Falling in with the rhythm of Petra

Views from drive into the seaside port of Aqaba on the Red Sea .... A two hour hot/dry drive from Wadi Musa through a vast expanse of desert ..

Hotel decked out for Christmas ....

Climbing up to the Ed Deir monastery

Very handsome young bedouin lad offered us a ride up to the monastery on his donkey:)
We declined .........

We made it!!! .... Ed Deir Monastery! :) We opted to continue climbing upward a little ways with a bit of a scramble to a further outcrop at the very top of this mountain .... magical views of most of Petra below us .....

Peggy and I on the early part of trail :) Don happily plays the tour guide, snapping our picture here and there on the trail :)

Bedouin farmer selling potatoes and tomatoes on the road to Aqaba ... he was enjoying his afternoon tea and shisha pipe :)

On my last day in the area, I was already wishing I had booked another week in Wadi Musa!! .... ....... particularly as I later discovered, the Middle East and particularly the United Arab Emirates are not what they once were (I know, I know ..... nothing stands still, but still ....... I yearn for the old simplicity I remember so clearly .......... only small pockets remain today, perhaps in Yemen, parts of Saudi Arabia etc. and one of them is surely this area a few hundred miles from Amman, Jordan ... I grow nostalgic, sitting here in the concrete jungles of Dubai, for the "good old days" of life in the Arab world ....... a Middle East before Western capitalism and materialism got it's stranglehold, seducing most in it's wake ...... But .... to get back to my last day at Petra .... Early in the morning, I met up with a friendly couple from Colorado, Don and Peggy Littleton while we were looking around for the trailhead to the Ed Deir Monastery....... together we decided to hike up the zillion stone stairs (this is perhaps a bit of an exaggeration as a good portion of these "stairs" were well placed stones, carved into the mountain thousands of years ago, long worn smooth by the Nabatean villagers and various different tribes that came before and after) to this Monastery also known as a Convent ... a short scramble from the Monastery, is the summit of this mountain allowing for magnificent views of the canyon, and tomb valley below ..... unfortunately, shortly before reaching the summit, my camera battery slowed to a halt ...... too much zooming in and out I suppose :) ...... so am hoping that Peggy and Don email me a few pictures as they promised :) In the November US election, Peggy had been voted in as County Commissioner for Colorado ...... a long holiday before her new career and all it's inevitable demands was surely in order ..... Couldn't have asked for a nicer couple to partner up with, hiking up this special path! One learns much about people when hiking together ..... it is like a crash course in getting to know people ...... the masks and shields fall away ....... huffing and puffing up a mountain ...... we shared much about each other's lives. In general, I am a quick read of people, aided by strong intuition which is often more a woman's territory than a man's and runs particularly high in my Leppanen family of women ........ it is heartening to know that strong women with unwavering morals and values such as Peggy will be at the helm in January. I particularly liked that she totally gets my own bit of philosophy ie. "when the world smacks you down for your good deeds and when mistakes and negativity happen, as they are likely to do from time to time, do good deeds anyway" ....... I believe this woman embodies that belief and I look forward to following her career. In general, I am thrilled that there are women moving into the power positions in government and can only hope and pray they are beyond corruption as so many of our men seem to fall into that trap once in power (what is that saying? ...... money corrupts most, but power can corrupt absolutely ..... am sure that is hardly verbatim for the quote .... when memory fails, I tend to fill in with my own scramblings :) ............. Hiking while exploring such historical beauty, meeting kind, likeable, interesting people along the way ....... yes, a fitting end to an amazing week in Jordan .... as I now sit here in modern day Dubai, I am beyond grateful that I had the good sense to add Petra to my journey ....... Horray!!! ..... the old Middle East is alive and well in Wadi Musa ......... Al Humdu I-illah....