Another Slice of Petra

My 40th birthday dawned, bright and clear. The forecast had been for rain but when we peered out of the window it was a sunny day with an amazing blue sky. We raced down to breakfast, then out of the hotel to the gates of the National Park. It was bloody cold! It's strange - living here in the UAE, I haven't experienced cold ears for 6 months.

We walked off down the pathway towards the Siq. It was quite a contrast to the night before. The place was buzzing with Jordanian horsemen galloping up and down, offering rides to The Siq or a donkey to The Treasury. Most of the donkeys were tiny and I felt that if I were to get on one, my feet would drag on the ground. Poor little donkeys. For some reason that I can't explain, I'm a huge donkey fan. Bizarre. They have such a rubbish lot in life don't they? All that toil and burden. Yet they plod on and on with such calm docility, with the occasional bout of cranky, stubborn refusal, but who wouldn't in their situation? Before I move on to the rest of the day I need to make a note about the Jordanian horsemen... Yowsers! Those boys were seriously worth watching for a bit. So we did... Apart from their obvious skill at handling such noble beasts, they were HOT! Maybe it was just the manly and commanding way that they controlled their horses - a lot of them riding bareback - we felt giddy each time one of them romped up to us and offered a ride.

Anyway, after regaining our composure we continued our walk to The Siq. The following were some sights along the way.

This is the entrance to a tomb. There are lots of them carved into the sandstone hills surrounding Petra.

This building really reminds of something from The Flintstones.

This is the entrance to The Siq. It used to have an enormous arch between the two cliffs. It looks fairly unimposing, which was the point. For centuries after the city was abandoned it was kept a secret; Bedouins used to defend it and deter strangers from discovering it.

This is me in The Siq. Some of it has large cobbles, other parts has just sand. It's uneven and at times quite narrow. As you can see, it was almost empty because it's winter.

This is part way along The Siq. It's unusual as it's one of the few tombs in The Siq itself.

At last! The end of The Siq and The Treasury is almost in view.

It's an amazing, magical kind of place. This is only one tiny part of it. The ravine opens up to an enormous vallley surrounded on all sides by cliffs and mountains, all carved with buildings and tombs. Most of them aren't as well preserved as The Treasury but the detail and work in the carving is stunning.

Now that I'm home, it all seems like a dream. It's worth a visit. Do it now before it all turns to dust. Apparently, in summer it's now so popular that it has the same amount of visitors as the Pyramids in Cairo. In winter the place feels like it's all yours. Special.

Cake...with far too many candles

Ok. My life has, according to ancient lore, officially started. I wasn't sure how I'd feel about it so I avoided thinking about it until it actually happened. Now that I'm here at this age, the view isn't any different. Phew!

To celebrate my monumental coming of age I decided that, as my friends were all so far away (see previous post), I would sneak off somewhere fabulous to contemplate what being 40 really means. I chose Petra as a perfect spot for such thoughts.

Did I choose right? Well, no, not really. Why? It's just too stunning to have anything else in your head. Really. It's mind-blowing.

Many - oh heck! MANY - years ago whilst watching Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade I thought "what a cool location - where did they build that?" When I found out it's a real place I was determined that I'd get there eventually.

Last weekend, I packed my hat, my whip and my passport and headed to Amman, Jordan. We arrived in a sandstorm and could hardly see beyond the bonnet of the car that collected us to drive the 2.5 hour journey to Petra. The driver explained that the highway was closed so we'd have to drive a more circuitous route, which would take approx. 4 hours. We both groaned. Not only because a 4 hour car journey with deafening Jordanian music is enough to weaken the toughest resolve but because we (well.. I) had our hearts set on seeing Petra by night - more on this later.

Anyway, the driver zoomed off at terrifying speed through the shifting walls of sand whilst chatting to friends and family on his mobile - heaven only knows how they could hear each other. After 20 minutes of driving we stopped for some better mobile reception and the driver announced that the highway 'might' be open so we'd risk it but take it slow. He slowed down to the snail-like pace of 140kph and we plunged on into the red-brown dust. The driving was worthy of stunt car status and the road unworthy to be called 'road'. However, we pulled up at the hotel at 6pm - two and a half hours before the Petra by Night walk. Hurray! The driver even called ahead to hold some tickets - he had a space between calls.

We checked out the hotel - Arabian, tiles, fountains, lamps, palm trees - and then walked to the entrance of the national park. It was a chilly night, I'd had beer to celebrate our arrival, I needed to pee...

Our guide explained we should walk single file, follow the candles and don't leave the trail ("wish I'd brought my whip" I thought...)

The walk to Petra is a couple of miles long, most of which is through the 'Siq' a large natural ravine cutting through the desert. There were candles set out along the whole route and we walked in silence until we got to the entrance of the ravine, where we were held for a few minutes whilst the guide flashed his torch ahead to another guide to make sure the candles were lit so we could find our way. The ravine is quite narrow in places and the footing uneven. The whiff of donkey poo was quite apparent too - during the day, you can ride a donkey to save your weary legs. There was some very careful walking...

It was so dark as there was no moon so we only had the candlelight to follow. The ravine ends quite abruptly, unexpectedly, and we tumbled out into the opening right in front of The Treasury bathed in a hazy, ghostly glow of candles and mist. I was so excited, it was so beautiful, I felt a bit emotional - what a girl! But really! It literally took my breath away. Entertainingly, the only sound to be heard was a grumpy feral cat that had been disturbed by our arrival. It set up a right din but it all added to the atmosphere.

This picture is the only one that I could get with any detail. It was so dark, I was too excited and my camera obviously wasn't up to the task. You get the idea anyway.

We were invited to sit on reed mats and given mint tea whilst a local Bedouin played his flute, then our guide told us a local folk story. Then it was time to go. I didn't want to. The only thing that made it ok to leave was the knowledge I'd be back the next day, my birthday, to see it in broad daylight. I was also absolutely bursting to pee. The walk back seemed like an eternity. What with dodging donkey dung and walking carefully so I didn't pee my pants! Yowsers.

I'll post about the next day soon as this one is already a bit of a ramble.

Big Cake

Hmm... Where to start...? It's all a blur.

OK. The weekend. I got home from work on Thursday evening (weekends here are Friday and Saturday) and TOH was blustering about telling me we had to be ready to leave the apartment at 7.15pm sharp. I was a bit baffled as TOH is the world's most rubbish time-keeper and being hurried along by him was something especially alien to our lives.

Obviously we were late - despite rushing me, he couldn't help but ignore his own advice. I was hustled off to the Emirates Palace - an enormous swanky-as-ya-like hotel on the sea-front and was given a cocktail whilst TOH prattled into his phone to our friend Phil who was running late. Phil is never late. Phil likes booze too much and anything that cuts down on valuable drinking time is against all Phil holds dear. Phil arrived. Without Laura, his wife (also strange as Laura loves booze only a little bit less than Phil). After some extensive and incredibly pointless blathering on from Phil about Laura's tardy arrival my suspicions were tingling - let's call it 'cake-senses'. I needed another drink - it'd been one of those weeks - so I ordered one and then popped off to the gents. On my return Phil had disappeared to 'meet Laura and the girls' and my fresh drink had been snatched away and I was being jostled along away from my seat. Not only were my suspicions aroused but I was getting bloody cranky! All this shoving about and depriving me of a drink was really giving me the arse!

We moved on to another bar (Emirates Palace is enormous and has many). Laura was sat at the bar with Jane and Jess. All of them had nearly finished their drinks. How come? Laura was supposed to have been running late. Hmmm. I asked for a drink and someone offered to get me one. After some polite chit-chat my drink still hadn't arrived. It still hadn't been ordered. I decided to get one myself and was about to hop off my bar stool when some woman tapped me on the shoulder and asked if I could pass her the cocktail menu. Weirdly, she bore a strong resemblance to my friend Jayne. She was with a woman who looked like my friend Julie. They were smiling at me strangely. It just didn't add up and people were taking photos whilst I stood dazed and confused. It wasn't right. Jayne and Julie live in London. I needed a bit of a sit down whilst everyone guffawed and proclaimed this was the first time they've ever seen me speechless. Jayne gave me her drink. Thank fuck for that!

Next week it's my birthday. It's a significant one. Because most of my friends live a long way away I didn't see any point in having a massive event, so I decided I'd like to go to Petra to see the whole place lit with candlelight on my 40th birthday instead.

TOH agreed and booked it all for me. However, he had other plans for the weekend before my actual birthday and flew some of my friends out to celebrate. How he managed to keep it all a secret is beyond me - his ability to keep secrets is worse than his ability to keep time.

Amazing.

Everyone left this morning. When I got home from work this afternoon it only really dawned on me that my friends have just been here for the weekend and now they're gone. I felt happy and yet really sad. When I moved here I missed them all quite badly. I'd gotten over it but now, after this weekend...

Sand - wich anyone?

Yikes. Something wierd must be going on. My second post in less than a week. Unless I'm careful, I could turn into some kind of serial blogger.

I was aimlessly drifting to my car - read being swept along on a gritty, stiff breeze - after work one evening earlier this week and I thought I'd take a few snaps of the view from my office. Well, not actually my office. My office doesn't have any windows and has my team of ten squashed into the space of a Honda Civic. What I mean, is the building in which my office is contained. It was such a lovely evening I simply had to share.

Here you go... go on! Drink it all in and enjoy...

That view! It's a beaut ain't it?! Until a week ago (when the car park was actually finished) that flat bit in front of the sandy hummocks was where I had to park my car. My shoes were buggered.

I know, I know. It makes me emotional to look at it too. Imagine what it's like in reality? Can you possibly imagine? I'll bet you can't.

You can almost smell the cranes can't you? I'm a lucky guy. I get to see this every day. Anyone who wants to come stay is very welcome, but I warn ya... book ahead, it's gonna be soooo busy.

Here's a pic of one of my fave landmarks in Dubai - no, really. I actually do like this one. I didn't at first, but now I kinda like it. Possibly beacause it scares me. It's currently the tallest building in the world. And it's not even finished yet! gulp!

Sooo shiny.

over-indulgence

Yikes.

I did it again. But not in a Britney way. Actually, no. That's not entirely true. I gave it some serious Britney, but without the kids and the total minger of an ex-husband. I'm even bald, although that's not a conscious or favourable decision.

This evening I've been out on the razz. Nothing new there. However, this is Abu Dhabi and therefore anything more exciting than the shipping forecast is breaking news, so my evening is worthy of a post.

Granted, I'm slightly frayed by a trying week so I was vulnerable to rose wine, amaretto and then beer. But. This does not explain why I ended up in a nightclub full of sweaty old ex-pats and Filipino trannies and hookers. No-one was more surprised than me! Then again, no-one adpated as quickly as I did plus the band were quite fun. After a few belters of soft-rock I was more than happy to sway on the spot and chuckle at the shenanigans going on around me - desperate blokes trying to persuade hookers with enough cash to say "no thanks" is an interesting thing to observe. Back to that in a min. Let's discuss the band...

A drummer (I'd love to be a drummer), a man wrenching noise from a guitar, a frustrated Iron Maiden wannabe lead singer and five (yes five) unbelievably ropey scrubbers standing about in muffin top trousers and gauzy tops, thrashing nasty hair extensions around with little attention or care for the music. The crowd were enthralled. I was convinced that the booze was spiked. It had to be. Everyone seemed to think the band were good enough to fill Wembley stadium - my beer bottle seemed to be permanently empty. The applause was deafening, the tsunami of love for the band was unfathomable.

It was weird. The band was totally pants. Yet... I kinda liked it. No-one cared. It was one of the ugliest crowds that's possible outside a maximum security psychiatry unit. But still, no-one cared. Everyone was getting on with having a good time/counting how much cash they had left to 'enjoy' the lady with the false leg/attempting to find a beat to dance to.

I literally reek of fags and booze. My life here has made me shift gear. I used to love bars and clubs that had an element of cool. I liked being part of something that was cutting edge, new and ever changing. I guess I still do. Here? Pfft! That kind of lifestyle is 10-15 years away in this city - longer now that the global economic downturn has halted all development. But I've decided to get my fun where I can find it. It's hidden away, it's hard to find but I'm using my best sleuthing techniques to dig it out. I haven't even begun to explain the scene for 'gentlemen' in Dubai... that's a whole other post.

TOH was a hit with the ladies (nothing new there). I'm sure he could have had any number of freebies had he been inclined. I live life in Ugly Betty Corner so even the whores breezed past without a glance (note to self, must try to appear wealthy). It was fun. I enjoyed myself. It's not the kind of evening out I'd choose often, but once in a while it felt good to let loose in a place where no-one cares what you do unless you're paying them to.