EP's pepeta kiki (travel stories): Ancient city of Petra -Jordan

This blog is dedicated to my father. With his strong Christian faith and how much this part of the world has connections to origins of Christianity he would want to hear the stories of my travels.

Petra by night

When I hear the country name Jordan, I think of all the biblical events and how this part of the world is significant to the origins of Christianity. The thought that I was ticking a checklist from my bucket list of places to visit was gratifying.

Day 1 Part 1: It was Monday 7^th April, 2014, as early as 5.30am my two friends Emma from Ireland and Yessy from Indonesia and I took the taxi ride to the airport for our morning flight to Amman the capital town of Jordan via Bahrain.

The one hour flight was a smooth travel where we landed safely and transited effortlessly. We were delighted and considering this as our first flight with Gulf air we were already thinking highly of the airlines.

The flight from Bahrain to Amman took under 3 hours. Arriving at the newly built airport we followed the line to the customs queue to do the usual protocols of customs check. I had a bit of suspension which I found to be comical but not surprised. After few exchange of little Arabic language I know I was assured everything was ok –(maafe mushkila-no probelm). so there goes another one of my stories with a PNG passport.

With the scotching heat in the air we could not wait to find our driver who has been waiting unwearyingly

for our arrival. Our next leg of travel was not 2o minutes away from what we are accustomed to in Abu Dhabi, it was certainly another 2.30 hours sedan ride to Petra.

Sitting in rather a comfortable back seat the rocky ride could not allow me for a short nap. It was unlikely. Instead, I tried to enjoy the view which was a mix of villages, Bedouin settlements, sheep-goat headers, deserts and patches of native small trees and olives plantations. My mind drifted thinking how life is certainly different from where I come from and where I am currently residing. I could not wait to see what Petra looks like.