Episode 08: "The Judgment Call" (+++)

A week before Passover break, I went back to Petra. This time it was with buddies: Oren, Josh and Jen. After a near-fiasco in which I forgot to pack my passport and almost cost us our bus ride from Jerusalem, we managed to pull it together and set the journey in motion. We spent the night in Eilat and cabbed it in the morning to the Jordanian border.

Me, Jen and Oren. Josh snappin' the photo.
I got crackers in mah bag.

We met up with the guy who drove me the first time, Mohammad. It was really nice seeing him again. He was charging us more than last time because gas prices were rising in Jordan, but I trusted him. He was so sincere the first time, I was comfortable putting myself in his care again. He drove us out to a gas station and bought us food and drinks free of cost, which the crew was really impressed by. Then he suggested that we stop by the valley named Wadi Rum for a little extra money, but assuring us it was worth the price. We took our detour and did a little rock climbing and sand scuffling.


We arrived at our hostel, the Cleopetra, a couple hours later, settling in nicely with the help of one of the managers. Can't remember his name, but he reminded me an awful lot of a friend of mine named Greg back home, so...Greg was great, serving us tea, sitting down to chat, making all kinds of jokes. I was pretty taken by his goofy cordiality.

With the afternoon left, we went to see what we could of Old Petra. We got a short-lived tour, then did our own thing. Petra was as gorgeous and fascinating as ever.

In the river-cut and Nabatean-polished corridor to the city.

My main man Oren and I, chillin' in front of the famous Treasury.

Yours truly, in the belly of a smelly chamber.

We eventually began to make a side trek up one of the several spontaneous staircases that laced Petra's landscape. After taking a conventional route up the stairs for quite a while, Jen got the idea of making a steep vertical climb to a cool-looking spot atop one of the rock walls. Oren and Josh didn't think it looked too safe, but I was down for it. Jen and I put down our things and scaled separate sides of the wall.

I did fine at first, aware that it would be harder to get down than it would be to get up. But soon enough I was in a tough spot. I simply didn't see another handhold that would support my weight. And the footholds I had used to climb up were too narrow to safely descend with again. I tried to save face as Oren and Josh watched, but after a few minutes it was pretty obvious I was stuck. I was feeling the smallest beginnings of panic, regretting my horrible judgment call to blindly scale this thing and with no real experience or consideration of safety. Apparently Jen couldn't scale safely either, and she'd actually rock climbed as a hobby. She got down safely.

I heard some kid ask Josh and Oren if I was stuck, and soon after he walked into view. He was maybe twelve, fourteen. He was bedouin boy named Hani--one of the many Arabic nomads selling trinkets on the side of Petra's walking paths. He told me to hang on. Barefoot, and in about one minute, this kid scaled the wall no problem, guided me safely along the vertical face, and even told me to give him his hand once, pulling me up to better ground, getting me out of danger in no time. I told him thanks for saving my life, half joking.

Hani rescuing my sorry self.

With everyone smiling and relieved, Hani, the kid, asked me if I wanted to buy something. "I think that's the least I can do," I said.

You'll notice the camel bone pendant around my neck.

We finished out our first day in Petra with a little more exploring, then got a ride home from Greg. After catching some dinner, we were mulling over the idea of going to bed while a late-twenties guy named Ali started talking with Jen. He was really easygoing, really nice. Charming Jen and making a fine impression on us, it was easy to make our decision when he asked if we wanted to join him for a drink at the "Cave Bar" nearby Petra. And afterward, Ali took us to a small lookout over the modern cit of Petra, which was awesome.

Good times at the Cave Bar.

Ali, Josh, Oren and I at the lookout.

The next day, we made the long journey to the remote monastery deep in the old city of Petra. It was just as incredible as the treasury.

That was pretty much the grand finale of our time in the old city. We checked out a couple lookout spots nearby the monastery, but soon after we headed back. Ali picked us up by the park entrance and told us he wold be driving us back to the border, not Muhammad. As all of us sat down to discuss why and how much money we would be paying for the ride back, it came to Greg's attention how much we had paid Mohammad in the first place. He let us know we had been seriously ripped off. The price Muhammad had charged us wasn't even comparable to a fair price. At all. Which is when I experienced a potent Egypt flashback and steamed a little thinking about how easily I always let these guys cheat me. "Fool me once, shame on you" and all that.

We met Muhammad again, but we didn't give him much of a tip for his service. Leaving Jordan, I didn't feel the same disgust as I had leaving Egypt--because Ali and Greg had been so cool--but it was definitely a good riddance deal with Mohammad, whom I would never recommend to anyone ever again. There's only so much a guy can take.

Anyway. Jordan Part II was amazing. And aside from my terrible misjudgment of Mohammad's character and ludicrous brush with serious injury the day before, I had a great time. Getting to know Jen and Josh better, having my buddy Oren around, and seeing Petra with no rush was a fantastic time. I'm so fortunate to have been able to see Petra a second time, and with great friends to share the experience with.


Shalom,
Eric