we're in jordan and we wasted no time making our way to the town of wadi musa, located outside of the ancient city of petra. for those of you that are indian jones fans, this is the huge temple complex that was used as the backdrop for 'the last crusade.' a few years before that, about 2000, it was the home to the nabataean empire. if you are like me and have never heard of the nabataeans, they were major middlemen in the arabic spice route and made fortunes of money in the frankincense, myrrh and indian spices - real old school, biblical stuff… as our guidebook explains, they bought all of the goods as they entered petra, sold the traders new camel caravans and then resold the spices to others who transported everything on through sinai and then to alexandria where it was loaded onto boats and headed to europe. anyways, they made a fortune in the process and in turn created some of the most amazing temples, tombs and amphitheaters with their wealth - all carved right into and out of the steep red sandstone cliffs of the valley they settled. we bought a two day pass to see the ruins spread throughout the valley. however, we were feeling rather energetic and managed to see most of the major sites today including the treasury, the main building carved right into a massive cliff, and the monastery, an even larger building carved into the mountains. they were both awesome and the 800 stairs to the top of the valley to see the monastery rewarded us with excellent views of the ancient city below.
after 8 hours of hiking, we rewarded ourselves with a few falafel sandwiches, some local yogurt and the best peaches i have ever tasted (sorry georgia). we’re resting and relaxing tonight while gearing up for another day in the valley - tomorrow a climb to the 'high place of sacrifice' - i think the name says it all…
david
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