Bowled over by Berlin...

arriving early am

my room at the Motel One

stunning cathedrals

early morning walk

love the autumnal colours!

modern architecture

there's a glass dome on their government house -reminding the law makers of the need to be transparent

Brandenburg gate

Adlon Hotel -the site of Michael Jackson's baby over the balcony incident

the holocaust memorial 

what's left of the wall

churches and opera houses

memorial for all women who have lost children

Arriving from Amsterdam to Berlin on the overnight train, my first impression is of a futuristic sprawling city, its uber new Central train station a huge silver masterpiece of engineering and architecture.

But when I do the obligatory walking tour www.newberlintours.com

later that day, I see that she is so much more, a mix of East and West, old and new, memorials, museums, cathedrals, galleries, vast open spaces, modern avenues and alternative areas with eclectic energy.

I book into motel one, www.motel-one.com which is a short walk from the train station and I am so grateful when they let me check in straight away.

I join the free walking tour at 11am outside Starbucks at the Brandenburg gate aptly led by David, a Brit who loves his adopted home. For 3 hours we walk this amazing city, stopping at most of the significant attractions including the Berlin Wall, Checkpoint Charlie-so named because it is the 3^rd entry point from East to West- (Charlie is the third letter of the phonetic alphabet after Alpha and  Bravo) the gendarmenmarkt, Unter Den Linden and Hotel Adlon, the expensive hotel (15,000 Euros a night for the Presidential suite)! where Michael Jackson famously dangled his child from the balcony, Freidrichstrasse, the holocaust memorial and the island of museums.

We even stand over the bunker where Hitler holed up and eventually committed suicide. It’s now under a car park in a residential area, a small information plaque nearby is the only indicator that anything of significance is buried underneath us.

Throughout his engaging storytelling David brings this city to life, gives her shape and helps us to understand the complex history that contributes to her identity.

I meet Ivan on the tour. He is a gorgeous German man, and a judge in the family court, visiting Berlin for a funeral, and attending a course nearby. Professionally he has the unenviable task of making legal judgements about the custody of children after often bitter and complex relationship break-ups; personally he has visited concentration camps and tried to make sense of the senseless extermination of so many lives and yet he is neither broken nor defensive about a history that is part of his DNA. Long after we say goodbye I can conjure up his face and it makes me smile and I am very grateful that we met.

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I hate eating salad at the best of times. No matter how much I try, I just can’t manage to do it elegantly. I either miss my mouth, or manage to get some of the oily dressing on myself. So imagine how hard it would be for me to do it in total darkness!

I have booked into the Unsicht bar and restaurant http://www.unsicht-bar-berlin.de/unsicht-bar-berlin-v2/en/html/home_1_idea.html a unique experience where you eat in total darkness, served by staff who are blind or have partial sight and where you choose from 5 menus which are simply labelled vegetarian, poultry, fish, meat or “surprise”. The vegetarian entrée for example is described as

“A taste of Aztecan masculinity on a very green, and voluptuous red bedding”

(sliced avocado marinated in lime juice, with field greens and tomato)   

I am looking forward to the opportunity to practice being mindful while trying something new.

When I arrive my order is taken (this bar area is lit normally) and I am asked to remove anything that might in any way illuminate a totally dark room like watches or mobile phones.

While I wait on my own to be escorted into the dining room, I am more than a little anxious and a lot of questions cross my mind; Will I bump into things, knock over my glass of wine, spill things on myself, manage to eat, cope with the experience without making a fool of myself??

By the time my waiter Marcus greets me I have calmed myself down. “At least no one will see me” I think to myself.

Marcus asks me to put my hands on his shoulders and I follow him into the pitch black room. He takes my hand and gently guides me into my seat and tells me what is on the table and where and then moves away and leaves me on my own.

It is a strange, disconcerting experience to be totally in the dark. I am on my own, surrounded by people speaking German, and I have no idea when, what and how I will eat.

Judy Killen a childhood friend who was blind and went on to become a physiotherapist comes to mind. She and I used to spend hours in the garden and I would ask Judy to guess the colours of things. Judy had a way of cocking her head slightly as if tuning in to her surroundings and she would always get it right. To this day, I don’t know how. I find myself cocking my head slightly to try to tune in to what is going on around me, but unlike Judy I can’t even guess how big the room is or how the staff don’t bump into each other and only hear Marcus when he is gently whispering in my ear that he is back with my food.

I trace the outline of the plate with my hands and feel around for my knife and fork and napkin. I move the glass that Marcus has also brought me out of the way and make a mental note of its position.

I tentatively move my fingers over the plate to try to work out what is on it and groan when I realise it is some sort of salad. The only way I can eat is to use my left hand to guide the food onto my fork! There is a sweet mayonnaise style dressing on the leaves and I manage to get a few forkfuls into my mouth, when my mouth closes on a succulent morsel of seafood which is a real surprise. I manage to find 2 more bits before I finish.

I am waiting for a long time between courses. Marcus tells me later that there are only 5 staff for over 100 customers and I hear him clicking his fingers from time to time –perhaps a way of communicating with his colleagues about his location? My main course when it finally comes is also fish with some sort of vegetable risotto. I am a little disappointed in the food, which is rather stodgy, with little aroma. But dessert when it arrives is sensational. A kind of passionfruit cream brulee in a sealed pot, with some fresh stewed berries and a small biscuity cake on the side. I can smell it, and feel it and taste it and it is glorious.

I am glad that I had the experience, but am in no great hurry to repeat it. What made it particularly difficult was being on my own, without being able to understand what was being said and I realise how much you miss out on when you are unable to see and understand what is being said around you. I would love to try this exercise with a loved one, or with friends and with really good food. But for now, I am simply even more grateful and appreciative for the amazing gift of sight!

                             ___________________________________________

In silence is embedded the marvellous power of clarification, purification and concentration on essentials 

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Just underneath the Brandenburg gate is a small sign marking the silent room.

Modelled on a similar room in the United Nations Building in New York, it has a dual purpose. The first to provide a place where anyone regardless of background, colour, ideology, religion, and physical condition can remain in silence for a while, relax and meditate and secondly it serves as a symbol of tolerance, a reminder against violence and xenophobia, a small step towards peace and spiritual unity.

The room’s decoration is neutral and simple. A woven wall hanging by Hungarian artist Ritta Hager symbolises light penetrating darkness.

If you are in Berlin. It’s worth a stop.

www.raum-der-stille-im-brandenburger-tor.de

 

                   ___________________________________________

I am watching the flat screen TV in my room but it’s not a TV program. It’s a film of a log fire burning in a fireplace. The flames lick and slowly consume the burning logs and I watch mesmerised, listening to the sound of the logs crackling. It is so realistic that I actually feel warm, even though there is no heating in the room!

I am just about to check out and catch a train to Prague.

My fire is still crackling and I listen and watch for a while reluctant to move from my comfortable space.

Even while you are having adventures you can get lazy...

Ok better go…I have a date with a 90 year old Count!

the silent room Brandenburg gate

my fake fire... it looked and sounded real...

serious fun ...

we've only just met!

Autumnal energy….

The russet colour of the autumn leaves reminds me that here in Europe, autumn is actually a distinct season. A gust of wind gathers up a handful of the red, brown and yellow leaves and swirls them around my feet. It’s a pleasant unfamiliar noise and I listen to its music for a while. It’s cold, but I am rugged up and armed with a map, and excited to be exploring Nijmegen just before sunrise on my own.

Yesterday I took the Eurostar from London to Brussels and then two trains and a bus to get to this pretty University town south of Amsterdam. My companion is Hila, a stunning Israeli woman who now calls Holland home, who I met in York. Our meeting was serendipitous, bumping into each other while checking out of our hotel.

We had been seated at the same table for the duration of the workshop I attended but we hadn’t talked, and yet over breakfast, I felt like I was with an old familiar friend. An only child of Holocaust survivors and single mum, with an intelligent analytical mind (previously a dentist with a PHD), Hilda is now studying Shiatsu and Chinese medicine and is an EFT practitioner.

I am back in London, when I receive an SMS from Hila inviting me to join her for some “serious fun”. I hesitate only a moment wondering what I could be letting myself in for, but as soon as we meet any caution evaporates and when we catch the Eurostar together, we are so engrossed in our conversation that the two hour journey feels like a blink of an eye. A young Nigerian woman with a child so beautiful that I want to squeeze him, sits across from us and is so taken by our conversation that she feels compelled to tell us how helpful it has been just to listen.

Later at Lodewijk in a very funky eatery near Hila’s home in Nijmegen, we talk for hours and the conversation flows easily over oysters, Prosecco and a seriously delicious fish dish. The following night over another amazing meal where I meet one of her friends, I can’t help feeling like I’ve known this generous, hospitable woman for a lifetime instead of just a few short days. Later we talk and tap into the early hours. I haven’t had such truly “serious” fun in a long time and when she drops me off at the train station to catch my train to Amsterdam, I know I am leaving behind a kindred spirit.

home for a few days

walking through the local area

my favourite time of the day

countryside

getting around in the Netherlands

seriously good food and no zuid afrikaanse monkeys were hurt to feed us

with new friends and Rose Prosecco my new favourite drink 

About that strange tapping thing...

7 presenters at the EFT York masterclass

Year ago I came across a tapping technique that was supposed to be good for phobias.

At the time I was trying to deal with my fear of public speaking, or technically I was trying to find a way to enjoy it, to stop the physiological, mental, emotional and spiritual discomfort I felt every time I had to formally speak to people or any time “all eyes were on me”.

TFT sounded good, even though it seemed a bit “out there”, involving rolling your eyes, while singing “happy birthday to me” and tapping on particular points in your body, and yet the DVD’s I saw showed people with previously high levels of fear around swimming or insects or various other stimuli completely cured after one or a few short sessions of this tapping thing.

At the back of my mind I thought there was something to it, something that made sense about interrupting the physiological and chemical state of arousal that accompanies fear and it also fitted with my understanding about blockages in the energy system or meridians in the body leading to illness and imbalance, assumptions which underpin the now mainstream practice of acupuncture.

But the technique seemed cumbersome to learn and implement, involving complex algorithms, so I just stored the information away for future reference.

Over time I came across other references to TFT and its development. It slowly morphed into a simpler technique called EFT and eventually practitioners (most students of the original EFT teacher Gary Craig) were taking the basics and making it into a much more accessible and intuitive practice, some like Patricia Carrington changing the set up statement –“Even though I have this problem, I deeply and completely love and accept myself’–into much more palatable “choices” statements like “Even though I have this problem, I choose to remain calm and confident.”

At various times I have “played” with the tapping myself and occasionally even used aspects of it with clients mainly because at worse it would not harm and at best it would help to tap into the subconscious blockages that often get in the way of us feeling happy and balanced.

Recently I have become more interested in using this kind of technique in trauma work where people have become ‘stuck’ after experiencing a physical or emotional shock.

I am aware of its use and research about its efficacy in dealing with some of the symptoms of PTSD often seen in Vietnam vets, its effect on pain and fears often associated with being a cancer patient, and with torture-trauma survivors and survivors of natural and other emotional trauma.

During the last two years I have explored it further, tapping at times I have felt emotional and physical pain, on present frustration and future fear and although there has been no immediate resolution of the “big” issues to date, I have started to notice some subtle shifts. In combination with my mindfulness and qigong practice, tapping has helped to bring me back to equilibrium, to my centre when I have felt out of kilter or overwhelmed.

Before I left Australia I decided to look for a course I could do while I was away that would further my knowledge of this practice and its practical applications and in particular would expose me to the latest developments which I hoped would be a simpler more intuitive practice than the earlier techniques. In my search for an accredited centre overseas, I came across a Perth Psychologist called Steve Wells, who with his partner Dr David Lake had developed other EFT based practices called SET and PET. I called Steve who referred me to a centre in London but when I looked at the course I was ambivalent for some reason although I signed up for a workshop in York with 7 practitioners instead. For some reason I decided to look at www.eftdownunder.com Steve and David’s website once more and saw that they were running a workshop in Venice. There was no thinking necessary!  I immediately signed up.

When I took the 2 hour train from London to York I didn’t really have any expectations but I was so impressed by the atmosphere of safety and respect that was evident when the 100 odd people gathered at the Royal York Hotel to attend the Master Class organised and run by 7 EFT Masters.

The women are all intelligent, intuitive and skilled individuals who compassionately and uniquely presented and dealt with the emotional responses evoked by the tapping sessions.

There was an absence of ego which was refreshing and encouraging and I enjoyed chatting to the few men who were brave enough to be in a roomful of oestrogen!

Two, who were holding up the bar in typical pub stance while sipping on their tea, were working with war veterans and obese people respectively. They were both amazed at the positive impact EFT was having personally and professionally.

The sessions were interesting and relevant. The one that least appealed to me was working with animals. It did feel just a bit strange doing “surrogate” tapping for a rabbit who had not quite been himself after having undergone what was delicately called a “gooliectomy” but it was obviously not the placebo effect at work when after 3 months of odd behaviour, hiding under the couch and refusing to play with his girlfriend (a stuffed toy), he was happily “coupling” and following his relieved owner again! 

More engaging for me was a session on working with “stuff” we are carrying around from our past, the conscious and unconscious fears, beliefs and moral code of our parents, teachers and even ancestors.

It was amazing seeing how present decisions can be influenced by things we are not even aware of.

I met a number of inspiring women there; Jackie Sawasy, a down to earth retired nurse and cancer survivor who used EFT as part of her healing strategy, (Google You Tube, A Second Chance -Triumph over breast cancer) Fiona, a musician and teacher who uses EFT to help unblock the fears of young children playing musical instruments, Hila, a gutsy Israeli single Mum and dentist with a PHD who is now studying Chinese medicine and Shiatsu and incorporates this in her EFT work and Saffron Byass, a former medical practitioner who made the courageous decision to fellow her heart and entertained us with her beautiful voice and musical ability.

The sessions were healing, intense and humorous and many of us had moments of vulnerability that were dealt with compassion and respect.

It was interesting that there were similar themes and fears underlying the issues of most of the strong, capable people that allowed repressed emotions to be released and universally they all felt lightness, love and relief when they did.

Each presenter had their own style and even though they all studied with the same teacher they had each developed their own unique practice.

Below are their names and the titles of their presentations.

Tania Price -Patterns of the soul

Ann Ross -Our struggle for control

Sue Beer -Living from the heart

Emma Roberts- The wisdom of the body

Gwyneth Moss -We are all connected

Jaqui Crooks -Presence without past

Judy Byrne -Even though that happened

I am leaving York and the EFT Masterclass with a deeper understanding of how and why EFT works and a respect for the pioneers who made this seemingly wacky technique into the almost mainstream practice that it is today.

Heading to York....to do the strange tapping thing

travelling back to London on Royal Jordanian Airlines to go to York for an EFT workshop

tracking my flight from Jordan

I'd still be flying across the Nullabor, if I was in Australia

coming in to land

landed...and I get a bit nostalgic when we pass the flying Kangaroo  parked  on the  tarmac

After staying with Tammy and Gordon in their little pad in Clapham Junction for a couple of days, I make my way to York, a beautiful historic city two hours north of London which is the current holder of the “Best UK City” title.

According to the tourist guide, York has many unique attractions, including an archaeological site called JORVIK, a Viking village (York was a trading hub of the Viking world), “The Shambles,” reputedly Europe’s oldest shopping street (mentioned in the 1086 Domesday Book), York Minster, the largest Gothic Cathedral in North Europe (which took 250 years to complete) well preserved town walls, the best racecourse and largest railway museum. It also boasts being the home of Guy Fawkes, and you can do all sorts of interesting tours here like the toilet tour?? and a number of ghost tours, as it’s officially the most haunted city in Europe!

I am here to attend an EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) Masterclass workshop and have arrived a day early so I have time to explore.

I am staying at the Ibis York Centre Hotel http://www.hotel-rez.com/hw/a209850/index.htm?lbl=ggl-en a comfortable walk from the train station, the city centre and the Royal York Hotel a grand old lady where the workshop is being held. 

York is an easy city to explore on foot, and after a long walk I am keen to try afternoon tea with fresh scones. 

Bettys is a famous café whose two outlets I am told often have queues of waiting customers snaking out the door and into the street. Although the atmosphere of the older upstairs café is elegant and cosy, the afternoon tea (two “fresh” scones, clotted cream, jam and pot of tea) which I have been looking forward to, is expensive and disappointing. The scones are dry, cold and doughy despite being assured that they are freshly baked and the service is poor.

Thankfully, a much more positive experience is dinner at the Concerto café (near the Minster) which has fresh, tasty inexpensive food, a warm cosy environment and friendly staff, and the Old Siam Restaurant in the Micklegate area which served authentic and tasty Thai food (the Tom Yung Goong soup and Spring Rolls really hitting the spot on a cold night).

I’m sitting in lobby of my hotel in front of a fake fire. A woman is knitting, another working on her computer, and a few men are gathered around a television watching a ‘football” game.

The news comes on and the reporter is talking about Gaddafi being dead. The only other news item to merit a mention is that Julia Gillard has caused a furore by refusing to curtsy to the Queen, who is visiting Australia. The PM has responded to her critics arguing that protocol allowed for her to make a choice of doing what felt more comfortable. Most British commentators are unanimous in their condemnation but one brave soul suggests perhaps the Monarch may have appreciated talking to a person’s face, rather than to another head. I notice that my mind has automatically started to ponder the situation, trying to decide what position to take, and in that moment of noticing I realise that I actually don’t care whether Julia Gillard curtsied to the Queen or not, and decide not to waste my time thinking about it. Which makes me wonder how many times I have wasted my time thinking about things that don’t really matter. So I won’t!

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The Shambles, oldest shopping street, before the crowds

one of the entrances to the walled city

York Minster

early morning along the river

along "the Shambles"

cute little art and curio shops

The scones were almost as bad as the journalism

seen in a Shambles window

planning the next leg of my trip over a Thai meal at Old Siam

the world is my oyster!

I'll start with the York walls

ah the tranquillity!

Getting there

By rail- York is less than two hours from Central London by train. (Book online with East Coast rail)

It is accessible from both Leeds and Manchester airports and can be reached easily by car as it is located mid way between Edinburgh and London.  

Jordan...worth visiting!

It was!

The treasury ...photos don't do it justice

This coffee is soooo strong...Is that a camel in my sediment?

these ones add colour and atmosphere to this ancient site

the colours change depending on the light

predominantly pink

Petra taxi's taking a rest

walking towards the Monastery

nothing ventured...

worth every of the 800 steps to get there 

its a magical spot

way up in the mountains!

Royal Jordanian Airlines from Cyprus to Amman, Jordan 

arrival hall waiting for hire car

excited to be in a different "culture" again

can't wait to get to Petra, a 3 hour drive away

but first overnight in Amman...view from rooftop of the Landmark Amman hotel

heading to Petra

stopped at this roadside stall to buy grapes

The ancient Roman city of Jerash about 45 minutes from Amman 

enter through this gate

and spend some time

imagining what it was like

in a bygone era

before fast cars

when things were built to last

even if some bits did fall down eventually!

bagpipes Jordanian style

view from Ampitheatre

where the music has inspired some dancing

photo of 6th century Byzantine map at Madaba the city of mosaics

original map in Greek Orthodox church

Mount Nebo Moses' burial site

view from Mt Nebo

road across to Petra from the Dead Sea

fellow traveller

Dead Sea

Sunset over the Dead Sea

Crowne Plaza pool at Petra . I stayed at the more modest Edom hotel

approaching entrance to Petra

map of site

photos do not reflect the majesty of the pink cliffs towering  above you as you walk  towards the Siq

channels carved to bring water into the site

little remains of this carving but with imagination you can see it

this guy is available for photo opportunities

I got up at 4am to see the sunrise

and then walked for 10 hours!

it was worth it

my ecco's took a beating

I was tempted to have a nap

happy chappie

Manal and her family welcomed me into their home

in the distance is their business -a tea break halfway to the monastery 

it's a long walk back

the scenery along the way

a well trodden path

mosaics at the Byzantine chuch

I'm tempted ....

but keep on walking

another stunning sky

Manal's friend Mustafa works at the Monastery cafe. He has surprisingly good  teeth!

hiking to the Monastery along Manal's walk

lovely spot for a meditation break

Manal 

Breakfast at the Bedouin camp

hot sweet tea 

Bedouin camp

Some places are bigger than the tourists who invade them. Petra, in Jordan is one of them.

Deserving of its place on the UNESCO World Heritage List, Petra was settled by the Nabataeans an industrious Arab people, more than 2000 years ago. Historically this huge and beautiful archaeological site, a vast, unique city carved into a sheer rock face was an important junction for the silk, spice and other trade routes that linked China, India and Southern Arabia with Egypt, Syria, Greece and Rome.

But Petra is much more than just an historical site, it is home to Bedouin people, whose warm hospitality, strong connection to the land and rich cultural traditions provide a colourful and engaging backdrop to the natural beauty of the landscape.

A comfortable 3 hour drive south from Amman’s Queen Alia International Airport, along the modern sealed Desert Highway, Petra can also be reached in 5 hours along the more scenic Kings Highway with a detour along the Dead Sea.

Immigration formalities are simple and easy (most foreign nationals can obtain a visa on entry for 20 Jordanian Dinars) and unlike my experience with their Australia and British counterparts, Jordanian officials are courteous and welcoming.

A short time later, after picking up a hire car, I am heading north for the 30km drive to Amman for an overnight stay at the Amman Landmark Hotel before visiting the ancient city of Jerash in the morning.

Amman is a modern city undergoing extensive growth and construction. It is a harrowing drive along a series of spiralling circle roads and roundabouts that are so new that the GPS does not recognise them. It takes a good hour of frustration and asking locals to find the hotel but finally I am relaxing with a fresh fruit juice and snack looking at Amman’s skyline from the safety and distance of the hotel’s rooftop. *

Well worth a visit before you head to Petra is Jerash, an ancient Roman city nestled in a quiet valley 48km north of Amman. Its paved and colonnaded streets, hilltop temples, amphitheatres, plazas and city walls and gates remain in exceptional condition, and if you are lucky you will be entertained by Bedouin bagpipe players or watch re-enactments from Roman times.

Madaba is also worth stopping at, if only to see the 6^th Century Byzantine mosaic map at the Greek Orthodox Church of St George.

The church is small, but interesting with every available space covered with elaborate mosaic works, the most impressive being the remains of the map which shows all the significant places on the ancient trade routes, most of which I realise I have been to now.

You can also stop at Mt Nebu, the spot where Moses is supposed to be buried, Karak Castle an ancient crusader stronghold and visit the Dead Sea. The drive along the Dead Sea at sunset is wonderful as the road hugs towering cliffs on one side and a vast expanse of sea on the other, with stunning views across to Israel in the distance.

To reach Petra from this road you turn inland and the road climbs steadily to cross over a mountain range leaving the Dead Sea behind as the night settles across a peaceful desert. 

It is 11pm when we finally arrive in Petra and I am glad to meet the friendly staff at the Edom Hotel, have a hot shower and imagine what I will see in the morning. 

It is the sandstone colour of the surrounding landscape, which greets me in the morning, and I walk past still quiet cafes and eateries to the entrance of the site.  The new Petra Visitor’s Centre is still being built and in the meantime you can buy a ticket at the white caravan where you can also engage a guide.

If you bring your passport or proof of overnight stay you can get a discount and pay 50 instead of 90JD or 55 for a 2 day pass.

Petra is full of monuments carved into solid rock by the Nabataeans but nature has also left her mark and that is evident on the 3km walk from the entrance of the site to As-Siq the ancient main entrance to Petra as you walk through an impressive deep and narrow gorge of stunning natural beauty surrounded by cliffs that soar up to 80 metres high.

You can also get there on horseback, by horse and cart, on a camel or on a donkey.   

One of a number of the most impressive monuments in the site, Al- Khazneh (the Treasury), will greet you as you emerge into a large open area. Here, even the largest person will feel dwarfed by the huge size of the 30m wide x 43 m high façade which was originally built as a tomb for an important Nabataean king. Take your time and sit for a while, perhaps have a drink in the open air café to absorb and appreciate the majesty of this beautiful monument.

Imagine arriving at night and walking slowly along the same 3km pathway but this time by candle light and arriving at the treasury where you sit silently sipping, hot tea, looking up at the stars or absorbing the beauty and energy of this stunning place lit up by 1800 candles and listening to live Bedouin music. This is Petra by Night.

Three times a week (on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 8.30pm to 10.30pm at a cost of 12 D) you can have this experience and listen to a local Bedouin guide tell the story of this ancient place.

 

The night I went was disappointing as there were a number of rude and talkative tourists who insisted on talking and talking flash photographs throughout.

You could easily spend a number of days to properly explore this huge site, but if time is limited, the Royal tombs, colonnaded street and Ad-Deir Monastery, in particular, are a must. The High Place of Sacrifice is a hard walk but a good spot to see the sunrise. Officially the site opens at 6am but if you have a 2 day pass and speak to locals you could be there even earlier. 

Petra is truly an awe inspiring and unique place rightly described by some as the 8^th wonder of the ancient world. It has something to offer to the historian, anthropologist, architect, geologist and nature lover, but also to anyone who wants to experience a sacred place and meet local Bedouin people who will welcome you with open arms.  

GETTING THERE

I took a short 1 hour flight from Cyprus with Royal Jordanian Airlines http://www.rj.com/ but Amman can easily be reached from a large number of other European destinations including London and Athens.

* Accommodation in Amman

http://www.landmarkamman.com  Amman is a good location if you want to visit the Roman City of Jerash which is about 45 m north of Amman JD 8 entry but otherwise my suggestion would be to by pass Amman altogether and stay at Madaba which is closer to Petra.

Accommodation in Petra

I stayed at the Edom Hotel www.edomhotelpetra.com, a basic but comfortable and affordable 3 star hotel, a short walk to the entrance of the archaeological site.

Other well located, but more expensive options are

Crowne Plaza Resort http://www.petra.crowneplaza.com/ or the popular

Movenpick Hotel  http://movenpick-resort-petra.h-rez.com  that serves expensive but good western food at its poolside bar

DRINK

The cave bar is a 2000 year old Nabataean tomb, so an interesting place to have a drink and wind down after a long day in Petra. A local beer costs 6.50 JD expensive, especially by Jordanian standards, but it was worth it just for the location and ambience.

FOOD

Try the national dish of Mansaf, lamb cooked in herbs and yoghurt or any of the many mezze sharing dishes on offer.

CULTURAL INFORMATION

If you are a woman, don’t be offended if Muslim men don’t shake hands with you. They will politely decline if it is just before their prayer time

Alcohol is only available in tourist areas and some hotels

USEFUL ARABIC PHRASES

Hello –Marhaba

How are you –kayfa halik (f) kayfa halak (m)

Yes- Na’am or Aiwa

No La

Please Minfadlak

Thank you Shukran

Goodbye Ma salaama

Excuse me Assif

CURRENCY

The Jordanian Dinar (JOD) is worth about 1.41 USD

TRANSPORT

The best way to get around Jordan is by hire car or taxi. Roads and signage are good.

Bus Companies that go to Petra

TRUST 06 5813449

JETT 06 5696151

ALPHA 065827623

A good, English speaking Taxi driver I could recommend is Yousef A Fodoul 962 0777636410. He got up at 3.30am to take me to a Bedouin village to see the sunrise and again at 6am to drive me the 3 hours back to Amman Airport on my departure and charged me a very reasonable 60JD for that trip. I had been quoted much more.

TOURIST INFORMATION

www.visitjordan.com

Crabs from the Dead Sea and other stories

I’m on the roof top of the Landmark Hotel in Amman. It’s late but I’m hungry, so the crab salad catches my eye. I am advised it is “fresh” and order it even though my companion tries to dissuade me. (After all, I tell myself, it is a 5 star hotel and there’s water around so it must be fresh).

When it arrives I am so disappointed and a bite of the slimy, tasteless mass confirms my suspicions that it is a type of processed crab stick, nothing like the delicate, “fresh from the sea” taste I was expecting and my mood plummets in response. My companion is bemused, “but what did you expect, there’s no water around”.

“Of course there is” I pout. We’re right near the Dead Sea! Mmm even non blondes have blonde moments.

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My companion from Cyprus to Petra is an ex Ukrainian Minister, now property developer and businessman, living in Cyprus and Canada. He is a friend of a friend’s friend who I met on a yacht and it just so happened he was going to Petra at the same time. I agree to join him for the drive and offer to share expenses. He is a big man, with a booming voice and bigger presence who smokes pipes and cigars, and tells me that he is now half the size he used to be. He’s old school, standing on the road side of the curb and holding my elbow as we climb over steps and arguing with me when I insist on carrying my own luggage.

He’s a curious character, a mix of sharp businessman, opportunist, kind uncle and child who is a passionate lover of all things ancient and every time he sees a an ancient monument shouts “Oh My GOD, Look at This” with a thick Russian accent and then takes a dozen photos and film footage without stopping to see what he is actually filming. He is an interesting travel companion, with a colourful past and by the time we part he has grown on me.

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Jordan has a population of around 6.5m people, with a mix of ethnicities and religions living in relative harmony (92% of the population is Muslim, mainly Sunnis). At night the green lights of minarets can be seen everywhere and the sound of muezzin calling the faithful to early Morning Prayer at dawn is my alarm.

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I have been thinking of a friend in Australia who is suicidal. A series of losses has catapulted her into a dark place. This smart, normally confident woman feels that life is not worth living, and I feel sad and a bit worried. I think about how differently I feel in this moment; excited and happy and strong and I wish for her to feel the same. I hold a picture of her in my mind’s eye and send her love. ‘I’m thinking of you and wishing you a moment, just like this, so that even though life still is and feels  incredibly challenging and overwhelming, this moment gives you hope, introduces possibility and makes you stop to notice and consider that there may be another way to feel good again”.

(I have stayed in touch and passed on information from two psychologist friends who responded to my email for support and my friend has told me that she is no longer actively suicidal and looking forward to being assessed by a Psychiatrist)

It is while I am deep in thought about this friend that I meet Manal. 

I have been climbing a steep path towards the Monastery at Petra and am rounding a corner and stop to catch my breath when I hear a cheerful voice say “Well done, you’re half way there. Would you like to have a tea with us?” A beaming smile covers her small face and she pats the ground next to her and invites me to sit. Manal is 21. She is intelligent and an astute business woman easily charming the many tourists who pass by her little business. Her mother sits nearby. She is only 57, but her lined face and tired body make her seem much older. Russia, her sister smile shyly in the corner and looks cautiously at me until she feels more comfortable and then doesn’t leave my side.

I sit down and have a cup of very sweet local tea and try not to think about the half a bag of sugar Manal’s mother has just poured into the small kettle before lighting up another cigarette.

The family reminds me of a family I met in Morocco a few years ago and we are soon chatting and sharing our life stories.

I talk about my suicidal friend and Manal is horrified, translating the situation to her mother, who agrees that Manal should speak with her and invite her to stay with them free of charge and they can even arrange for a good man to marry her! She cites numerous cases of Western women who have come to live in Jordan and successfully and happily live among the Bedouins.

Later, Manal invites me to join her for dinner in the small village nearby when she finishes work. She tells me to take a taxi and get dropped outside the mosque and ask anyone to take me to her house. I am a little dubious but find out that everybody actually does know her and I am soon sitting cross legged in her house with her father and sister-in-law having tea. After a delicious dinner of chicken and tomatoes and more tea we are laughing and watching a Jordanian version of candid camera and then Manal tries to teach me some Bedouin dance steps!

I decide to get up early and watch the sunrise, and Manal offers to take me to have breakfast with her family in the desert and later to the Monastery via another path.

The taxi drops me off shortly after 4am and Manal and I start walking in the desert, a small sliver of moon lighting our way. It is beautiful and silent and I am very happy to be following this tiny, gutsy Bedouin woman across her land. We stop to have breakfast with her step mother (her father’s third wife) and as they talk, I climb some rocks above their small camp and watch the sun come up and do my qigong.

Later we pass another camp and another, and in each we stop, greetings are exchanged, we are welcomed, and offered tea and bread. Slowly we make our way across the landscape and begin to climb a path that winds around a steep hill. I notice some steps which have been cut into the path reinforcing it and making it safer. Manal tells me that she spoke to the tribal elder some years ago suggesting that the work be done after someone fell to their death and finally funding had been provided and 200 young men employed on the project. I tell her it should be named Manal’s walk and she seems pleased to be acknowledged and begins to sing me Bedouin songs, her sweet voice echoing in the deep canyons that surround us as we make our way to the Monastery.