Petra: home of the famous line, "Henry Jones Jr.  We named the dog Indiana." There weren't any knights or nazis in the Treasury building, but it definitely lived up to what I had expected. A major highlight of the trip. The only downside was the short time we had to visit.

The tour book cited that this trip would include 4-5 miles of walking. Walking level:high. And that it wouldn't be a sidewalk stroll; we were venturing into uneven rocks and sand. Old people beware! After two months onboard, we basically know all of the younger (at least able-bodied) people. I had an idea to round up these people for a faster tour group, but Sandy overheard a dance host with the same idea. See her post for that story. We told our biker (as in bicycle, not motorcycle) friends, Beth and John the low-down and who to contact about securing a spot. They got on the "fast bus" list, yes there was a signup list for the tour. Spots were snapped up quickly. Nora and Morgan were one and two on the standby list, but didn't get on. Refreshments were included on this exclusive bus, too. Thanks to Jay, we passed a trash-bag full of left over cookies from a sail-away party. 

So morning of, we make our way to the "fast people's" bus, thinking we were going to have all these fit people because Jay only wanted fast walkers. We were boggled as to how some of these people acquired a spot on the "fast bus." These people were quickly left in the dust once we hit the gate to Petra. Sandy and I followed a group of about 10. We might not have had a tour guide to tell us all about what we were seeing, but out of all the Cunardians we saw the most. Learning about what we saw can happen at home, we can't see Petra at home. (Like Chris and eating at a casino. She can eat at home, but she can't gamble at home.)

We hit the trail down to Petra through the Siq and made it to the Treasury in 25 minutes. "That is really good time. Especially for more than one person." -Christine the Cunard lecturer. Record time! Onward past the amphitheater, temples, and main street, we had past more than what most people see on their whole tour. Our destination was the monastery, the furthest building in the lost city of Petra. We came across a sign that read, "Travel beyond this point without a guide is strongly discouraged." The path went from fairly developed to a sand pit scattered with rock piles then to a ravine with switchbacks. I was leading the group and little by little put more distance in between us. It is hard for me to walk slow on even ground, much less while climbing a mountain. I looked back and made eye-contact with Sandy, then kept going. I waved down to her once more, before the path was obscured from the trail below. I kept hoping they were still following, because I didn't want to stop or go back down for them.

After a 30-ish minute hike, I asked a couple how much longer. She looked at me then to her husband, apparently they were French and didn't know what I was asking. So I trudged on, finally made a finale peak in a narrow valley and there she was on the right. Even better was the mini-cafe with cold Coca-Cola left! (It was actually the coldest coke in all of Petra, at the furthest point from civilization. Who would have thought? There were even Pringles. Didn't get those, but a snack of Pringles and coke can be had in 99% of the world.) Bought myself a drink and plopped down on the front row of cushioned benches. It was quite a view; the monastery was massive, entirely carved from the stone wall.

As I was soaking in all of the sights, I started to worry about Sandy and the rest of the group. Not so much Sandy, but her having to help one of the other people. I really didn't want to hike back down only to come back up. I tried to remember the people I passed on the way up and then judge how far the group was from them. After 15 minutes, I finally saw an Asian couple I passed pretty early on pop out of the valley, "My group should be up soon." Then I saw two of the older women with Sandy right behind them. After Sandy and I milled around together, we decided to head back down and told Jay not to worry about us. Jay, "Five women beat us up." That is how I got the name "Queen of the Mountain," ever since around the ship. 

Once back down in the main city, we looked around the city gate and the area where Brown University had an excavation site. We also climbed up to the Urn temple. Met Nora and Morgan here. They asked where we had been, the monastery. They were just now 1/3 of the way through Petra. Morgan, "Our tour was slow as shit. We left them." That was what I feared, being stuck with a slow tour. Very glad we took the day in our own hands; it paid off seeing the monastery. 

By the time we hiked out of Petra to our lunch at the Crown Plaza Resort, Sandy was quite dehydrated. It took us a good 15 minutes and 5 people to get us a bottle of water (included with our lunch). During this time, Sandy was literally banging on the table and yelling about wanting a bottle of water opened at the table (Not refilled from the tap and brought out like it is a new bottle, those scam artist!) We also needed napkins, but that was secondary to the water. What did we get first? That's right, the napkins. Sandy looked at me absolutely disgusted, so I told her to actually get up and ask someone. She did; they also seemed oblivious. She walks back to me, "What is so hard about getting a bottle of water." I am pretty sure she walked back into the kitchen. On our way out, she ripped the label off our 2-liter bottle so they couldn't reuse it. Don't mess with Sandy Miller!

We might have seen a lot, but was like a drive-by touristing. There was so much more to see, i.e. a trip back to Petra in the future. One of the best ancient sites I've been to, because it was so removed from modern buildings. It allowed you to  really escape into the past.

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