I think I have a new favourite wonder. Petra is way better than I thought it would be. Admittedly I had reasonably low expectations, in my head it was going to be that pink sandstone tomb that you always see and not much else.
Turns out there's quite a lot more. It is enormous. It starts off with the Siq, a kilometre long canyon - and who doesn't love a canyon - which serves as an entrance to the hidden city before opening out into a sandstone capsule hotel of a settlement.
One slight downer, the narrow path up to the monastery was made a whole heap more treacherous by antisocial, faux-Bedouin donkey jockeys (does that sound like an insult? Good) thrashing donkeys down the stone steps through anyone coming up. You'd have thought that the rumoured most expensive tourist attraction in the world (more than six times as much as the Taj Mahal, since you ask) could have done something about that.
Stayed in a "Bedouin camp" whilst in Jordan. I guess that sounds better for tourists than canvas guesthouse, which is exactly what it was.
I also took a trip to Wadi Rum. That's the desert in the South of Jordan, you know? The one with all the rock formations? The landscape was obviously spectacular but you're at the mercy of the 4x4 drivers there, which meant that about a quarter of the desert experience was spent in a gift shop, I mean Bedouin tea tent.
And that pretty much sums up my Jordan experience. Everything is set to take tourist money. You have to tip for everything. And as the currency is so ridiculous you're tipping a pound a time, which makes toilet visits expensive.
Yes, I feel sorry for a large population working in a tourist economy where noone is visiting due to the next door neighbours being a bit warry. But still, it did feel a lot like I was just a transportation device for my wallet.
To summarise. Jordan: nice scenery; bit of an attitude problem.
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