JORDAN--Tuesday 11/30

PETRA. I can’t describe in words how amazing it was. We had to get up super early (4:30 am our time) but it was so worth it because we beat the huge crowds and had cooler weather. We started out by walking down the siq (canyon) with our tour guide telling us the history, and then all of the sudden the siq opened up and there was the famous Treasury (imagine the sweet Indiana Jones shot in the “Last Crusade”). We got to take tons of fun pictures, ride camels, explore the tombs and temples, meet the local Bedouins, enjoy magnificent views, and hike our hearts out! 

Class picture in the siq

Petra looks a lot like southern Utah, particularly Lake Powell (minus the water and house boats and plus a few camels…). We had so much fun hiking to the Monastary. I think it’s even cooler than the Treasury, even though the Treasury is more famous. Don’t be fooled by the names though—they’re both tombs like the rest of the rock-cut structures, built for the Nabataean elite. 

The Monastary

My top three highlights were:

1.     Climbing to the King’s Tomb and meeting a cute old man up there and singing in the tomb. It has the best acoustics and view!

2.     Meeting Katie: she is a 12-year-old Bedouin girl who lives in Petra! She goes to school and loves math. We sang her a few Primary songs and she loved it! She was super funny, sweet, and gorgeous.

3.     Exploring the ancient temple. Brother Judd showed us a secret staircase that led to an upper chamber. We almost gave him a heart attack with our fake jumping picture! 

"World's Greatest Dad" (Michael) carrying Kenzi to the siq

We had a four hour bus ride to Amman and that was super fun considering how hot, tired, and dusty we were. I had a blast talking to Shawn Reid the whole time (minus the chunk of time where he wanted to look at the view and I guess I wasn’t part of the view…). Once again, I love all the people in our group! We’re all becoming so close. It’s like our own little Zion community! 

Guzzling our nectar after 8 hours of walking

Quin--looking fresh as always

Shawn looking out the window