Petra, Jordan: Photo Essay
I had to improvise a headdress from a yellow bandana to put under my gray Calvin Klein hat. It was a fashion paux pas but I had to cover the back of my neck. It was hot, I was sweating bullets. We just entered the Siq at Petra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Jordan, famous for its rock-cut architecture. Our first stop was in front of the small intricately carved openings in the rock face: Carved into the sandstone hill by the Nabataeans in the second century A.D., the structure that started as a temple may have been used as a church or monastery in the later centuries. Our guide's explanation about the place was interrupted by the hooves of horses as they pulled carriages carrying tourists who were unable to walk along the rock-walled alley. Meanwhile, a fellow tourist told me that we were seeing the opening scene from the movie 'Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade '. Thank God, I had not seen the movie or it would have clouded my impression of an amazing...