May 13^th

Yes, we made it to Petra. Here we are:  an Arab 65 year old German Arabic English speaking Bedouin and a German nearly 50 year old German English Hebrew and a little bit Arabic speaking woman at the entrance of one the 7 world wonders: the ancient Nabataean city of Petra. Built more than 2100 years ago, the 20.000 residents had a good life at the cross road of major trading routes: the kings road that went North-South and the silk road that went East-West. The city, served by several wells, had water ducts and pipes, necessary for human life, but also a theatre that held in its high times up to 7000 seats. We admire the palaces and graves that were altogether carved in rocks. How did they do that without cranes and machines?? Due to the threat of the fundamentalist Islamic State organization, tourism is modest. We stroll around without big crowds and have the full attention of the locals selling their necklaces, cotton pants and other treasures. Well, I am with a Bedouin and don’t have to worry about language barriers and bargaining. She always meets some folks who know her tribe and she enjoys long talks with the locals. I admire her and also the rock formations.  And I feel nostalgic of the years when there was an Israeli culture of hiking in Sinai. We hiked during the day including extended rest breaks, slept under the open sky and millions of stars after delightful dinners at open fires. Today I share the landscape from a new angle. Every rock inspires our fantasy. Is it an eye, a belly, a cat? At the end we treat ourselves to a camel ride through the valley. My dear Bedouin best friend has never ridden on a camel! I promise no pictures and we go (the camels you see on the pictures are without us). She sits on the camel like a princess and shouts “this is the best physiotherapy for the back!” What a delight that we are here.

In the night we sleep at the 7 wonders Bedouin camp, a hotel -camp, nestled in the rocks near little Petra, run by Bedouins. Highly to recommend. Great location for folks who do not need a city once in your life that you are in  Petra (which is by the way Greek and means rock) and manage to live with shared bathrooms and the reality of water restrictions. Exquisit hot showers though and delicious food! I climb the rock for the sunrise the next day and have a look down on the camp.

 Later that day Fatima talked to local shepherds and so we got fresh sheep and goat milk - of course the cook in the camp boiled the milk and of we went for the day...