Moses's Rock, Ali Baba's Rock, a Very Long Tunnel, and Little Petra

Last night was cold but I was glad this was not my bedroom.

We said goodbye to the locals and then headed out to a Crusader castle called Shobak.

After passing the opening gate we were greeted to a unique feature of this castle. It was perched high on a hill with a long tunnel from the castle basement to the base of the road at the bottom of the hill. That way when they saw the enemy coming they could wait until they got half way up and use the tunnel to attack them from behind.

Our guide Abraham discourage us from entering the tunnel, but how can you pass up an opportunity to explore something like this. We began our decent on the roughly 20 minute one way trip.



It is not long before the air gets very heavy and if you are claustrophobic or just don't like dark tiny scary spaces then this might not be for you. But the kid in me was alive and there was no way I could not go all the way to the end.

Finally there was light in the distance and I emerged from the tunnel.

Now we had to turn around and head all the way back up and it was then when we really got a feel for how dense the air was.

Back at the castle we checked out the views that overlooked the countryside.



We then explored the castle in the light of day.

The castle was also a stopping place on the route from Syria to Arabia.





Near the castle is an interesting character called Ali Baba who lives in a cave and is the proprietor to the world's smallest hotel room. Rates are negotiable as well as is the price of anything in his possession that you might want to buy.

Ali Baba's living room and bed room.

Ali Baba's kitchen which was also void of any beer for his guests.

Ali Baba's brother cooking us some bread.

The man, the myth, the legend, Ali Baba, trying to sell some of the things he found in the desert.



Ali Baba had quite a collection of rocks and while not much different then the ones found on the ground he insisted we all take one as a gift from him. I selected a rock that I thought would add little weight to my bag and we then headed to another rock, one that had been broken. Let me tell you about this fella Moses and why this stream is so special.

Moses played a major role in all three books, The Quran, The Bible, and The Torah, and this location offered up just one of the many stories that define his energy. Moses's people needed water and God told Moses to take his brother Aaron and a staff that God gave him and go talk to a rock and it would provide water. Moses tried talking to the rock but it did not answer or maybe he was just speaking the wrong language. Either way he got frustrated and cracked the rock in half using the staff. From the rock came water. However this displeased God and because of it Moses was able to see the Promised Land but never enter it. I was now standing in front of that rock, however if you Google this story you will not only find images of this rock but also of four other rocks. So was I at the wrong rock? Which one did he really break with the staff that God gave him? Truth is that it does not matter. You have to remove all context and structure from the storyteller and explore the energy of the story itself.

We then headed to lunch and I had the best hummus and shawarma that I would get on this trip.

Followed by another Turkish coffee, being careful not to chew on the sludge.

Little Petra is much like Petra just littler. There are fewer people trying to sell you stuff.

There are fewer carvings in the sandstone.

The road carved by water into Little Petra is much shorter then the road carved by water into Petra.

These kids were great and welcomed us with a song. Our guide said that when he was a kid he used to do the same thing.

While the Bedouin(s) lived out their daily life we explored the site of Little Petra.



The pathway soon opens to the central courtyard.





Many of the caves still had the remains of how they were decorated, kind of like ancient wallpaper.

I found the trail continued beyond this central area and decided to follow it up.

Pretty soon it appeared I was walking through a Bedouin's home.



Yup, they have stuff for sale even up here.

We then checked into the Petra Guest House and then just like Moses, right before my very eyes, was the Promised Land.

But unlike Moses not only do I get to see the Promised Land but I was worthy enough to enter it. It was an old Bedouin cave re-purposed as a bar.



The Promised Land would deliver in that I would finally get to try the local beer, Petra Beer.

I then tried the other local beer, Philadelphia Beer. You might think this is a strange name however, Philadelphia was the name the Greeks gave to the city of Amman in ancient times. The two beers seemed to pretty much taste the same and I'm wondering if only the packaging was different.

Tonight we would get a little taste of Petra by visiting the Treasury before drifting off to sleep in a room with a proper heater.