Did you see yesterday’s “photo of the Day”? I only ask because it would have given you a sneak peek at today’s blog about Petra At Night (plus it would have made you desperately waiting for this blog). Why don’t you LIKE svGuidingLight on Facebook or FOLLOW me on Instagram so you don’t miss another blog or “POTD” again? Plus tomorrow we will talk all about Petra in more detail.
Today I am going to let Melek lead off this blog and I will comment afterwards.
This was the SIg lit up with candles on the way to the Treasury.
Melek – Our next stop was Petra which I was really excited about! We took a bus there and I have to mention that if you’re taking buses in Jordan “they are all at 6:30 in the morning”. I just loved waking up that early 🙂 [Shane – This part she is lying about, as she stumbled around until about 9am when she really woke up haha], but to have the rest of the day was quite good actually…
I had ideas about Petra, but in my mind it was just a nice, historic, and beautiful building. What I did not expect was Shane taking us to “Petra by Night”. I was going with him, but I didn’t really know what it was as he led the way.
In order to get there, we first needed to walk about 20 minutes through a narrow canyon lit by candles on the side. Stars were shining above us, we were walking in dark accompanied by candles, and listening to the silence of the night! Every step I took I was amazed with the experience, could it get any better? It did… At the end of the way there was a huge, impressive building which was lit by hundreds of candles accompanied by calming, magical Arabic music…
I think I had the best experience ever as I just sat there, closing my eyes and letting the music take me to different places… Although it didn’t last long, as Shane got attacked by cats and I couldn’t stop myself from laughing (actually I think for the rest of my life whenever I think about that I will keep laughing, like I am doing now) :). I am sure he is going to love writing about it.
The Treasury lit up by candle light while Arabic music is playing in the background.
Shane – ok with that said let me say having the Treasury lit up like it was, I could not help but want to take photos of it (all for you readers, of course 🙂 ). Since it was dark I wanted to use the manual setting on my camera to leave the shutter open longer. In order to do this, I had to use my little tripod and set it on something solid otherwise it would be blurry. Well I chose the top of a trash bin that was open on the front and was happy taking pictures when all of a sudden a cat jumped up and was nosing in the garbage. He was not bothering me except his tail keep waving in front of my lens. Since he was looking in the trash I figured I would give him a little nudge and help him all the way in and out of my way. I did not think anyone saw this, but Melek still will not stop talking about how the poor cat had his back legs out trying to stop himself as he slowly slid into the trash can. But I did get my photo, so there. :p
By this time Melek was bored of me taking photos and went and sat down where I joined her after a while. Of course it was dark and I could not see where she was, but finally found her. I thought I was very thoughtful because I knew there would be music, candles, and tea so I brought us a few tasty Arabic desserts we could enjoy during out time at Petra By Night.
Let me tell you that as soon as I opened the container I think every stray cat in the country came to me as if I was Peter the Piper. Here I was with my mouth full, a sticky morsel in my left hand, and an open container in the other as these stupid cats started crawling over my lap and up my body. I am holding both hands up to save my precious cargo and trying to talk through a full mouth to “get these cats off of me”. Melek is laughing at me as she grabs one after another and sets them on the ground. Of course all they did was come back, sometime over her, to me. By this point she is tossing cats a descent distance to get them away, which is not helping since they are like the Cat That Came Back story. I am struggling to eat what is in my left hand, cover the remainder in the container, and finally help throw cats as if it was carnival game. By this point the people next to us are laugh, Melek is laughing, and I am frustrated. I finally stand up and walk to a different spot stomping my feet to keep all those stupid cats from following me.
So is Petra By Night a romantic and magical thing to do? Yes….unless you have a goof like me with you! Then it is pure entertainment! 🙂
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