The Lost City Of Petra

It seems no work of Man's creative hand,

by labour wrought as wavering fancy planned;

But from the rock as if by magic grown,

eternal, silent, beautiful, alone!

Not virgin-white like that old Doric shrine,

where erst Athena held her rites divine;

Not saintly-grey, like many a minster fane,

that crowns the hill and consecrates the plain;

But rose-red as if the blush of dawn,

that first beheld them were not yet withdrawn;

The hues of youth upon a brow of woe,

which Man deemed old two thousand years ago,

match me such marvel save in Eastern clime,

a rose-red city half as old as time.

                                                                                  - John William Burgon

I don't think anything could have prepared me for the mystical wonder of this lost city. To think - this wasn't even on my itinerary! I found out about Petra through the other volunteers working with me, and the guests at the Overstay Hostel in Tel Aviv. When I got to Israel, all I really knew about visiting was Jerusalem and the Dead Sea... I had no idea where to go or what to do apart from those two.

Having travelers as your constant companions help a lot! I kept hearing "Petra" and how amazing it was from other people who've already been there, so I managed to sneak it into my schedule before leaving for the UK.

GETTING THERE

So, from Tel Aviv, my friend, Christina, and I took a 5 hour bus ride south to Eilat. That's where you cross the border from Israel to Jordan (the easiest one at least). We spent the night in Eilat, and woke up early to deal with the border crossing in the morning.

HITCH HIKING

Throughout my travels, I've met a few people who have hitchhiked their way from place to place, and my usual reaction is a disapproving "ts tsk". Most of them are men. If I meet a woman who hitchhikes, my reaction is a severe gasp with a dramatic "<Insert name of female here>???!!!???"
It's just that - it's common knowledge that if you hitchhiked in the States, there is a statistical probability that you will end up in a duffel bag... and I NEVER take those kinds of risks. I don't want to end this journey on this Earth just yet.
But apparently... in Israel, and in Jordan, hitchhiking is an accepted form of transportation. Most, if not all of the female travelers I've met in Israel claim to have hitchhiked more than once, and they've all had pretty good experiences.
When Christina suggested that we hitchhike our way to the border from our hotel to save some cash, I had my reservations, but I have to admit, I was mildly curious. It would be another "FIRST" for me. 

And so THIS happened.

We waited for 15 minutes or so, until a nice elderly gentleman took us in, got us lost for a few minutes, but brought us to the Jordanian border safely. It was a little anticlimactic, but I'm glad I'm still here with all of you, alive and well to tell the story.
Moving on...

PETRA

All I really know (and really NEED to know) about Petra is that it is an ancient archaeological city, it's a UNESCO World Heritage Site, it was considered the 7th Wonder of the World, and it was featured in the movie, Indiana Jones.
Honestly, after setting foot in it, I understood why. I was in absolute awe.

If you've been following my blog, you'll have a pretty good idea of my taste when it comes to places I like. Scotland and New Zealand for example are two countries up on my list, and both of them are sort of majestic in a "green" sort of way... You know? Lush, foresty, etc...

Well, Petra is basically in the desert. It's the complete opposite of what I usually would like... especially since I didn't really like Dubai very much... but I was utterly and completely blown away by it! I felt like I was in a Star Wars movie... or in Agrabah (fictional city from Aladdin)!

I don't know, man. I don't want to sound corny or trite by bombarding this post with superlatives (even if I really want to)...
Just know this: Petra is probably one of the most MAGICAL places I have ever seen. It definitely should be on YOUR list of places to visit before you die. Paying 55 Jordanian Dollars to enter and explore Petra for 2 days is TOTALLY worth it. And I consider myself so lucky... SOOO LUCKY, to have been able to see and experience Petra in this lifetime. Petra is absolutely, breathtakingly, incredible.

More adjectives to accompany more photos below.

This is the view of Wadi Musa. The city right outside Petra. One of the best Sunsets I've ever seen.

These are the tents we stayed at in the Bedouin Camp - where we camped for the night. AMAZING.

My first attempt at hitchhiking was so successful, I wanted to try it out with a donkey!

Not so successful.

This is the Siq - which is the main entrance to Petra. It's a mile long narrow gorge that leads you to the ancient city. I didn't realize how far this walk was, but honestly, even the Siq is worth visiting.

CAPTIVATING!

See what I mean? That's not even Petra yet, and already, it's ASTOUNDING!

And just when your legs are about to give up... you see this. Your first peek of The Treasury...

This is one of my favorite moments. SPELLBINDING!

The Treasury!

A Star Wars Movie Set Piece!

Just kidding.

With my friend, Tiffany. I don't know what we were looking at, but it looked FASCINATING!

Camels in front of Catacombs! MARVELOUS!

Catacombs! INCREDIBLE!

A random view of... I'm not sure what... But it's SPECTACULAR!

STRIKING!

We had to climb up 850 steps to get to a place called The Monastery. It was like Cinque Terre all over again, I'm telling ya.

Took a break for a quick photo... Those are my travel buddies, Kamal and Tiffany.

And a little Jump Shot... (Of course)

And VOILA! We made it!!!

THIS is The Monastery :) Pretty IMPRESSIVE!

View from the Top. BREATHTAKING.

Another view from the Top. We were looking at the Sacrifice area. They used to offer up human sacrifices up there. Pretty brutal, but makes for a STUPENDOUS view! :)

PETRA BY NIGHT is a mini excursion you can take for 12 Jordanian Dollars. What it is is that they light up the Siq with candles at night, and you walk through it until you reach The Treasury, which will look like this photo above. They play some authentic music and there's a man that tells a story while everyone is gathered up in front of the lights. It's pretty STUNNING... just difficult to take photos because it's really dark.

**

And there you have it, ladies and gents! These are some of the best photos I've taken this year. I wish I could share ALL of the 2000 photos I took, but I don't think my blog has enough bandwidth. The only solution for you is to go... Go and take 2000 photos of your own. 

Honestly... There is just SOMETHING about Petra that captures you. The energy, the history... just walking down the Siq already gives you a feeling of anticipation. Like, your body knows you are about to experience something great. It's very mystical... Very mysterious. I can't explain it properly. You'll know when you get there. You'll see what I mean.

It's magic. 

The Dead Sea: Floating Bodies And Mud Baths

One of the many perks of working at a hostel is that you'll always be informed of the best places to visit, and you'll always have company wherever you might want to go!

Since there isn't really much of Tel Aviv to visit as a tourist, most of the time, the guests venture out to visit Jerusalem, The Dead Sea, or cross the border to Jordan for Petra.

I was lucky enough to have been able to do all three of these... Last week, I posted about my Trip to Jerusalem. This week, I'll take you through my Dead Sea experience with The Danish Invasion! :)

I met these 4 great ladies from Denmark at the hostel, who were all nice enough to let me tag along on their day trip to Masada and The Dead Sea. I personally didn't know squat about Masada... but I didn't mind, as long as I got my dose of sea salt!

MASADA

So, Masada, as it turns out, is an ancient fortification located in the South of Israel, overlooking the Dead Sea. King Herod built palaces here where you can still see remains of... And to this day, is considered one of Israel's most popular attractions. 

I can see the appeal. It has a spectacular view, and the ruins are pretty amazing. It's a bummer we had to pay to get in though... Luckily I was with a group of students - and I got a Student Discount along with them! Thank you, Asian genes!!!

DEAD SEA

After a long and winding drive through the desert, we made it to the salty waters of the Dead Sea! Yay!
OK a few fun facts about the Dead Sea.

1. It's surface and shores are 427 meters below sea level -- Earth's  lowest  elevation on land
2. It is one of the world's saltiest bodies of water. I tasted it. My tongue burned.
3. You float. It is literally impossible to sink.
4. No fish or sea life here, folks. Too salty. Hence the name.
5. The Dead Sea has mineral-rich mud that you can smear all over your body, and is scientifically proven to improve your skin's natural processes

We got there just before sunset, and the colors were amazing! When we finally managed to get into the water, it was such a funny sensation, bobbing up and down like a cork! You really float! It's so funny! I remember trying my best to swim down and pull all my weight underwater... But it won't let me! The water just plops you back up the surface and raises your legs... It made us look like we were sitting on a floating device!

MUD BATH

We weren't going to let the opportunity to lather ourselves up with the famous mud from the Dead Sea... so as soon as we saw someone walking around like he fell into a tar pit, we tracked down where he got his mud from, and we scrambled over to that part of the beach to cover ourselves up with the magic gooey stuff!

OK - we found it, and it wasn't pretty. The mud wasn't very clean, there was trash around it, and it was a little rocky. Luckily, this lady came up to us and showed us where to extract our mud from! She pointed to a tiny hole in the ground and said - "Reach into that hole right there. That's where the good mud is!" 

And so that's what we did! She was right! The mud inside was warm, soft, and oddly satisfying!

We may look cute and funny... but that mud smelled like rotten eggs. Reminded me of how it smelled in Rotorua because of the sulphur. I was surprised at how it didn't really bother any of us though... We just kept going until we were completely covered!

We kept it on for 20 minutes or so before washing it off in the sea again. I have to say though that what everyone says about that mud is true. My skin felt like a baby's bottom afterwards... I couldn't stop feeling my skin! And when I got back to the hostel, people who didn't even know I went to the Dead Sea said I looked like I was glowing!

Amazing!

And so that concludes the Dead Sea experience. We did both Masada and the Dead Sea in one day, it was exhausting, but really worth the day trip! If you're in Israel, you really can't pass up this experience.
The drive from Tel Aviv to Masada took a couple hours, Masada to the Dead Sea was another hour, and the drive back to Tel Aviv was another 2 hours give or take.

Next Stop: Petra, Jordan.

In other news... Happy Thanksgiving everyone! :)

Trip To Jerusalem

Random thought: I have no idea why the game, "Musical Chairs" is called, "Trip to Jerusalem" in my country.

Now that that's out of the way... YES I made it to Jerusalem! :)

After working/volunteering at the Overstay Hostel for a full week, I decided to spend my day off in Jerusalem with my new friend, Fernando. Jerusalem is about an hour away from Tel Aviv by bus - not too bad!

I was looking forward to finally visiting that place for a few reasons... First, is because my father really wanted me to see it. When I spoke to him about my plans to travel the world, he specifically said to me - "Go to Israel and visit the Holy Land". My dad is probably the most traveled person I know... and if out of all the countries he's visited in his lifetime, The Holy Land is what he chooses to recommend to me, then it must be good. I was raised Catholic, and my dad is quite religious... so it's nice to see this trip as a way to honor him and his wish for me to see it.

Second is because of the Western (Wailing) Wall. Someone once told me that the wall is "magic" - and I completely understood what he meant. For thousands of years, people pray on that wall... The energy that surrounds it must be so powerful, I wanted to feel what it's like to be enveloped by that power.

And lastly... I guess because the stories about Jesus was such a big part of my childhood and the way I was raised... I was really curious and eager to walk the same footsteps as the Greatest Man Who's Ever Lived.... If that.

JERUSALEM

My first impression was that it was completely different from Tel Aviv, and that it was beautiful. The views were spectacular, the walls of the Old City made it look like a fortress or a castle... and we all know how I love castles... :) So I was pleasantly surprised...

The Market is quite colorful as well... The stalls were adorned with jewelry, clothes and Middle Eastern merchandise, which made going through those little cobble stone alleys all the more interesting!

THE WAILING WALL

Everything they say about The Wall is true. The energy over there is different. I don't know why I thought it was going to be happy energy though... I guess I assumed people went there more with thoughts of hope, which is a positive energy. I assumed wrong... because as soon as I stepped foot in the vicinity of the wall, the feeling I felt wasn't happiness but heaviness. Like there was a weight that pulled on my chest all of a sudden.

Phewww it was a little rough... But I managed to get close enough to the actual wall to say my own petitions, and observe the women who were praying there.
It was a little disappointing to see people with their IPads and Iphones, some even chatting on their phones - right next to the women "wailing" at the wall. I guess I just thought the place would be a little more solemn... you know, "holier" than what I saw. Then again, Jerusalem has become such a touristy city, I really shouldn't have been surprised. I couldn't help it though...
Nevertheless, I said my petition, walked backwards (as a sign of respect) the way I saw the other women do, and went on my way.

CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE

This was one of the highlights of Jerusalem for me. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is defined as the place where Jesus was crucified, and where his tomb was. It's a beautiful and huge church... probably one of the best ones I've ever visited in any country. Not necessarily for its beauty -- more for it's authenticity. There were hallways and several floors of stone that made the church seem more like an underground city... It was pretty eerie, actually... Priests were chanting around every few minutes... Nuns were following them around as they bless different corners... It felt like we had no business being there at some point.

We did get to see all the things we needed to see though... It took us nearly an hour, but it was an hour well spent.

Underneath the altar is the exact location, and supposedly the remaining rock that was left
from where Jesus was crucified. 

This is supposedly where Jesus' body was laid when he died from the cross

Getting in on the action

THE HOLOCAUST MUSEUM

The Yad Vashem is the world's largest repository of information regarding the holocaust. That is not an exaggeration... It is huge, and it is borderline information overload... BUT you get in for free, and it is amazing. You can spend an entire day going through that museum... I spent a couple hours and I was exhausted. It had incredible information though, and I managed to sneak a few photos (they said no pictures but everyone had their cameras!)

These are the shoes of the Jews who were killed during the holocaust

Holocaust Memorial

Jerusalem was amazing... It's a great city and I'm really glad I went. It's probably the one city in Israel that stands out to me - and I didn't even have enough time to explore it all.
Maybe next time - I'll go back, do another round of Jerusalem... then head over to Bethlehem and Nazareth too.

I DID manage to swim in the Dead Sea though... watch out for details and photos on my next post. :)