Aqaba and Petra

After spending the night in the middle of the desert, we headed to the beach resort town of Aqaba on the Red Sea. We were delighted to learn that our friend Amany (you may remember her from previous blog posts #shamelessplug) would be able to join us! Lucky for us, Amany grew up in Aqaba and showed us some of her favorite food spots in the city. After our fish feast we were pretty much useless for anything but lounging by the beach, but we did manage to recover enough to try some traditional desserts.

We spent the next morning with Amany and a friend of hers, then headed to Petra. Unfortunately, due to time constraints, we weren’t able to see Petra during the day, but did make it in time to see their Petra by Night show, in which the Treasury was beautifully lit up. We’re looking forward to getting to explore the park more in March!

July 22 - Leaving the desert and headed towards the Red Sea. Still haven’t gotten used to seeing herds of camels...

Our first glimpse of the Red Sea as we approach Aqaba

Pasted inside each nightstand drawer in our hotel is this arrow is pointing to the direction of Mecca, so hotel guests can properly perform their prayers.

Sayadieh: dark rice, fried fish and almonds with tahini sauce - it’s as delicious as it looks. We may never fully recover. Amany, Allie, and I tried valiantly to conquer this dish. We would not succeed, but we did not go down without a fight. 

Sunset on the Red Sea. Pretty, pretty, pretty good.

July 23 - We say goodbye to our dear friend Amany (with her friend Nusaiba, a chef who generously prepared us sandwiches for the road). We are so sad to leave her, but we are so very excited for our students to get to know her. She is one of our favorite people and we cannot thank her enough for showing us around Amman and Aqaba.

As we approached Wadi Musa (the town where Petra is located) we stopped at an overlook of the Jordan Rift Valley. 

Approaching Seven Wonders Bedouin Camp, near Petra

On our way to Petra from our campsite, our driver slows down to point out this carved elephant. I ask him how old it is. He has no idea.

We begin our Petra by Night Tour with a walk to the treasury on a candle-lit path.

The Treasury of Petra, by night

The Treasury lit up at the Petra by Night show

Another angle of the treasury