by Valerie | Apr 3, 2014 | art, General interest, history, museums, people, travel
In the afternoon some of us were offered the chance to return to Petra on our own but with the same ticket (£55). We walked downhill, past a few olive groves and many more temple-tombs high in the rock face, some with weather-beaten reliefs, probably angel figures... by Valerie | Apr 1, 2014 | art, General interest, history, travel
Canny, these tour operators! To keep the headline cost down and lure the would-be travellers, so many crucial visits are termed ‘an optional extra’. How could one visit Jordan without seeing Little Petra, the ancient settlement nearby and not tread the earth where... by Valerie | Mar 27, 2014 | art, General interest, history, museums, people, theatre, travel
I keep on thinking of these tombs as temples – to the Afterworld. Innumerable, all carved into the soft sandstone striated with different hues, or sandy as one expects with sandstone, or the rose-red stone Petra is famous for. The variety never ended. Variety in the... by Valerie | Mar 21, 2014 | art, General interest, history, people, travel
Perhaps unwisely, I opted for all the optional activities, this morning for one I wasn’t sure whether it was worth the bother – to go in the Yellow Submarine. Words from, I think a Beatles song, echoed in my head. It was a sunny breezy day and we were promised... by Valerie | Mar 19, 2014 | art, childhood, General interest, history, travel
A late breakfast followed by a dip in the rift valley inlet – that sounds more dramatic than the northern tip of the Red Sea – gave a tang to our late morning start. In the early afternoon our small coach set off westwards in the direction of Egypt, to Wadi Rum.... by Valerie | Mar 17, 2014 | art, General interest, history, people, travel
The plane arrived at midnight, an hour late; our tour escort took 40 minutes to find our visas, and we were then informed it would take an hour to reach our hotels on the Dead Sea where we were in two hotels. It was 3 in the morning before we settled into our...
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