October 7, 2019 - Petra to Amman

There’s a reason for the name of the Panorama Hotel.  When I look outside, there is still a trace of sunrise coloring the sky.  Petra is right there!

Today will be a very different treat!  After breakfast will be taken to meet Mohammad (yes, another one!).  Along the way we stop for a fifteen-minute toilet break.  But it’s at a market place, so it becomes a forty-minute stop!  All the girls are wrapped up in traditional scarf head dresses, complete with kohl eye-liner!  We are stunning!  And the young men are all charming Jordanians.  One wants to know if I’m single and can I wait while he calls his father, who is also single!

There are lots of pretties!  Aventurine jewelry, pillows, magnets, clothing, hanging lamps, on and on!  For once I escape with empty hands!  Finally we’re off to Mohammad who is a Bedouin and will take us in the four by four, for a tour of Wadi Ram.  Wadi means valley and Ram is from the name of the family which first settled here, although Bedouins don’t really settle.  Most of them still live in tents and have sheep or goats or camels, and move when the weather turns.  Recently, though, the government has moved the Bedouins who used to live in Petra to a housing complex with electricity and water and everything.

The valley floor is flat, flat, with enormous sandstone blocks and bluffs sticking up.  This is where “Aladdin” was filmed and is also where Lawrence of Arabia lived.  We actually get to see his “house” and well, as well as the Bedouin Sphinx and the prow of the Titanic, suitable for climbing and posing!  Mohammed stops to make us some Bedouin tea over an open campfire which he starts by striking two rocks together.   While the tea is brewing, he demonstrates how the ladies use powdered rocks for make up and grinds up some plants he has gathered to make soap and shampoo!  The tea is ready and everyone adores the black tea and cinnamon brew!

Don't ask!  Just being artsy-fartsy!

Looking out Lawrence of Arabia's doorway

I've followed Ginger into all kinds of trouble!

Along the way he has pointed out several camps where tourists come to spend one or nights out under the stars and rock climbing during the day.  There must be a million stars out here, so far from any light pollution!  As the grand finally, Muhammad sings us a Bedouin song about life in the wadi, with clapping and snapping, and we all applaud at the end!

Ammar had said he’d see us tomorrow; but he’s still here waiting for us!  It’s a long drive back to Amman, so we need to be on our way.  One thing that slows us down in camels in the road!  They are hobbled, so they can’t go far and the shepherd is sitting on a rock, watching them.  We also see a silica mine and, further along, a phosphate mine.  The four major industries in Jordan or agriculture, tourism, phosphate, and potash.  There is no oil.

We stop for a late lunch at another of Ammar’s favorite places.  We all get the standard buffet;  but Ammar gets the Jordanian special, roast lamb with yellow rice, and yoghurt soup, so we can all sample it!  I understand, now, why people eat lamb!  That’s delicious!

There is a trafic cop stopping cars and when he stops us and asks a lot of questions, Marilyn asks what that was all about.  Ammar says the cop wanted to know if Ammar knew the dinar/dollar exchange rate.  He said, “Yes, .70 dinar to the dollar”.  Then the cop wanted to know if Ammar could change a hundred-dollar bill and when that failed, could we?  Ammar told him, “No, my tourists do not have Jordanian money.”  I feel so protected!

We’ve been on the hunt for more of the yoghurt and herbs potato chips that Ginger loves.  We found one store but they only had small bags, so we each bought one.  Well, really, Ammar bought them because “My tourists don’t pay for snacks!”

Later, he says we need to just give him a moment and he ducks into a shop.  We think he going for cigarettes;  but he comes back out with a whole bag full of the chips!  He was hoping for large bags;  but they were only available for the weekend!

Back on the road and we wind up in rush-hour traffic.  Crazy! It takes forever, but Ammar delivers us safely back to Le Meredien, after our two days away, and he promises to be back for us in the morning.

Later, the three amigas head up to the roof for a snack.  We all have lemonade, which is served here as a slushy!  And we order three appetizers to split.  One is a grilled cheese called hallourni that is to die for, another is a falafel that is filled with meat and onions, and the third is some kind of meat inside a kind of spring roll.  They are Lebanese treats are are enough to make you want to visit Lebanon just for the food!

The hour grows late and there is still packing to do for our eight-thirty departure in the morning!  The inevitable question - how in the world will I get all this in my suitcase?  With a side dish of “will security take this away from me?”  Since the answer to that is unknown, it’s always better to err on the side of caution.  We’ll see what tomorrow brings;  but for tonight we’ve done all we can!