Petra

Petra! The entrance gate was only a five minute walk from the hotel, so loaded up with water and a few snacks, we headed down the hill and towards the canyon. Our guide lead us on a slow two hour guided hike to the amphitheater. It was interesting to learn the history of the site and have the carvings in the canyon walls pointed out to us, but the pointing out of all the rocks that looked like something (a duck, a fish, an elephant, etc.), got to be a bit annoying after a while. I hiked with two other girls from the group up to the Monastery - 800 steps up in high temperatures with no shade! We took a while to get up there (resting in every tiny bit of shade we could find), but we made it! I then climbed up to two lookouts to look into the wilderness and the rift valley. It was a hot two hour hike back down and then up to the hotel. We had lunch, then headed north to Amman, taking the windy, scenic route (which was a bit of a scary drive) past Bozrah, where we talked a bit about the kingdom of Edom. They had a long, narrow territory, and controlled the trade routes through this area so became rich.

Dana Canyon

Bozrah

We had a super fancy hotel in Amman (and had to pass through metal detectors before we could enter), but the pool closed before we got there, so we were a bit disappointed with that! The four of us girls just hung out in one of the rooms and chatted, since it was our last night together.