Day 09 - Jordan: Petra

Petra. Not the band. Not the restaurant off of 380 near Custer. Nope, the real one. The first one. The most awe-inspiring one. If you told me I could only use one word to describe Petra I would rebel and use as many I needed to, but if I had to choose one to succinctly describe what I experienced today that word would be "scale."  It is impossible to convey the scale of the city that is here, the history it holds, and the people who have lived here for centuries.

Our incredible guide, Mo, told me today that to really see Petra you need three days. He was right. We packed in as much as we could but there is no way to see all the amazing wonders that this city holds in an afternoon, and we tried.

We started by walking down to the Treasury. You've seen pictures. You've probably seen pictures with people in them for scale. Unless you see it personally, the scale of the pictures cannot possibly do it justice.

A group of us then moved on to take on the climb to the high place where sacrifices were performed. Pastor Wayne led us through a helpful teaching to understand how awful and vile these sacrifices and ceremonies were. If you're wondering, they're really, really bad and wouldn't be something that you'd see in any movie. Heartbreakingly, this is the kind of ceremony the Israelite nation was engaging in when they turned their hearts from Yahweh and began worshipping the false pagan gods of the surrounding nations. It was terrible.

After we came down from the high place, Hiram and I ran (yes we ran because we had very little time left) up another climb to view the Monastery. The 1.6 mile climb was worth it! It was another absolutely studding work of architecture carved out of solid rock.

Hiram and I ran down the trail again and joined the group for a donkey ride up the road to where our bus picked us up. It was a super fun way to end a very full day.

Tomorrow...Jerash!!