Day Thirteen: Jordan & The Siq

Today we crossed yet another border, the border to Jordan! It was kind of funny, because I had no idea I was even going to Jordan on this trip. Apparently I didn't read the itinerary very thoroughly... This border was pretty slack; for example, the officers all sang Happy Birthday to Margaret. Hahah. You'd never see that in Canada! After crossing, we hopped on our new bus, with our new bus driver, new tour guide, AND new security guard. I fell in love with this guy. He wasn't your typical security guard, you know, never-smiling, HUGE kind of guy. This guy was super tall, super skinny, super smiley, and whistled constantly to his IPod. I felt like I was famous or of royalty with this guy around. I mean, everytime I'd stop to take a photo, he would also stop and look quickly in all directions, as if he was expecting to see a cross-air across between my eyes. Whatever, I didn't mind it. And all of the safety and security made me feel kind of reckless, like I could do anything just knowing he would save me!
No worries, I didn't do anything crazy...hee hee.

[Welcome to Jordan!!]

[A magnet I found in the gift shop, haha]

[Beaded hats]

[Looks better on Bob. HA]

[A pub dedicated to one of my favorite TV shows! Boy, was I ever pumped!]

[The landscape of Jordan (not too different from Israel...]

[A sign for the Women's bathroom]

[One of our security guards]

[I have no idea who these men are. I bet you my Dad would know...]

After driving through Petra, we made it to the Siq! It's apparently one of the world's seven wonders! Who knew? Charmaine and I made a pact to visit each of the natural world wonders AND the man-made world wonders. It can be done, I have faith.
The Siq is quite similar to the Grand Canyon. Just like how the Grand Canyon was formed by a river, so was the Siq, except the Siq is much narrower. I honestly cannot believe that that used to be a river! I mean, the cliffs around us were soooo high. It was actually amazing, one of the coolest things I've seen...ever.

[Carriage rides in the Siq!]

[So many people]

[It's getting narrower and narrower]

[Beautiful]

Bedouin Shepherds still live there, as there are tunnels and caves leading inside of these cliffs. Seeing the the Al Khazneh temple was definitely amazing. But before we even knew how close we were to seeing the temple, our tour guide stopped us all in our tracks and said, "OK, everyone get in single file line and follow me." So all 50 of us did what we were told and followed close behind, wondering what was going on. The tour guide points up behind us, at this rock way up at the top of the cliff and says "Look! Can you see the elephant inside of the rock?" So we were all squinting and trying to find this weird elephant formation. Before we all got too frustrated at this, the Mr. Tour Guide said "Just kidding, TURN AROUND." So we all turn around and as if we were a choir being led by a conductor, we all let out a simultaneous "WOOOOOW!" It was the temple!! The Al Khazneh!! It's a temple built into the side of a cliff. It's where Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade was filmed! So now I've been to two Indiana Jones filiming locations, one here and one in Hawaii! Yeah, I'm a fan.

[See! I told you!]

[Our very first glimpse of the temple!!]

[Absolutely breathtaking. I wish we could have gone inside]

[What a cutie]

[I fell in love]

[What a classy camel, he prefers bottled to tap]

The hike to this temple was the longest we've done this whole tour, which is sad, considering it was probably only 45 minutes one way. Haha. So unfortunately, these buffet dinners aren't going anywhere but our thighs. And hips...

[Homes of the Bedouin Shepherds]

[This is a book written by a New Zealand woman who traveled to Jordan and ended up marrying a shepherd. All it took was a "hey, wanna sleep in my tent tonight?"]

[Water erosion does amazing things!]

[This is where Henna comes from!]

[Horsie]

When we got back to the hotel in Eilat, a shower was essential for all of us, as we were all covered in sand. (Not a good feeling). Itching for an evening of relaxation and sanity, a bunch of us met in the lobby to socialize with a bottle of wine. Charmaine and I sat down for a total of two seconds and total of two sips of wine before agreeing to babysit our tour guides' two daughters. Two hours later, I pinned a mental note to the inner walls of my brain: Never. Have. Children.
It was absolutely exhausting!! But you know what, after thinking about the situational effects, anybody would find these two hours exhausting for these two reasons: 1) I spent the whole day under the hot desert sun, sweating and hiking. and 2) These two girls barely speak English. (They're Hebrew, remember?)
So maybe one day, having children will be in the itinerary...as long as they speak my language. Haha.

[My camel photo reminded me of my moose photo, so I decided to put them together. Wow, what a combo!]