Why do we need candles? I could smell my way out of Petra!

So said Nur, while we were finding our way back on the long and winding path to the front gate at Petra last night.

On the advice of our tour guide, we did the Petra by Night tour -- and it was well worth the 12JD.

We were greeted by the sight of hundreds and hundreds of candles, lighting the way to the Treasury (walking past the Indiana Jones Cafe on the way in!)

Our cameras were not entirely happy with the lighting situation, but we managed to get a few good shots, which we'll upload once we get back to the land of fast internet. 

Anyway, off we trekked, with many, many other tourists, wandering through the beautifully coloured rocks, which were highlighted by the flickering candlelight. We walked for what seemed like forever, before it was suddenly in front of us: the Treasury --- with a carpet of candles illuminating it!

On arrival, we were quickly ushered to seats (on mats on the ground), until there were about 100 of us, all sitting in rows in front of this amazing monument.

We waited... not knowing what was to come (we probably should have done some research - but sometimes a surprise is a good thing!)

While waiting, the local stray cats (at least we presume they're stray!) came out, looking for laps to sit on. It seems they're very used to tourists, and are quite tame because of their constant interactions with people from all over the world.

One very happy little ginger boy made himself comfortable on the lap of a Brazilian girl next to me, while a ginger and white boy tried to sit with me. Ginger was not having it, flattened his ears, and told Ginger and White in no uncertain terms to move along, thank you very much!

As a result, we had just the one kitty with us. And he purred his way through the whole performance, before biting both the Brazilian girl and Nur when they tried to get him to move when it was time to go!

By I digress.. the performance was wonderful. Bedouin music, played by the locals. There was singing, the local equivalent of a guitar and a flute of some sort. 

We drank sweet Bedouin tea, and soaked up the atmosphere.

Once the performance was over, it was time for the long trek back to the front gate, and the hotel where our guide was waiting.

Nur was not impressed with the prominent smell of donkey crap! Hence the title for this entry. 

This morning, we made our way back to Petra after meeting up with the third and final member of our group,  a girl from Brisbane.

Our guide pointed out all the good spots to take photos, including the fish rock, which from another angle, looks like an elephant! He also told us that if we didn't want to take a donkey or horse or camel ride, then we had to be firm and say no, not 'maybe later' just to be polite. Apparently if you say that, they'll just follow you until you get on the poor animal!

We met the son of the New Zealand woman who married one of the local Bedouin men back in the 1970s. The woman, Marguerite, has a stall selling jewellery, as well as her book 'Married to a Bedouin'. We chatted to him for a while (his name is Raami) and were amused by his strong Kiwi accent! The three of us picked up an autographed book each, which will be perfect for occupying ourselves on the flight home.

The trek to the Monastery was tough! Hot weather, beating sun, and the smell of 'deposits' left by the horses, donkeys and camels. We were offered rides many, many times, but the three of us were NOT going to have that. We felt bad for these poor animals, carrying fat tourists in the heat of the day. Some of the donkeys were tiny, and did not look terribly happy. We spotted one loose donkey, not wearing a saddle, and were all 'Break free, little donkey! Escape while you can!'

If you think the Monastery is the end of the climb, think again! There are many more steps to reach the peak. Once there, the heat seems to disappear. There's a beautiful breeze, and a Bedouin man who sells souvenirs at the top. It's worth the climb to see not only the views, but drink sweet Bedouin tea and listen to the stall owner singing and playing music. 

We were overtaken at one point by an Englishman who was literally RUNNING up the steps. And there are more than 900 of them when you make your way up from the Basin Restaurant, which itself is more than an hour's walk into the site.

It turned out that he was military, of course. He and some of his fellow soldiers were taking a break at Petra, before heading back to work. Only one of them was crazy enough to run up, and apparently it was his second time in one day! The others chatted to us for a while both at the Monastery and at the very top of the rocks. 

Just when we thought it was only the crazy Australians and English climbing all the way up today, we met some Americans, from Pennsylvania, in the Bedouin tent at the top, sipping tea. 

The walk down was just as tough as the walk up, but for different reasons.

There are a LOT of stalls set up along the path to the Monastery. You wouldn't believe it until you saw it. They get their wares up by donkey, and set up on the rocky outcrops. 

Every single stall we passed on the way up had a woman inside saying to us 'It's happy hour! One dinar for anything! Come and shop!' Others, who were selling water, juice, chocolate and chips would yell out 'Have a break, have a Kit Kat!' It seems western advertising is very popular in the Middle East!

We were convinced that it was not just happy hour, but happy day at Petra!

The other thing was that all the boys on donkeys who'd tried to get us to take a ride on the way up did exactly the same thing on the way down!

'Come and ride Michael Jackson!' one of them yelled out.

'Michael Jackson??' we asked

'Yes, only women like Michael Jackson!' he answered. 

I think that was his way of making sure he didn't get any male passengers!

Another called his donkey Shakira. I'm surprised there wasn't one called Barbie Girl, given the popularity of that song in Jordan!

Two boys with a donkey followed us for half of our trip back to the gate, desperately trying to get us to have a ride. 'No thanks', we said, many, many times.

This resulted in them asking us to come to a party tonight. And offering us 20 camels. 'Sorry mate, I was offered a thousand in Jerusalem', I told him. He looked stunned and talked about rich people who can afford so many camels!

There's a definite hierarchy when it comes to the animals at Petra. The horses have the first 700 metres. The poor things give tourists free rides (which come with entry) at the start of the trek. Then it's the domain of the camels for a while, until you actually reach the inner part of the city, where it's steep, rocky and very much the territory of the donkey. It's amazing to see these relatively small animals carrying such heavy loads, covered in hot blankets as the sun beats down on them. Some find themselves shade to stand in while waiting for their next passenger, while others are left in the sun by their owners. 

Nur and I spent this afternoon lazing by the pool in our hotel. Trying to even our tans. We look like half of us went on holiday and the other half didn't. All the long skirts in Israel (our 'holy clothes' as our tour guide Leah called them!) didn't exactly give our legs the glow we were hoping for!

Right now we're waiting for dinner. Tonight it will apparently be a buffet, because there are a lot of people in the hotel. Last night? Crazy. We were the only ones in the dining room and had our own butler and server. They brought out soup, salads, dips and bread, which we happily ate our way through.

As we got up to leave and thanked them for the delicious dinner, they said 'But wait, there's more!', a bit like the Demtel man!

He told us 'No! This is just the appetiser! Then there is main course. Then dessert!'. I don't know who was more stunned -- us at the amount of food, or him at the idea that they would just feed us salad and dips!

To say we ate a lot would be an understatement. We didn't want to offend them, since we were their only customers, and had to eat as much as possible! 

Tonight? Bring it on. All this walking all over the desert makes a traveller hungry!