THURSDAY 14th JUNE 2012.
We overnighted to the sea port of Aqaba in Jordan for our land
excursion to the lost City of Petra. It was a magnificent day with clear blue
skies but hot,hot, hot, about 42 degrees.
We had a further long day to attend to of about 10 hours for our visit to Petra. Another large convoy
of 20 buses left the ship for the two
and a half bus trip to Petra which snaked through a mixture of rugged mountains, wadi’s and desert country.
The roads to Petra took us up to a height of some 1700 metres with spectacular
views.
Petra itself is an idyllic tourist town on the side of a mountain, with
the lost city built in the gorges near the town.
To gain entry to the lost city it was a very long walk through the
canyons and gorges called the”Siq’, in oven like temperatures, however it was
well worth the effort once we reached
“The Treasury” and the
surrounding areas. It was unreal to see such a wonderful building carved into
the sandstone cliff face and something which will be hard to forget. It brought
back vivid memories of the movie Indiana Jones The visit was every bit as good
as it had been made out to be and more, however the return walk took its toll
and we were absolutely stuffed by the time we got back. Luckily the hotel where
we were to have lunch was right next to the entrance and we were able to relax
in comfort with a buffet lunch before we returned to the ship at 7-30pm.
Jordan is a nice country and a lot cleaner than Egypt. It has spectacular
scenery and is a country you would probably want to come back to.
Another days sailing we transit the Suez Canal before reaching
Alexandria.
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