So – there we stand, in front of Al Khazneh, the main and most famous attraction of Petra, the city of stone (seen in the picture above). A rather special moment for me: Ever since I first saw Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade, seeing this has been on my bucket list.

But, as it appears, it has probably been on the bucket list of lots of other people, too. Even though we were told that this was about half the usual amount of visitors due to the unstable political situation of the Middle East, it felt … wrong. Too many people, all taking the same pictures, all being talked into buying “artifacts” that happen to have a striking similarity to the “artifacts” I’ve been offered in India, too (I’d be willing to make a bet they’re made in the same factory in China), and all most trying to refuse the “ride-all-the-way-to-the-end” offers of the rather desperate owners of donkeys, horses and camels.

“My friend – good price!”

Don’t get me wrong: I’m fully aware that Judith and I are part of the exact group I just described above. We’re tourists here, doing what everybody does (except the buying and riding, that is). But still, it takes away a lot of the awe, being in a crowd with 10’000 other people from all over the world.

I’m glad we had purchased a 2-day ticket, though. That bought us some time to get away from the masses, into the areas a bit further away from the main entrance. Less and less people by the minute – and it just kept getting more and more impressive. The first day we felt smart and decided not to take the same way back to the entrance, but cross on of the large hills doing an alternative return way. Well – the idea was good, the way paved with lots of impressive stairs…

Original stairs vs. rebuilt stairs

…and it actually led us close to the entrance. Just 70 meters too high, way above Al Khazneh. Great view, two rather freaky guys camping out and offering coffee – just no way down. Literally, no way. Which meant going back all the way we came from. Duh.

The second day we were there rather early, and managed to see the sunrise illuminating Al Kazneh.

We then took a long and steep hike, passing an old sacrifice station, and finally reaching the furthest part of Petra: The old monastery.

Epic building in the back. Beautiful wife up front. 

The entire way there is paved with the most impressive stone buildings ever, carved straight into the mountain! Except from some scarce exterior decoration, no stone is added, it’s all just carved out. There are small houses, huge tombs (yes, the tombs appeared to be much larger than the houses), and even a half-circle amphitheater, inspired by the romans.

All in all a quite unforgettable experience, in spite of the crowds. Kudos to Carl and Rudy, two guys we met on our hikes, who provided us with interesting conversations and valuable information.

One of our highlights was the evening, though: On the bus from Wadi Rum we met Mohammed, whose family runs a camp in Wadi Rum, but lives in Wadi Mousa (the city next to Petra). He invited us to attend his cousins wedding, which we gladly did. And what a wedding it was! Strict gender separation dictated that the main party was outside the building only attended by men, while women were inside having their own thing going on. Outside, there was live music, and some pretty cool dancing:

There seem to be quite some traditional steps which everybody knows…and while they’re not that difficult to learn, they do look quite impressive when being danced by 50 men in a row, holding hands. Every now and then, one of them would put up a little special show – like this one, the “leader” of the group, and uncle of the groom (watch it till the end):

That did not convince all of the guests, though, and soon, this guy showed up:

Yes – it was loud.

That really got the party going… What a mood! Everybody dancing, high-paced live music, and every once in a while someone showing his gratitude by firing his gun in the air. And all of this without a single drop of alcohol (it’s forbidden).

While it felt a bit strange to be separated from my wife, it certainly was a very enjoyable experience. I was handed out sweets and invited to dance, in the middle of a crowd of happy Jordanians! I would be hard pressed to tell exactly how many were assisting, but after Mohammed told me that his family consisted of anywhere in between 400 and 500 members, I can imagine they pretty much all attended.

What a great experience  – thanks Mohammed!