No Asps in Petra, Jordan

DECEMBER 30, 2012

Marion: He said you were a bum.
Indiana: Aw, he's being generous.

- from the movie Indiana Jones

Still in Amman, Jordan. 

Today its off to Petra, the famous archeological site.  Or, for anyone my age, the site of the famous Indian Jones treasury scene.

 On the 3.5 hour drive out there we passed many Bedouin encampments on the side of the road.  According to my drive, the Bedouins are an entire culture of nomadic peoples, mostly herders.  They roam the Middle East, living in their tent villages and semi-permanent tin-roofed ghettos. 

Foggy this morning.  No idea where the moisture comes from.

He recapped a conversation he had recently with a Bedouin.  He had asked the Bedouin if he felt like he had a rough life in the desert. The response was that the Bedouin felt like he had more freedom than the homeowner in the city who was slave to the four walls he occupied.  Could the homeowner move to his neighbor’s house if he wanted? No.  Could he take his job and go someplace new? No.  The Bedouin goes where he wants.  Meat, leather, and milk will always be in demand no matter where he calls home.  I liked that. 

As a point of reference for size that is a human in the bottom right.

At Petra, I was on a mission.  Some people spend 3 days wandering the site.  I had three hours.  I haven’t done something this ridiculous since I went to Venice, Itally for lunch last fall.