it with my Nikon.

            My friend and I arrived in Petra at 6:30 this morning. Very few tourists were up at that hour and we mostly had the park to ourselves. Entering the Siq was like entering a film set. We were completely alone for the entire 1 km, winding walk between the cliffs. It was stunning and breathtaking and awe-inspiring to the point where none of these superlatives do it any justice.

            The entire journey down the siq, I was full of butterflies of excitement for the ‘big reveal’ when the treasury would emerge ahead through a simple glimpse between the cliff walls and moments later be in full and awesome splendor before us.

           

 I cannot stress enough that I was not disappointed.

            Seven travelers, three Bedouin, and two camels were the entire ‘crowd’ at that early hour. (A stark contrast to the HUNDREDS of tour-group tourists that were swarming the site at noon when we departed). It was amazing.

            We walked a bit further to the amphitheatre and hired two donkeys and a local Bedouin guide to take us to the monastery for 10 dinar a piece (about $12). We rode “Whiskey” and “Jack” about 15 minutes, passed a sign that said it was dangerous to proceed further without a guide (a sign that later would be surrounded by ‘guides’ and donkeys), and entered a narrow canyon. The canyon narrowed and continued on to the right as some ancient stairs cut out of the stone led steeply upward on our left. Our guide then began to explain how to ride the donkey UP the steep steps, which had a steep drop on one side and a cliff wall on the other.

             This is when I got off the donkey as quickly as I could, thanked our guide, paid him the full amount, and asked how the Monastery was. “About 35 minutes,” he replied.

            Leaving the guide and his donkeys behind for braver customers, we began to proceed on-foot up the more than 800 stairs, through a winding mountain pass, to the monastery at the top of the mountain; which we reached over an hour later. The ascent was more than 900 feet, and we were almost completely alone except for some Bedouin traders going to open their trinket stalls along the path, and a single tourist – a British man bravely riding his donkey up the stairs who doffed his hat with a cheery ‘Good morning’ as he rode past.

           








Along the climb, each time I reached a plateau I would turn back to view the misty, breath-taking view of the valley, or examine the beautiful sand patterns on the cliff walls to either side.

           




      We reached the monastery around 9 am. The only visitor other than we was the man who had passed us on the donkey. Facing the monastery was a cave-turned-coffee shop and trade post where I enjoyed a 'Jordanian Coffee' (without the cardamom which is traditionally added); watching as a few more travelers arrived...who were shortly followed by large groups of tourists (whom we passed in droves on the way down, often making the descent somewhat cumbersome).

The Monastery as viewed from the coffee cave

            Reaching the valley floor, I quickly realized the timing of our arrival and climb could not have been better. Families of every nationality were being packed onto donkeys for the climb, hundreds of people swarmed every available surface, and the peace of the morning was broken.

           

            My friend and I, exhausted from the climb to the monastery, clambered over a few more monuments before heading against the throngs of tourists, towards the siq and out of the park. It was crowded and difficult: swimming against a tide of badly dressed tourists and ill-mannered children was wearing down my patience so we hailed an empty horse and buggy headed toward the treasury and paid him 25 dinar (aka A LOT of MONEY) to turn around and GET US OUT OF THERE.

            The magic of Petra is in the quiet majesty of it.

Traveler's Advice: Even though the light is more brilliant for photographs in the afternoon, getting a photo without a million people in it is unlikely. Go Early. The guidebook said that most people would be ‘burnt out’ on the sites by 3 and heading home. I left the park at 1 and most people were just heading down the Siq and getting to the treasury and it was a mob scene. As tourism has increased significantly in the last few years (as have entry fees) there are few chances to see the beauty of Petra without the annoyance of the masses unless you go EARLY. Note: the guidebook said the same thing about Topkapi Palace in Turkey being empty in the afternoon; however, there it was, again, mobbed as I left around 11 am; but was quiet and lovely at 9.