Petra Express - 1st Jan 2002
Petra Bound
Stone the Crows
Near Dry New Year's Eve in Wadi Musa
As we had arrived late in Kerak, we decided to visit the castle in the morning, early before cracking on down to Petra (or more accurately Wadi Musa).
Regrettably, in the morning, the weather proved to be overcast to the point of being foggy. The promised views over the Dead Sea as far as Jerusalem did not materialise. We had to be satisfied with a pleasant crusader castle viewing.
Out on the road, visibility did not improve and I had to share my time between wiping condensation from my visor and steering around the dead dogs of which there were surprisingly many. At least the weather cleared for the crossing of the next major wadi (that's valley to you). This was vastly easier than the last spine tingling wadi crossing with smooth twisty roads both up and down. This time I was cautious about the damp roads so no heroics again.
Safely out of the valleys, it was a simple ride down to Petra...
Navigation to Petra is simple because loads and loads of tourists go down this route and there are lots of 'brown' signs to help them on their way. That is until it comes to the off-season and the ministry of public works sees fit to upgrade the roads. Reasonable enough one may think. But the posting of notices for diversions leaves a lot to be desired. It's OK to follow a road until directed off it, but when one gets to a t-junction and there is no sign at all, it is asking a bit too much. Amazingly, we made it all the way with not a single wrong turn.
A new hazard is present on the highways. I read a long time ago that youths in Ethiopia delight in hurling rocks at passing motorbikes. I had not anticipated coming across it just yet and have been dreading it. Hippy and I managed to stem the tide of stonings by the following method. I observe child bending to pick up a rock and point my finger at him (its always a him of course) while gradually slowing down. Hippy then takes over as we pass said boy by fixing him with her hardest teacher-stare and maintaining eye contact until out of hurling range. It seems to have worked so far, but does not stop the little b......s from playing chicken when they've got a crowd of mates to impress.
STOP PRESS while writing this, we have been alternating between email and the Trotters website and we are pleased to report a neat equaliser from Nolan and no goals from Michael 'the boy wonder' Owen. So, Jonny B and Dowen if your looking in - TOUGH. The new lucky scarf has yet to secure a win, but we're working up to it.
Where was I. Oh, yes. As we hit the last signs after a meandering route, it told us that the route ahead was blocked. When we turned off into the diversion a Bedouin wallah told us that we should have gone straight ahead. "Look, there's a car" he said pointing up the road. Sure enough, there was and so we took him at his word. That is, until we were on a steep gravelly descent heading towards a reversing Caterpillar D8 bulldozer.
Near Dry New Year's Eve in Wadi Musa
Wadi Musa is the service town for Petra. You've all seen it. The final scenes in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade - where he gallops down the narrow gorge.
Talk about a ghost town. This place has been completely devastated by Afghan and Israeli happenings. We booked into a hostel with one other guest. Many of the others had none and the hoteliers were out on the street bargaining each other down practically. We only opted for this place on the promise of beer at one pound a time and we had to whinge a fair bit before the room was transformed into something presentable and warm. The beer turned out to be one pound for a small tin of Heineken - oh, great.
The other guest - a New Zealander - checked out after we'd been there a couple of hours. And so we spent New Years eve watching Egyptian films, playing backgammon and scrabble while sharing three large cans of Heineken.
For the first time in living memory, we awoke on New Years Day without the trace of a hangover and ready to begin the obligatory three-day trial of discovering Petra in its entirety. (Now reckoned to be 60 square km)