Petra

We arrived in Aqaba, Jordan at 7 a.m. and it was Hot.

Onto a bus for our tour to Petra, a famous archaeological site in Jordan's southwestern desert and a bucket list trip for many on the cruise. We headed up into the mountains from the coast and the temperature dropped as we headed higher on the Desert Highway. Past Wadi-Rum (film location for Lawrance of Arabia and the Martian amongst many) and up into the hills where wind turbines stand in the small wheat fields cleared of stones by hand. Somehow the patches of dry ground produce wheat in this arid climate which is then harvested by hand.

Then Petra. There is a sizable town around the entrance to the site and the visitor centre.

From the Visitor centre, we board electric golf carts pre-arranged by our tour company and head off into the Siq which is a canyon leading to the ancient city of Petra starting at the famed Treasury (actually a tomb) where everybody can do their best Indiana Jines impression.

There was some concern as to how seriously the cart drivers take safety when we saw the first driver take off in a shower of sparks as he reversed away from the charging station without disconnecting. One cart at least will be out of action when the battery runs down.

Still off we set, weaving through the pedestrians without further incident.

Arrived at the Treasury along with camels, horses, donkeys and stalls selling drinks and souvenirs.

It is stunning. From the entry through the canyon to the first glimpse of the tomb highlighted in the sun and then out onto the sand.

The city spreads for miles from this point with ever more elaborate buildings carved into and out of the rocks. On past a Greek theatre onto the remains of a huge temple with columns and platforms hinting at something on a grand scale.

We drifted some way through the complex and then sat down in the shade at a cafe and drank a zero-alcohol beer (cold) They had run out of Heineken Zero so a local brand was substituted. The cafe itself was owned and previously operated by Marguerite van Geldermalsen a Woman from NZ famous for her autobiography "Married to a Bedouin"

Here is a link to get the full story. https://marriedtoabedouin.com/

After the beer, we wandered back to the meeting place outside the Treasury to get the gold cart back to the visitors' centre and our waiting lunch.

This is where things went pear-shaped. Although cooler than the coast it was still 30+ with a fierce sun and almost half of the people we terrorised on the way into Petra had decided it was a good idea to catch a golf cart back. Combined with an unusually admirable dedication to lunch and smoke breaks by the golf cart drivers the result was a winding queue and a 2-hour wait to get back on a cart. Even waiting in the shade it was hot and there was no place to sit. It was not long before many were slumped against the rock walls.

After almost an hour in the queue, I succumbed to a combination of dehydration and the heat and had a bit of a faint. I was given assistance and water by members of our group and guides also in the queue who found me a space on the only wooden plank. Although I soon began to recover there were also others in need of assistance so an ambulance was called and I was bundled in along with an old lady, her husband and our guide to act as interpreter. This was no mean feat as the ambulance in question was a ute with a canopy and was full of ambulance gear. So off we set, not back along the Siq but down the road through the rest of the site and then up a winding road back to the visitor's centre. During this trip I saw glimpses of all of the other parts of the site I had not seen earlier in the day.

As others will attest once you are in an ambulance it is very difficult to not be taken to a hospital. We were unable to get out and instead were taken off to the Queen Rania Hospital.

Long story short. The Hospital was modern and well-staffed and unlike in some Australian Hospitals, we were both seen within a few minutes of arriving. My vital signs were back in the normal range, but the lady from the ambulance ride still had high blood pressure so we had to wait another 20 minutes. Then there was the task of getting paperwork filled out and signed so we could be discharged. The owner of the tour company then turned up in his (pretty flash) 4WD and took all of us back to the restaurant to reunite with our tour group. All of this took around one and a half hours. During this time everybody in Petra in a uniform of any type had seen my passport and recorded my name to fill in a report (presumably explaining how they had followed the correct procedure and were personally blameless). If the reports did all say as our guide indicated that the fainting was the result of having to wait far too long without shelter for the golf cart to return perhaps this is something good that came out of the event.

I have nothing but good things to say about the hospital (and have given them a good review) I was treated promptly and professionally even though they obviously had much more serious cases to deal with.

So we were all taken back to the restaurant to join our group where we were then given enough food for a small army.

Pictured Kathy and I along with my 2 very close personal friends from the ambulance ride.

We returned to the ship via the Desert Highway and proceeded to rehydrate.

Petra was a must-see and well worth going. The added excitement was probably best avoided but it was certainly another adventure.