We spent the night in the Al-furnuq Hidab at the head of the wadi. In the morning we walked down the road on one steep side of Wadi Musa (The Gully of Moses) towards the narrow clefts that house the ancient city of the Nabateans. Our entry included an amusing horse ride and then the fabulous walk through the wind/water cut red sandstone cliffs. There were scores of people there but one of the main attractions were the rakish bedouin. They looked like princes set up on their camels - princes or pirates. C. was drawn to their tent/cave lifestyle and their communion with their animals. This impression led us to the Bedouin village on the mountain above Petra. We went home with the bedouin, their camels and donkeys and would then eat a bedouin barbecue under the moonlit sky of little Petra.
I can imagine the Bedouin in the past, Petra has always been in their guardianship until tricked by a swiss explorer in the 1800's. We met some of the women in the village. Life is hard, in the desert climate, the outdoor life is hard on the skin, and while the bedouin do not tend to drink alcohol, the culture of smoking has made an enormous impact on health. Many even young people we met seemed to be in the early stages of emphysema.
For all this they are a beautiful, proud and generous people who love to tell stories, pose convoluted riddles and are deeply connected to their land.
"The earth is my mattress and the stars, my blanket!"
Riding in the donkey train in such an exotic landscape with exotic peoples brought the line from the Song of Songs to my mind - "I went down to the nut garden to see if the pomegranates had flowered ... and lo! I found myself in a Prince's train" (a caravan of camels, a procession of donkeys)!!
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