July 17, 2003
Petra, Jordan

Yay, I'm in my favorite place in the whole world that I've been to so far ! Pictures are here.

Petra history: Petra was built around 200 BCE by the Nabatean people who are the ancestors of the present day Jordanians. Petra is carved from red sandstone and spans for miles and miles. It was quite a prosperous and powerful civilization in it's day but eventually the Romans conquered it in 106 CE and eventually it was abandoned. Various nomadic people lived there over the years and it was re-"discovered" by the West in the 1812 by a Swiss man named Johann Burckhardt.

It seems like the biggest reprocussion from the war on Iraq for the Jordanians is that tourism has died. Why people think Jordan is dangerous is beyond me.. Petra is pretty empty as are most of the shelves, souvenier stands and cafes that are around the park. I guess that's why everyone seems to know me here. Atta, the hotel manager at the place I am staying knew of the problem I had with a taxi driver who took me from Aqaba to Wadi Rum (the driver tried to rip me off but I'm too clever for that shit now !), he knew that I stayed with Odeh in Wadi Rum. One of the Bedouins in Petra said to me "You're the American girl traveling by herself who came from Wadi Rum." I guess this is an example of how few tourists there are here.

Here's a not so good picture of me feeling extremely clean and sparkly after the Turkish bath Atta took me to. I don't think I have ever been so clean in my life.