We had a couple extra vacation days, so we decided to plan a trip to Egypt, where we had been dying to visit. We decided when putting together the itinerary it would be the perfect time to fit in another dream destination. My wife is a huge fan of Indiana Jones and has always wanted to visit the iconic site of Petra, featured in The Last Crusade.
Our first destination was Amman, Jordan. We arrived late in the evening after a long day of travel. We took a car to the Amman Marriott Hotel, where we discovered increased security measures such as inspecting all cars that came on property with explosive swabs and requiring everyone to enter through metal detectors. This only served to increase our concern about our safety while in the area. The hotel was very nice and our room had a view overlooking the pool.
The next morning, we woke early and arrived to the complimentary breakfast as they were still setting it up. It looked amazing, but we could only have a small sampling because we had a long drive ahead of us. The staff was so nice and kept offering to pack us a to-go container to take with us.
Our driver picked us up and we began the drive to Petra. We soon learned it was common to be pulled over at checkpoints along the way by armed officials. We were pulled over twice on the trip to Petra. We asked the driver what they wanted, and he said they wanted to practice English and jokingly said he wondered why Trump allowed us to visit this country.
Along the way, we stopped at a roadside shop for a quick restroom break, snacks and a look through local products for sale. There were many items we would have loved to purchase, but the trip ahead made the transport back home almost impossible.
We arrived at the gates into Petra and waited to meet our local guide. He arrived a few minutes later with our tickets to enter and we began our hike into the canyon.
As he explained the history and meaning behind each carving, we marveled at the narrow passages carved into the towering stone walls. Through a narrow passage we could see the amazing front of the Treasury slowly beginning to appear before us. It is even more majestic and awe inspiring in person than we could imagine.
We continued through the site and saw the rest of the sites, such as the Theatre.
Before we knew it, we had arrived at The Basin Restaurant, where we would have lunch.
After lunch, we toured the site on our own, making our way back out to the entrance and taking in the Treasury one last time. We then stopped for a quick drink and rest at the Cave Bar just outside the sacred site while we waited for our driver.
We returned back to the hotel, had an amazing dinner at a restaurant inside, before heading to bed so we could catch our early flight to Cairo the next morning.