I’m still travelling in far off places, but just a few pictures to whet the appetite of those who have been so eagerly waiting. Thanks for your patience. I’ve been longing to share with you all my experience, the sights and sounds of distant lands, obscure to North Americans but definitely very popular places to explore for those in other parts of the world. I feel like a wanderer in the Tower of Babel, hearing a myriad of unknown languages, not only from the natives of those lands, but from the crowds of visitors around me.
The most amazing sight so far I must say is Petra, the city carved out of rocks, right in the red mountains of southern Jordan, about 3 hour’s drive southwest of the capital city Amman. Petra was the land of the Edomites, descendants of Esau, twin brother of Jacob in the Old Testament of the Bible. The ancient city was first constructed by the Nabataeans, and later came under Roman rule. Earthquake and flooding had destroyed much of the city and it remained obscure for centuries until rediscovered by a Swiss explorer in 1812.
The ancient ruins of Petra was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985, and named one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in 2007. Excavation has been an international effort towards which Brown University’s archaelogy and anthropology departments have contributed substantially. Follow this link to their fabulous website http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Anthropology/Petra/
Petra was the location for parts of the film Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade (1989). You might recognize the famous facade of the ancient temple (The Treasury) which is the entrance to this amazing city in the rocks.
(First a word about COPYRIGHT: I’ve travelled far, walked great distances and ridden on a donkey to take the following pictures, PLEASE DO NOT COPY.)
Entering the red mountain region:
A glimpse through the crack:
Beholding the real wonder:
The City carved out of rocks:
Again, photos taken by Arti of www.rippleeffects.wordpress.com
November, 2007. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
More to come in future posts. Thanks for waiting.
Ripple Effects 
Those are stunning pics Arti.
What an eye-opening experience. You must have covered a lot of miles to get there. I’d like to visit some day & see it for myself.
Thanks for giving us a glimpse of Petra.
What’s next? Let’s us know where you are off to…..
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I’m not sure if you are aware of this: http://traveleverywhere.biz/?p=5686
Another blogging friend of mine had a post taken and posted on this site and I was perusing it’s archives and came across your post. I was stunned that you mention in several places that all rights were reserved and to not copy your material and yet they still posted it without any mention of the rightful owner.
I must say though, that I’m glad I did find this b/c those pictures are stunning!
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littlespoon: Thanks for alerting me about my post being copied in its entirety onto another person’s blog. This is not the first time. I learned a new word the last time: SPLOG, these are not legitimate blogs but SPAM BLOGS, illegitimate blogs set up to lure traffic for advertising ends. I still don’t know what I can do about it except to write in COPYRIGHT warnings…but of course, I’m afraid that’s the least they’re concerned about. Again, thanks for stopping by and I’m glad you like the pics. The real sight was awesome.
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There is something you can do.
I was going to alert you as well, but littlespoon beat me to it.
You can start by reading this post
http://lettershometoyou.wordpress.com/2007/11/20/what-to-do-if-youre-getting-as-sick-as-i-am-of-having-your-blog-copied/
and faxing off to Google Adsense a complaint. It’s not as hard as it looks.
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ian in hamburg: Thanks for the info.
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You lucky girl! That’s one of my “must visit” places. Thanks for the nice pics, know that you need to “go a long way” (on a donkey I believe??) to take these pictures! 😛
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Arti, those first photos remind me of slot canyons in Utah. The rock cities are astounding. Can’t imagine how impressive they must be in person.
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