A girl in Petra

It’s been a while since the last trip, but the memories definitely stay bright. I want to tell you about an extraordinary day in which, during the circumstances, I found myself alone in Petra and about the people I met on my way.

We left the Wadi Rum desert that day very early, at 5 am in the morning. The whole camp was dark and everyone was asleep. Our humble group stood at the exit of the camp, keeping the heads up so we could enjoy the shooting stars in the night desert. We waited for someone to come and pick us up, without connection or any security, just the driver’s word from the night before. Fortunately, the Jordanians really keep their word. After a while lights appeared and for 5-6 minutes they slowly approached us through the desert. We loaded the jeep and headed for the adventure.

We arrived in Wadi Musa at 8 am or so and Mohammed left us at the entrance of Petra. Our walk began. We were on the threshold of the ancient city from the Indiana Jones movies and I was about to make a dream come true by seeing with my own eyes the famous Treasury. A few hours later, I thought about how much more Petra is than this famous scene from the movie.

Sunset vibes

We started descending through the canyon. Beautiful, mysterious, and on both sides we saw ancient  buildings, carved in the stone with stone doorsteps, tunnels and irrigation canals in the rocks. We descended, perhaps, for half an hour and the vertical walls of the canyon became closer and closer, we walked in a tunnel. Suddenly the sun crept in from somewhere and turn after turn in front of us began to unfold the long-awaited view – the Treasury in all its glory, illuminated by the sun… magical! Whether because it was a dream of mine since I was a child or because of the beauty and majesty of the place, my heart started beating faster and I felt the adrenaline and admiration of the sight. I’ve seen it so many times in videos and pictures, but live it’s incredibly impressive, it really deserves to be called one of the modern wonders of the world!

The shining Treasury

A considerable number of people began to gather in front. I spent the obligatory few minutes reflecting on the reclining camels in front from any angle with the beautiful background at the back. We decided to go up the stairs and see the Treasury from above. We did not succeed, the local merchants had decided that without a fight they would not allow any foreigner to pass there without giving them money, for which they had no right, of course. We decided to storm on the other side, where we realized that we would not be teased and continued down to the amphitheater.

The beauties of Petra outside to well known scenes

There the road branches into three. Most of the group decided to take one route. I needed some time alone with the camera and walked up the stairs to the top of the canyon with the idea of seeing the Treasury from above for half an hour and catching up with the others..

The beginning of the stairs

I walked up the stone steps carved into the rocks. They rise you quite quickly with about 300-400 meters. Except for the scorching sun, it was very much like the endless stairs that Frodo and Sam climbed as they enter Mordor. The noise from the crowd with the tourists began to fade. Some quiet single travelers began to appear, who, like me, had decided to deviate from the official route and set out to explore this route. I will not exaggerate if I say how incredibly beautiful it was with each step climbed. I left the official path and walked through the rocks, up. At one point I met a local woman carrying a tray of stones on her head. She told me to be careful as I climbed the rocks, and wished me luck. I was already far from the outlines of the tourist map. At one point I reached the top and a boundless sea of ​​bushes, space and rocks opened up. I had a rough idea of ​​where I was, I certainly knew how to get back, and I felt completely comfortable. I walked for 15 minutes with light moments of climbing the rocks and went out into some completely wild place, as if you were in some different dimension, and in fact only 300 meters down in the canyon there were thousands of tourists. There was no one with me, only nature, beautiful and very different from ours. Suddenly I heard the wind bring a very tender and beautiful melody, something like a flute. I looked around and saw in the distance a figure on a donkey and around it a herd with about 100-200 goats. The figure began to wave and approach me. At first I was confused and went in the opposite direction, I didn’t want to get in trouble with a shepherd dog, and there was no other living soul around. You should know that donkeys in Jordan are an incredibly fast transport, in three or four minutes the figure caught up with me. That’s how I met Rania.

Rania

In an Arab country like Jordan, it is not easy to make contact with a local girl. You just don’t see them on the streets. I was very surprised when she approached me, unveiled and with a wide smile on her face. Very gentle and beautiful. She spoke to me in pretty good English and told me how she learned it at school in the village. How she walked to school every day for over an hour in the direction of the rocks, but she is already 19 and graduated. I told her that her donkey was very nice, she smiled at me and after 30 seconds I was thrown on it. The flute was a simple tube with holes, but she had become a real master. I was a little sad, such a beautiful, bright and smiling girl, she knows good English, and she lives in the wilderness and looks after her goats. She did not have a mobile phone, her father did not allow. She wasn’t married, she didn’t want to. At least she had a choice for that. She asked me how I was alone and I showed up there. I also told about where I come from, about having a husband, that my mother is a doctor. She was terribly impressed, perhaps it was not proper for a woman to be a doctor in Jordan, or at least not for a poor Bedouin girl. We talked a little, another figure of a donkey came – it turned out to be her sister.

Beautiful Rania, named after the Queen of Jordan

I also explained where I wanted to go and it turned out that I had deviated from the right direction. They showed me a path and told me that if I walked on it for 15 minutes, I would reach their brother’s shop and from where he would show me how to see the Treasury from above. On departure I wanted to give them something in return and left them a dinar. The most meaningful money given in my life. You can’t imagine the smile on their faces when I left them something so small. But maybe it wasn’t such a few for them. I realized that with the life they lead, they hardly have many opportunities to make their own money. Do they even have their own money? I was pleased with the warm attitude of the girls, I was a little sad that they were born here. So, with mixed feelings, I set off down the aisle to look for their brother and the Treasury. As I walked away again, the magical melody of Rania’s flute spread through the space.

Rania is shooting 2 donkeys

To the Treasury

I walked along the path. I went around another herd because of the dogs. After 10-15 minutes I actually reached a small shop with a Jordanian flag flying over it. Inside was the owner, who turned out to be the brother, and a couple of Poles. I did not miss the opportunity to exchange a few words with them in Polish, it always gives me incredible pleasure, I fondly remember the time when I studied in Poland. I introduced myself to the boy and when I told him that his sister Rania was sending me, I was immediately seated at the table and tea was poured for me. The boy explained to me that it was not good to go down alone because the path was slippery and dangerous and a French woman fell from 50 meters some time ago. However, he explained the way to me, it turned out that it was only 10 minutes down the steep path. He suggested that if I had difficulty, I return to him and he would take me. I thanked him and went downstairs. I wore nice hiking boots with Vibram and had no worries about the terrain.

I turned out to be right, nothing more scandalous than any path in Pirin or on Tarzan’s path to Botev. The path forked two or three times. I met two local boys on the road, somewhere my age or a little younger. I asked them about the direction and they supposedly guided me, but how much they understood me is another question. I kept going. At one point, the boys called me in the distance and explained that I was not on the right track and to follow them. I listened to them and came back, and they were waiting for me. There was a slightly more technical passage through a narrow gutter and a precipice below, but the path was at least 2 meters wide, so I didn’t consider it dangerous. I went down with them.

With my local guides

Here came a challenge – between two rocks there was a bridge made of three thin boards, no more than 25 cm wide, maybe 3 meters long. Below – the abyss. The story about the French woman came into my mind. The boys were in city clothes, but they walked nimbly across the bridge without any worries. I’m generally not afraid of heights, but I can’t say I was too comfortable. But they were waiting for me, so I walked slowly on the bridge. We walked for another minute, it was quite hot. I gave them water and they were very happy. We reached the panoramic view and took some nice pictures. I never remembered their names.

The challenge

On the way back we met a group of local “guides” who were disturbing the  tourists to give them money and when they saw me without a “guide” one of them started running after me and shouting at me how dangerous it is to be there alone, how I have no right to be there etc. My boys began to explain something to him in Arabic, and I walked back to the bridge. He got even angrier and started shouting at me how I would die if I continue. I calmly told him that I had come from there and that he should not bother me, but he rushed after me. Well, then I got a little scared. A ran the bridge backwards, my legs trembled, the guy still screaming at me how I will die, the abyss gapes below … It was the only scary moment in the whole day. He didn’t follow me across the bridge. I shouted goodbye to the boys and headed up the aisle. I caught up with two Australians who, seeing me, began to explain to me in a friendly way how dangerous it was to walk alone and asked me to stay with them and their guide. I already knew exactly where and how I wanted to go and I had no fears, I was already in familiar territory. I went upstairs to Rania’s brother, he greeted me that I was coming back and I had found the Treasury. I thanked him and went downstairs to look for the stairs on which I had slipped off the official route. On the way down, I met Rania again, who was moving her herd. She was very happy when I told her that I met her brother and I found the place I was looking for. She invited me to walk with her and showed me the Place of Sacrifice – one of the next landmarks in the area. We came to a stall where several boys and girls were selling souvenirs. It turned out to be Rania’s cousins. I was served tea again. We kept going up and she let me look around the Place of Sacrifice. On the way he gave me a stone from Petra. Amazing girl!

Real Beauty

Quentin

There were carved pits at the sacrificial site, apparently for the sacrifices, and the site itself was high, revealing an incredible 360-degree view of the rocks. There I met a boy who wandered just like me and asked me about the road. It turned out that he was Belgian, that he had a Turkish girlfriend and lived in Istanbul, but they quarreled and he went around Europe to think about his future. He wanted to get to the Treasury where I came from. I told him about my life in Belgium. We talked for half an hour while wandering around the area, took some pictures, exchanged good wishes and advices  and parted. It was a short but invigorating meeting.

With Quentin

When I returned, I did not find Rania and her herd. I asked for some contacts from her cousin so that I could send her the photo. Rania’s cousin, Mohammed, had the most beautiful and likable donkey I had ever seen. He introduced it as “Ferrari”. The boy told me “You don’t think we’re not modern, I really live in a cave in the rocks, but I have Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.” Then he showed me pictures of his cave, it really looked like a cozy place, all covered with carpets and an amazing view from the entrance. I thanked him for everything and continued down the stairs. It might have been two hours since I boarded, but so many things had happened and I felt like days had passed. And it was only the early afternoon.

The Place of  Sacrifice

Upstairs it was quiet, secluded and calm. The people were caring, warm and sincere, somehow real. The madhouse downstairs hit me hard. Hundreds of tourists are going crazy, local children are running between them and they want to sell something to you, every thirty seconds someone wants to put you on a camel or on a donkey. Someone is constantly bothering you and talking to you. I turned them off and continued on my route. At one point I heard a donkey passing around me and someone talking to me. I wave angrily at him not to bother me. Then I hear “Rossi, it’s me, have you forgotten me?” I look up and see the cousin Mohammed, sitting on Ferrari and smiling at me. He told me that it would take me more than an hour and a half to get to the monastery and had 1,000 steps, so he offered to take me there with a Ferrari in 20 minutes. I politely refused. I didn’t want to depend on other people. In fact, I was in a hurry because I wasted a lot of time. I literally had to run so I could walk that distance and see everything. And the displacement was serious. It gets dark early there, I had no more than three hours. I took a quick step forward. Mohammed caught up with me and told me again with a smile that since I am his friend and he sees that I am fast, he will give me some piece of advice on what and how to visit so that I have time for everything. He gave me a quick map and left me to hunt other tourists, maybe. Ferrari lived up to its name, disappeared in a few seconds.

Mohammed and Ferarri

The Monastery

I continued forward with more than a brisk step, a tight climb awaited me. For an hour and 15 minutes for hiking, sightseeing, photography and a short break, I made a tour, which takes a minimum of 2 hours just for the road. I felt winged by the experiences so far and I did not feel tired at all. I was flying up the stairs and after about 20 minutes I caught up with my company, which had gone up and was just coming down. I exchanged a few short words with them and flew upstairs. I climbed all 1000 steps in no more than half an hour and found myself in front of the facade of the Monastery. Again a beautiful and majestic building carved into the rocks. I asked a random man to take a picture of me. Later, our paths met again, and this became another important meeting that deeply marked my journey. But for that later. There is a rock hill above the monastery, maybe another 10 minutes of climbing, which reveals a beautiful view over the mountain. I jumped up and happily took off my backpack and stretched on top. I rocked my feet on the edge of the abyss and watched the birds fly by and the sun already setting. There was complete peace, and somewhere a flute was playing softly.

1000 stairs to here

Eric and Rob

After ten minutes of contemplation and rest, I heard a familiar voice behind me. It was the same man who was taking pictures of me downstairs who had just gone upstairs with his friend. I greeted them and we exchanged another photo from above. Then Rob casually asked me, “Did you see that my friend was completely blind?” I looked at Eric and stared … From looking at all this beauty, panoramas, architecture, I hadn’t looked at him at all. I had reflected that he was moving with two sticks, but now I realized that he didn’t really see. The terrain above the monastery to the view is not easy, as if you went to climb Malyovitsa peak. Crossed, stony and steep. I cannot express the respect I felt for these two at the time, one for the courage and steadfastness and the other for the perseverance and friendship that had prompted him to take his comrade there. My congratulations, boys, you are amazing!

They turned out to be Americans from Colorado, they didn’t know much about Bulgaria, they asked me if it was in Europe, but they were such warm, open and inspiring people. I wish them all the best!

From the top

After a few minutes with them, the advancing weather reminded me that I must hurry if I want to see the rest of the tombs and temples and catch the sunset from some beautiful high place. The meeting with these two had charged me twice and I started running down with new strength. I walked around late groups of different tourists, talking to many of them or joking that there was not much left up, watching them barely move. I passed through several groups of Poles with “Przepraszam” (“sorry” in Polish) and heard them wondering about me because I was too black and tanned for an average Pole.

The monastery is behind these mountains

When I came down from the mountain, I calmed down for the weather and walked calmly to the last temples and tombs, for which there was also a steep climb. I looked around, hoping to meet Mohammed and Ferrari and brag about my adventures.

On the way back

I looked calmly at everything and saw the sunset from the highest temple. I went back. I was already beginning to wonder how I would get along with my group. Our roads crossed with a boy from Slovenia, who was also returning home. We went together. I forgot his name already, I must have talked to over 40 people that day, but I remember that he was a guide, a mountaineer and he told me a lot interesting things about Petra’s history.

Landscape from the stairs

As we passed the Amphitheater, we came across my companions Hristo and Georgi, who were just descending from the winding path from which my adventure began. Here again, fate intervened. Without phones, without connection and appointment, we ran into this huge area full of people  exactly, as if we had knocked on a date.

The last sun lights on one of the temples

We all left together. We sat for few minutes in front of the Treasury to admire its majesty for the last time. There were no more people, it was almost dark, the stars had risen, and the magic of this stunning canyon was even stronger. We were slowly climbing up to the village, and all the people and emotions I had encountered during the day passed through my mind. I was already terribly tired, my legs and shoulders ached, and I prayed for the moment when I would take off my shoes and lift my legs, but that was all in the background. I felt genuine happiness and satisfaction from this wonderful and extraordinary day. Later, I had a long reflection and promised myself that I would write down my memories so that the time would not erase them, as it often happens.

Our group in front of the Treasury

For dinner we met the 3 girls and the Bulgarian group, with whom we had become friends from the previous day in the Bedouin camp. We ate traditional and delicious food and with all the power left we dragged ourselves to the hotel, where we took turns taking a long and invigorating bath with a patron of whiskey. I hadn’t slept so sweetly in years!

Reflection

Mom, Dad, I know you’re going to read this and realize that I’ve hidden part of the story in the official story. I just didn’t want to bother you. I know you will tell me again that I should not dare to do such a thing, that I was unreasonable and stupid. Maybe so, but you know you won’t change me. I realize that it was risky, but I am infinitely happy that I took the risk of hanging out alone outside the tourist roads of Petra and gave the opportunity to all these wonderful things to happen to me …

Return to the balance sheet:

Out of so many emotions, I didn’t even think about food, until the evening around 7 pm I remembered that I was terribly exhausted and hungry. I had traveled over 30 km and climbed at least 1000 meters. I spent the whole day on 2 liters of water. Everything hurt, but I felt the most incredible satisfaction and happiness from the day. I am infinitely grateful for all the occasional meetings with these warm and sincere people. They gave me a lot and this day remains one of the most special in my life. It started so discouragingly and ended so triumphantly and wonderfully.

To my surprise, and in contrast to my impressions of the cities, no one behaves badly, disrespectfully, or maliciously, despite the fact that I am alone in the desert. Whether because I was a foreigner or because I was alone, but up there these social restrictions did not exist, only the human remained and the attitude of all local people was warm, friendly and equal, even men.

Sunset

Of course, in many places something could go wrong. There are always risks. The important thing is that everything went smoothly, as if people and nature itself were giving me signs and appearing at the right moment when I was losing the right path. I felt calm, happy and winged all day. I certainly left my comfort zone away, but I had the feeling that this is my day and everything will go smoothly. Fortunately, intuition did not let me down.

If you are still here after this long story, I want to thank you and say that this adventure will leave me with a very positive and inspiring memory for a lifetime. I wish everyone to visit Petra and experience it in their own way. It was really magical for me, let it be so for you!