Adventures
While we’re in texas, might as well take a cruise out of Galveston!!
Along with Tommy’s dad, Bill and his wife Dana, we’re ready for an adventure packed with numerous animal encounters, tons of food, and relaxation poolside on the ship!
Continue reading “Liberty of The Seas: A Vacation From Our Vacation!”
We’re back!
And we have a little more time to spend in Aqaba… but not much! and we’re going to do some more Scuba Diving.
We’re aiming for two dives, and we’ll try to explore the city itself a little bit.
We start our morning arriving in the city of Madaba; it’s a little chilly, being November, but still much warmer than home this time of year.
Today we’re in Aqaba!
We’re very short on time so we’re going to prioritize doing the one thing we’re the most excited for here, Scuba Diving!!
It’ll be Kali’s first time diving since becoming certified a few months ago, so we’re REALLY looking forward to it. 😀 Continue reading “Jordan – Aqaba & The Red Sea 1”
Petra is a city seen to be believed.
It is of course, one of the 7 Wonders of The World!
But first… GOAT HERD!!
Anyway… more crazy goats to come! 😛
Welcome to Petra! (says the prison compound looking entrance gate 😬, we kid)
We pick up our pocket guide…
Our map…
and begin our long, long hike!
It takes a full day to explore this city.
We’ll try to see as much as we can, but with so many secret paths and back roads to explore, it’s going to be difficult.
Right out of the gate they offer horse rides… and our tickets included a free one.
…But we decide to walk 🙂
It’s a great hike and we quickly start to see small structures and dwellings carved into the rock.
Petra was originally home to the Nabataean Kingdom, a group of nomadic Arabs.
The city reached its full splendor in 106 AD when it was absorbed into the Roman Empire and became a trade point along the Petra Roman Road.
The carvings here are really astounding, and even some of the natural rock formations are pretty sweet looking!
After a short hike through the outer city, we enter into the towering cliff-side (and the end of the horse ride had we taken it).
It was cliffs and the surrounding mountains which kept the Petra safe (and eventually forgotten) for so long.
A water management (mini aqueduct) system runs through the city.
Check it out along the left side of the path seen below.
Today, carriage rides are offered through the narrow cliffs… but we again chose to enjoy the surroundings at our own pace.
We continue walking when the cliff-side suddenly opens to this…
Incase you don’t recognize it… this is also the Indiana Jones entrance to the Temple of Doom!!! …and what I’m really missing is an Indiana Jones hat!
I wish I thought to bring one… 🤠
All around, the locals are not shy to try to make a buck!
We are surrounded by merchant stands of all sizes.
…and plenty of cool dudes on camels 😎
It’s quite amazing, the effort that must have gone into carving the stone.
We continue along the descending slope, away from The Library and towards:
This thing was capable of seating 8500 people! …as its seats come all the way to the opera floor.
It would be terrible to ignore the local animal population…
So here we have a Donkey…
And what a fine specimen he is!
He’s easy to make friends… and don’t let those lazy eyes fool you…
…he’s a hard worker.
Anyway…
Petra is littered with crazy cliff carved buildings.
These buildings are tombs, created prior to the Roman annexing in 106 AD.
Petra was eventually struck by disaster!
Since becoming a trade hub under Roman control, it soon started to become second to other growing cities and in 363 AD an earthquake struck, destroying many of its buildings and crippling its water management system.
Many residents began to abandon the city…
A major earthquake struck again in 551 AD, further weakening the city.
It was later invaded when the Arabs conquered the region in 663 AD.
Petra began to slip back into obscurity, until rediscovered by a Swiss traveler in 1812.
As we continue, we walk through the back end of the city and encounter more private cliff dwellings, but on a grander scale.
It’s a little hard to believe, but some of the ancestral Nabataean people still live (or maybe just hang out?) here in Pera’s ruins.
There isn’t much to the carved out dwellings…
Just enough to provide basic shelter from the elements.
While scoping out the map in the beginning of the trip, we spotted a marker at the very back labeled The Monastery.
After asking some locals, we learned it’s quite a hike but well worth it if we’re capable.
We’re also promised some of the most beautiful views in the city…
So that’s where we’re headed!
Having crossed most of the main city, it is now time to start our climb up into the mountains on the back side of the city.
This is where the long climb to The Monastery begins.
So, we climb!
…and climb…
and climb…
until the opportunity comes to sneak up on some goats.
Shhhh, I don’t think they see me…
It’s difficult not to enjoy these little fellas 😛 🐐
Anyway…
Back to climbing!!…
Alright… I can’t help it….
…and climbing…
We’re not the only ones climbing…
When finally… the ground becomes level.
We’ve reach the top.
And
We’ve reached The Monastery…
Petra’s largest monument, It’s even more amazing than we could have imagined… in fact, The Treasury is pretty puny in comparison…
This thing dates back to the the 1st Century BC.
After finally reaching the top, we relax…
We enjoy the view…
We make another donkey friend…
Then we explore some more.
We reach…
and ponder life.
We encounter a million signs, all claiming their view is the best…
and we explore them.
The way back down, is the way we came up.
We make sure to befriend the local goats…
There’s a crazed look to these two…
(We did promise more goats 😉 )
But man… we’re beat.
And what’s this!?!? There’s a man? With… a camel??
A bunch of camels!?
and he’s willing to haggle 🙂
Finished with our mountain decent, we’re back at the city’s floor.
and this is probably one of the coolest things we’ve done. It’s a must do for anyone traveling here.
The owners of these camels happen to be professional camel racers… so they get us going pretty fast!!
and what a cooler place to ride a camel than the Rose City!?
It’s been a blast seeing such a cool place.
Thank you for staying with us on this long adventure!
We hope you enjoyed it :).
Check out our Petra photo gallery!
…and until next time!
With the Dead Sea’s surface at 1,412 ft below sea level, this is the lowest point on earth.
So incase you’ve never heard of The Narrows hike in Zion National Park: Learn about it here!
The hike is exciting to us because we plan to (hopefully soon!) visit Zion and hike through the water cut canyon ourselves.
But… what does this have to do with Jordan? Well, let me tell you!
Wadi Mujib is what!
Wadi Mujib is known as ‘The Grand Canyon of Jordan’ and is essentially a 43 mile chasm stretching from the Desert Highway to the Dead Sea.
We’re currently at the Dead sea and setting up to hike a very small portion of the canyon.
First step is to get our life jackets situated… safety first everyone!
The hike begins right at the canyon entrance.
We start by descending a ladder into a pool of water.
Depending on the season, the water is sometimes deep enough to jump right in!
The water temperature is very comfortable!
Once we’re in, we’re ready to roll!!
The rock is absolutely beautiful! …and these photos just can’t do it justice.
It’s our first time using our Yi 4K Action Camera w/ waterproof case, and we haven’t had any opportunity to configure it.
We continue hiking the river, encountering various obstacles along the way.
Some of the water pools are deeper than others…
… and if you hold still for any time at all, you’ll get some teeny tiny visitors!
It’s hard to see, but those dark spots are tiny little fish… eating away dead skin from our legs as we stand there! 😲 🐟
Some of the obstacles are more challenging that others
Some are more dangerous than others!!!
But we push past them, climbing waterfalls…
Ladders…
Ropes…
Rocks…
All while keeping in style!
Eventually we reach what’s the end of the trail for us!!
There was a partial collapse a while ago, forcing this to be the trail end.
It’s still possible to climb further, and up the waterfall, but climbing gear and rope is required.
The base of the falls created a small pool, and a couple rocks form a water funnel.
The result?
Small nooks exist behind the falls to find some shelter from the thunderous roar of the water.
Or you could not to escape it at all!
After spending some time enjoying the falls, we return the way we came in.
The entire hike is only a little over a mile, but with obstacles and the constant upstream battle it takes a couple hours to complete comfortably.
Thanks for joining us!
We couldn’t be grateful enough to have this opportunity and explore this region of the world.
