The Royal Suite!

The first good omen was that we were upgraded to the Royal Suite at the Movenpick Petra Hotel – this hotel had much more local flavor with fancy Moorish fountains in the lobby and an ornate chandelier in the sitting room of our suite. Sadly, the same could not be said of their dinner buffet, where the most Arabic item we found was hummus and some accompanying pita bread.

No matter, since our visit to Petra exceeded all expectations. We met Hamdi in the lobby at 8:30 am – well actually 8:45 since we, of course, ran late. This is the huge benefit of not being with a tour group! We entered the site and took over an hour to walk the Siq (the 1,200 m canyon entrance path into Petra) with Hamdi pointing out many interesting sights.

The first view of the Treasury as you come down the dark Siq was priceless. It was rather crowded, which was the only downside to our day. We ended up walking all around, and had lunch at the Bedouin buffet, which finally gave us a taste of Jordanian food. After lunch, the girls and I rode donkeys up to the Monastery, which was an upward climb of 800 steps. Sean walked alongside, taking pictures and trying to ensure that we didn’t hurt ourselves.

We ended up spending 8 hours in Petra – our main regret was that we didn’t get a carriage to take us out of the Siq. The way home seemed a whole lot longer and we finally returned back to the hotel – bedraggled and exhausted. We promptly retreated to the lobby lounge where we indulged in ice cream sundaes and french fries. What a day!