I've got a mule, his name is Suzo

This is slightly out of sequence, but since I was already writing about the poor mule who carted me most of the way up to the Monastery and back down again, and since I have several friends who for some reason find the idea of me on a mule hilarious and have asked for pictures, here he is: the stalwart Suzo.

And the much less than stalwart Kathleen clinging to his back. Don't be misled by the nice smooth pavement in this picture -- most of the time we were scrambling up or down very steep rocky paths, and ancient stone steps worn to nubs by  a couple of millennia's worth of travelers. At a few points I had to lie flat on Suzo's back to pass under archways, and in some of the steeper sections staying in the saddle was like trying to ride a very rickety roller coaster without a safety bar.

But the most drama came unexpectedly at the end of the ride, on the road near the back gate, when Suzo was anxious to get home and eat his dinner, and kept breaking into a gallop. You'd be amazed by how fast a hungry mule can go.

Horses and mules and camels, oh my!

Or, alternatively, a horseback ride from the visitor's center to the beginning of the Siq is included in the ticket, and that's what I decided to do.

This is my guide Mahmout on his horse. The ride was fun (and much more comfortable than the long mule ride I took later in the day) but obviously I couldn't take many pictures while on horseback.

I assumed I'd be coming back the same way on foot later, but that was before I got talked into riding that mule up to the Monastery and down to the back gate of Petra.

So I didn't get to explore intriguing trails like this which lead away from the road.

Petra

From the visitor's center, it's about a mile to the beginning of the Siq. You can walk, or hire a buggy like one of these that will take you all the way through to the Treasury. 

Wadi Musa

Wadi Musa is Arabic for “the Valley of Moses.” (Wadi Rum means “the Roman Valley.”) Moses led the Israelites through here after crossing the Red Sea; the spring he is supposed to have created by striking a rock was later used to channel water to Petra.

Which is just outside of town, in those mountains. It was about a three-hour drive from Amman to Wadi Musa so it was still morning when I got here. I checked into the hotel, dropped my bags, and spent the rest of the day in Petra. 

Sunday bird blogging

This gorgeous, gaudy creature is a painted stork. They're found all over Asia, but that orange bill and pink feathers definitely fit in in India.

Imagine if I had actually spent some time in India

...instead of a mere five days. 

But I'm done for the moment (except for the birds of course.) Here's one last view from the Amber Fort, with that beautiful temple in the foreground.

On to Jordan.

Street scenes part 2

Street scenes

The backlog of Indian images does not seem to be getting much smaller, and my efforts in that direction have been less than diligent. I've had a cold, my job has been insanely busy, and most of my spare time has been spent sleeping.

But before I start on Petra, there are some more pictures from the streets in and around Jaipur that I have to share.

Crush

These aren't terrific pictures -- but I can't bring myself to skip them. Part of the controlled chaos of Indian streets and highways is the apparent ongoing competition to see how many bodies can be crammed into a van or a bus or a taxi.

The picture on the left is from Jaipur, but the picture on the right is from a tollbooth -- those men actually rode down the highway hanging out of the back of the van like that.

More signage

Come blow your horn

Almost every vehicle on the highways of India apart from passenger cars has some version of a sign telling you to blow your horn. One of my drivers explained that if you don't have side mirrors you want someone who is trying to pass you to use the horn to give you a warning.

But lots of the large trucks have mirrors and the signs, and carts with horses and camels and no mirrors at all do as well. And the signs are always colorful and often really elaborate, like this one (although I'm not sure what kind of animal that's supposed to be -- it looks like a cow, but that long neck is more like a camel: a cowmel?)

There are also tassels and ribbons and bells hanging from the sides and backs of carts and trucks. The decoration is a way of celebrating the act of working, by making everything about it as beautiful as possible.

Saturday reflections

A solarized version of reflections at the Sheikh Zayed mosque in Abu Dhabi.