A nice tour, but one big problemMelissa A
Please forgive any typos or random capitalization is here as I did voice type this.
I honestly did not spend very much time planning my trip to Jordan because I spent so much of my time planning my 12 days in Egypt. This was really a tacked on portion of the trip. We were so close when we were in Cairo that I couldn't miss seeing Petra. I am very glad that I added it on.
Getting there and back:The trip from the Dead Sea to Petra is 3 hours in a car. Each way. (Be aware that on the way there you will get to stop about halfway through for a restroom break and some souvenirs, depending on the way you take back there will be no bathroom breaks… more later). Our driver was absolutely wonderful. If I had stayed at Petra I honestly would have missed not getting to meet him. If you can ask for a driver by name, be sure to ask for Muawiah Subihi. He made the trip much more special than it would have otherwise been! On the way to Petra, he stopped and bought me a coffee and gave us time to buy the little souvenirs that seem to be essential (magnets, pins, Etc). we also got a cell phone that he had programmed his phone number into so we could call him and tell him when we were ready to leave. I feel like this was probably a standard thing for the company, but it was nice to know that when we were inside Petra we had access to him. From what I read on the website, the tour time seemed to be structured so that we would only have so much time inside Petra, but our driver told us that we could spend as much time as we wanted and just call him when we were done. So it was great to be able to freely explore. He was also very generous with the water! I believe that the tour description indicated that we would only get two bottles of water for the entire tour and would have to purchase extra water inside Petra. He was very generous and just kept giving them to us Before we got out of the car, which we greatly appreciated. He even made sure that we had cold bottles when we got back in the car after Petra, which was a little bit like receiving Manna From Heaven. On the way back, we were more awake and were quite conversive. He taught us all sorts of words in Arabic that we had fun practicing, He took his down a country way to get back to the Dead Sea where we saw a beautiful scenery and Bedouin camps in the desert, and he even stopped to show us where Lot's wife was supposedly turn to salt. He also gave us a ton of great advice On how to add a day trip to Israel the next day at minimal cost to ourselves. While we did not actually take this advice because we decided we were tired and had certainly spent quite enough money, It was wonderful to have the option, which we did actually discuss doing in detail that Evening. However, on the drive back there was one porta potty that was really close outside of Petra so I didn't need to go then and after that there was nothing all the way back to the Dead Sea. fortunately, I sweat so much that I didn't need to go until the last 45 minutes or so. I definitely chugged water most of the way back to make up for how much I sweat. He did try to stop at a tourist area for me to use the restroom, but it was already closed And after that he was so nice that he drove very efficiently to get me back to the hotel so I was not miserable. I did not ask him to do this, he just did it because he was kind.
The actual Petra tour:
So, surprisingly, this was actually the worst part of the tour. Our driver explained that the Bedouin people are not super friendly. It makes sense given the fact that they're all raised in the desert and are very salt-of-the-earth people. But our tour guide inside Petra was not my favorite. He did not wait for us to stop and take pictures but instead just kept walking on and talkin so if we stopped to take a picture we just missed what he had to say. He also walked in front of us while he talked, which meant we heard very little of what he actually said and I had to ask several times for him to stay with us so I could actually hear what he was talking about. Which he didn't actually do even until the end when I got quite an attitude and told him he needed to stop walking and talk to me. Which is what it actually took to get him to stand next to me and talk. And along those lines, my husband was the only one ever directly addressed by him. Now I was quite friendly in the beginning by asking him to repeat what he was saying and telling him that I could not hear him when he was ahead of me. I will admit by the end of my tour I was considerably less friendly. When he asked if we had questions, he only ever addressed my husband. “ Mr. Matt, do you have any questions?” Was the only thing he said the entire time. I could have not even been there and I'm not sure he would have noticed. Right down to the point that I fell down and slid some distance down a very steep incline and he didn't even turn around to make sure I was still alive. I honestly don't think I got any information out of that tour that I couldn't have gotten from a guidebook walking it myself. I would like to say that I'm not sure this is a reflection on Petra nights tours though. There were many other Bedouin guides who seems considerably more friendly and more able to stay with their group. So I'm thinking the issue was actually just our guide. I will say that what we did get out of him was a ton of amazing photos. By paying for the guide he took us on routes that most people don't know about. So instead of walking the main path, he took us up a side path which was very Steep and some serious hiking but it also got us away from the crowds, got us great photos, and allowed us to see some of the beautiful Caverns that we would not have been able to see otherwise. Unfortunately, I wore my wide leg linen pants which I got tripped up in, fell down in, and then proceeded to slide a considerable scary distance down a very steep incline. If I had known that I would be doing that kind of hiking, I would for real have worn yoga pants. In retrospect, I would not have traded the scraped arm and the bruised hand for the pictures I got though. It was a worthy trade. He was also pretty pushy about us stopping at two gift shops. After our time in Egypt, we were already aware that to her guys get Kickbacks if the clients purchase things at gift shops. I did not go to Petra to shop. So I could really have done without this and in fact had to blatantly state that we were ready to leave in order to get him to leave the gift shop that was quite pricey (No Doubt, This is where he would have preferred we shop. he actually spend a decent amount of time after that explaining why we needed to only shop at that place.)
Our tour included lunch at the buffet restaurant at the very end of Petra. So it was nice that we got all of the hot hiking and walking out of the way before we ate. I didn't want to be super full and then start the hiking, which is what I understood from reading the website was that we would have restaurant lunch in town and then do Petra. That was totally my misunderstanding. Fortunately, for the whole way back I wasn't full at all because the restaurant was actually inedible. After two weeks in the Middle East I can say with firmness that this was the worst food I was served. there are food stalls along the way, and I would suggest maybe asking for a voucher to one of those instead of the restaurant. Or maybe just skipping the restaurant totally and going to a food stall. You'd have to pay more but you might be able to eat it. Everything on the buffet was overdone, tough, or saturated in some sort of crazy viscous sauce. I am an adventurous eater. I love food of pretty much every kind. This is actually the only meal the entire trip that I could not stomach. We ate well at dinner that night!
A note on the donkey/horse rides: The fine print and you are Petra nights tours will indicate that they are not responsible for anything that happens to you should you accept a donkey or horse ride except the 5 minute one included in your ticket price that takes you from the gate to the Siq. On the way in, we did not take the horse ride because we had to tip the horse handlers. We had already spent well over $15,000 on our time in the Middle East and I was feeling kind of cheap. We walked it and it was less than a five minute walk. I kind of figured that by the time I got mounted on a horse and down there I would have spent double the time that I needed. On the way back, we were pretty done with people harassing us to purchase things from them. It was literally constant. See note later. So we said no just because we were so used to say no at that point. Big mistake! It is super hot by the time you leave in the afternoon or evening. And the way out back to the main gate is straight up a hill. It's one of those Hills the kind of tricks you so you think it's not a big Hill but it turns out to be a gigantic Hill as soon as you start walking it. We had already said no and Moved on and it was the biggest mistake of the day. We were exhausted from all of the other walking, the weather was miserable, and that 5-minute walk that was so simple on the way down to the Siq was a torturous event on the way back up. Take the horse ride on the way out and pay the handlers!
That you are encouraged not to take the donkey rides is totally understandable as those rides are not sponsored by Petra nights tours but are just Bedouin people making a living off the tourists. The weather was wonderful in the morning. When we left from our lunch, even after not eating much, it was literally miserable. I actually mentioned it to some people I met at the Dead Sea the next day who would also done Petra the same day as we had and they indicated as well that it seem to be perfect weather and then instantly became miserable without any warning. I also read this on several travel blogs, so I think that it is probably pretty representative Of the weather at Petra. So after lunch, we kind of felt like we might have been in the third layer of Dante’s hell (Bear in mind that we just spent 12 days in Egypt where it was 117 and Upper Egypt and we were outside for hours and we still weren't as miserable as we were at Petra for some reason). We did buy the donkey ride. Expect to haggle and meet in the middle. We offered half of what he initially offered and we settled for 2/3. This was my husband's idea as I am a hiker so I did not mind the walk. I spent the next hour telling him what a smart decision he made. It was really hot. And the hike that looks like a small little Hill from below was a real hike up a very Steep Hill that would have been completely miserable to walk. I spent the entire time being grateful for my donkey! Do not expect The donkey Handler to stay with you or even hold the reins of your donkey. I've never ridden a donkey, and while I've ridden horses I certainly am not an expert. Within 10 seconds of being on the donkey, our Handler gave me the reins and just had me hang on. I was pretty panicked. For real genuine panic. Knowing that Petra nights would not cover anything that happened because of my dumb decision to take a stupid donkey, I was really afraid that the donkey would take off and I was going to have some awful accident. In reality, the donkey knew exactly where to go without being told. It took a minute for me to feel comfortable being in control of a donkey when I actually know I had no control at all but it turned out okay and I was genuinely grateful To not have to make that hike. It's saved probably an hour of walking in total time In extreme heat after we had already walked for several hours. We asked to be left off at the Siq so that we could walk back through the beautiful Canyons. When they dropped us off, we were pretty strongly harassed to take the crumbling stairs to the top of the mountain (mountain? not sure how to describe that) across from the treasury by our donkey guy. I will say that the one good thing our Bedouin guide gave us (besides all of the amazing photos) was the advice to not take those stairs. They were very forceful about it and there were many people who were actually doing it. I would not suggest it. They will show you photos to indicate that the pictures will be beautiful from the top but the treasury is covered in people so there's no way you're going to get a better picture from up there then you would From Below. There will be people in it. And the trade is literally possibly your life. The stairs are crumbling and dangerous and steep. And at the top, of course, there is no guard rail to prevent you from falling over. I generally am one of those people who think if you're dumb enough to fall off the side of a mountain it's sort of Darwinism at work, But I was genuinely concerned for the people who were standing up there taking their photos. It was a steep fall on sandy, rocky ground. I did want the view, but I was not willing to take the risk. Especially since that's the only thing that are not so great Bedouin guide genuinely warned us about. He was serious when he told us not to take that offer.
A couple of notes on visiting Petra and your peace: I expected a beautiful natural Place full of peace. I was hoping for the whole Grand Canyon feel where you are alone with nature and feel like you were communing with the world. Instead we were pretty much harrassed the entire time by people trying to sell us junk souvenirs and rides. Would That have prevented me from going? Absolutely not. But it was quite an unpleasant shock. I really thought that maybe Petra would be the one place there wasn't a gift shop every 20 feet. I was wrong. One of them was actually strong up on a tree that was so old it actually made the tour. Absolutely nothing could have convinced me to purchase from that person.
Beware that the donkey ride people are aggressive. We asked about the price of a donkey when we had already been there several hours and were super hot because we went in June and he literally followed us with donkeys and tried to talk to us for the next hour.
