By the time we arrived in Petra, the actual city itself was closed, so we decided to get some food and pray first. We had the choice of going back home and coming again another day, or taking the 'Petra by Night' tour. We really didn't want to come back again, so we decided to stay and see what we could do. We ended up taking the 'Petra by Night' tour walked through the siq, which was simply amazing. It is basically the main entrance to the ancient city. It is a narrow gorge (in some points no more than 3 m wide) which winds its way for about one mile and ends at Petra's most visited site, the treasury. Since we were walking through the siq at night, the whole way was lighted by over 1000 candles! It was unlike anything we have ever done before. Although it was nice, it had a strange eeriness to it as well.
After all of that walking, we finally arrived at the treasury. Wow! It was just enormous! I had seen it before in pictures, but never imagined it to be so massive. It was amazing to me that people would spend so much time to carve this building right into the mountain, and it brought me back to the story of the people of Ad in the Quran, and how Allah destroyed them. We sat down and were served some bedouin tea, which I actually enjoyed. Then some bedouins sang some traditional songs and there was more time to look around and take pictures, etc.
The creepy thing about Petra for us, was the obvious, of the Nabateans who built these structures, being the forefathers of the people of Ad, who were demolished by Allah. But also, almost every picture we tried to take there, did not turn out! There were these huge particle like objects in nearly every pic we snapped, which has never happened with our camera before. We started asking around, and apparently, the other tourists were having similar issues. Coincidence?
I will just leave it at that, but our trip to Petra definitely wasn't one of our highlights of Jordan. Actually, the best of part of Petra for me, was the mouth watering baklawa we bought from a small shop as we were heading out. To this day, I have never had such tasty baklawa! I would go back just for that!
Another place visited by almost everyone who goes to Jordan is Wadi Rum, which is a valley cut into the sandstone and granite rock in southwest Jordan. It is the largest 'wadi' in Jordan. There have been many people who have lived there and left their mark in the rock paintings, graffiti, and temples. For the time being, there are several Bedouin tribes that live in the surrounding areas of Wadi Rum.
We actually arrived in Wadi Rum in the evening, around maghrib time, so after praying, we were told that we could not go into the actual desert and we had to find a camp just outside. Alhamdulillah, there are many camps to choose from in Wadi Rum, and since some other Qasid students were there as well, we ended up going to the same camp as them. We got there just in time for food! It was great. They were having a traditional style barbeque, along with rice, vegetables and everything. We ate under some tents, overlooking the desert and some mountainous areas. It was simply beautiful. After eating, we sat around, talking to others and waiting for a either a shed or tent to sleep in. The reason I say shed, is because that is about the size of it. A shed with a door, two small windows on either side and two single beds. The weather in Wadi Rum at night is a bit chilly, but we opted to sleep in a tent and alhamdulillah, there was one available. The size of the tent was probably the same as the shed, with two beds as well, but it just seemed more open. The kids fell asleep right away and I decided to go outside for a bit. I am glad I did as the sky was full of stars. It was an indescribable experience to be in this massive desert under a sky full sparkling stars. Ovaise and I barely slept that night, as he struck up conversation with a neighbouring group of tourists in the next tent and I tossed and turned next to Asma's arms and legs in my face for most of the night. But alhamdulillah, I would do it all over again.
The next morning, we had some breakfast and headed out to the 'real' Wadi Rum. We had the option of hiring a local guide to take us on 4x4, or even go by camel, but we decided to take our own 4x4. Looking back, we were just being cheap, and taking the least expensive way, but our decision proved to be not a good one. Wadi Rum is a huge desert. When I say huge, I mean that some people spend days exploring all of it. So, basically, we were crazy to go out exploring without any guide. But, alhamdulillah, we managed to find our way around for a few hours. The sheer vastness of the desert is what stood out to me. My fascination with deserts began when we moved to the middle east, but out of all the deserts I have been to so far, Wadi Rum stands out as one that is unlike all of the others. Many movies were filmed here and now I know why. One description of the place is 'vast and echoing.' I don't think I can say it any better myself.
One last memory of Wadi Rum: we had a chance to meet a few of the bedouins who live surrounding the desert, and mashaAllah, although they were all very eager to help, one in particular we will never forget. He came up to us, helped us put the air back in our tires (after our desert adventure), showed us around the little village and brought Ibrahim and Asma camel riding! Then, he refused to take any money from us whatsoever. We bought him a cold drink, as it was quite hot that day and he refused that too (although we finally managed to force it on him). He insisted that we come to his house for food, or at least coffee. We later met his father and Ovaise was sure to tell him what an amazing son he has. The father just smiled at us and also extended us an offer to his home! It is these types of people which we will never forget and who made our travels so memorable.
On our way out of Wadi Rum, we saw someone walking through the heat to get to the main road. Ovaise stopped and we gave him a ride. He looked young and he was dressed in a fresh thobe with an imama tied on his head. Ovaise made small talk with him (as much as he could in Arabic!) and before we dropped him off he gave us some dua.
Even long after he had stepped out of the car, the sweet smell of ittar filled the car all the way to our next destination. SubhanAllah. You do something small to help someone out, and Allah gives you something back.
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