Petra
No matter how many images you have seen of Petra. The moment you enter the site and see the Treasury through the Siq cannot be described in words. Magnificent, gorgeous, amazing are all not strong enough to describe the beauty of this site. I spent the first day wandering around the site and every time you just saw something really beautiful, there will be another temple even more beautiful around the corner. There really is no end to the sights of Petra. You can walk for hours in any random direction and won’t stop seeing more monuments.
The first day, I was just walking and enjoying every single minute in a world that doesn’t seem to be real. At the end of the first day, I talked to a Bedouin on the way out. After a 30 min long conversation we agreed to meet up the next morning. So my next day started by seeing my Bedouin friend, Kaled, at a tea place in Petra.
We headed off for a hike to the monastery. It was amazing to go on this hike with a local, because he brought me to all these “secret” places that I wouldn’t have gone to otherwise. On the way back, he showed me a viewpoint that overlooked the border with Israel. Then we took a quite unusual and a little bit challenging way down. We passed a spring and a river. It was interesting, because that area is a desert so water is very unusual. Bedouins have little vegetable gardens all along the river. It was very beautiful and we stopped for tea and bread at some Bedouin camp.
Export of Bedouins
One thing I was very surprised by is the export of Bedouin men by European women. All over the Petra site, you meet Bedouins that have uncles, cousins or other members of their family married to some tourist that came to Petra. It is really incredible. No matter how kind, honest and respectful Bedouins are, this phenomenon is something I can’t quite understand. Bedouins explained to me that people just fall in love with the site and as a byproduct also with the people that live in this site.
Bedouins and Money
Another misconception about Bedouins is that they are poor. While this is certainly true for Bedouins outside of Petra, it is not true at all for those living in Petra. The Bedouins of Petra go to Thailand, France, UK etc. They normally live in a Bedouin village outside of the site. They have internet, showers and everything else you might need. Only 20’000 Bedouins from the older generation still live in Petra. They sleep in caves and live from their sheep and vegetable gardens. They do this not because they have to, but because they want to.
Bedouin Jews
One thing I didn’t know about the Bedouins of Petra is that a majority of them used to be Jewish. They converted several generations ago, but still keep both Jewish and muslim traditions. They wear a red bracelet as a symbol of their Jewish heritage.
In general, Jordanians speak very positively about Israel and Jews. Jordan made the decision to obtain peace with everyone. I heard from many Jordanians that some of their best friends are Jewish and in fact, they get quite annoyed by always being asked by Westerners how they get along with Israelis.
Make-Up
You often see Bedouins wear eyeliner. At first I thought it is something they do because of their traditions. It turns out that the eyeliner actually has a purpose too. The eyeliner protects you from the sun and it actually works! The Bedouins put it on me as well and as soon as I had it on, I could walk around without sunglasses. It was quite incredible! They make the eyeliner by collecting the ashes of a burnt tree and then mix the ashes with olive oil. Unlike normal eyeliner, this one humidifies your eyes and has a soothing effect. I really don’t understand why the make-up industry hasn’t used this method so far.
Bedouin’s Life, Traditions and Hospitality
Bedouins have a very good and genuine attitude. If you ask a Bedouin how was his day, he would say “wonderful, just like every day”. If you ask him if he likes his life, he would respond that he loves his life, and can’t imagine leaving Petra. Young and old Bedouins both enjoy spending their nights in the most sacred places of Petra, even though they have a bed, shower, internet etc at home.
I found Bedouins to be very happy people. They have inherited the traditions of their ancestors and have collected a set of wise sayings about life. Although they have little education and often don’t even know how to read and write, they respond to you using these sayings that you really start wondering where they got them from. I also found Bedouins to be amazingly respectful towards women. It surprised me given how much we hear in the news about Arabs treating women badly and disrespectfully.
We all have misconception about Muslims and how they treat women, but from seeing how Bedouins (and Jordanians in general) talk about their girlfriends and wives I certainly started to change the way I look at them. For example, before heading off to this hike in the middle of nowhere with Kaled, I told him that it is not safe for me to go with some random guy far away from the paths tourists normally take. I wouldn’t do that in Europe and also not in Jordan. He responded by saying that two mountains cannot meet, only two humans can meet. What he meant to say by this is that there is no point/no enjoyment for him to violate a person that is not interested in him. And indeed, Kaled was very respectful during the whole hike. He didn’t try to approach me once, he even always left an empty chair between us when we sat down. He showed me around and told me stories about Bedouins the whole day, he welcomed me in his cousin’s house and gave me presents as a goodbye. My encounter with Bedouins and their incredible hospitality really changed the impression that Petra left on me.
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