Jordan
Our next flight was out of Amman so we left Israel a few days early so we can visit Petra. Thanks to our Starwood points we booked cash & points at the Le Meridian in Amman which was genuinely a beautiful hotel (slippers and robes in the closet - that is always the proof). Getting to Amman on a budget was a journey on its own.... Saturday night we left Tel Aviv on the midnight bus down to Eilat - 5 and a half hours - then waited for the border to open and crossed by foot into Aqaba, Jordan at around 9:00 am. We took a taxi to the bus station in town and hopped on the next bus to Amman - 4 hours. So we checked in around 3:00 pm - an obscene 15 straight hours of travel. Why is it obscene? Because if you look at the map, Tel Aviv and Amman are probably two to three hours from each other. But, because you can only get a visa at the Eilat/Aqaba land border we had to go all the way south just to turn around and come all the way back north. Ridiculous.
When we got off the bus in Amman (the wrong station because no one spoke English) we bought bus tickets to Petra for the next morning. That night we slept like babies.
It was not a good morning. Danna had come down with a bit of a cold and we both started taking our malaria medications in preparation for India. My pills (the cheap ones) gave me really bad heart burn and Danna's nose would not stop running. We were literally sitting on the bus and I said to Danna "do you want to just get off and we will do Petra another trip?" she said "no lets just go." So another 4 hour bus ride to get us to our second Wonder of the World!
So its not often people get to see two wonders of the world in 3 weeks. But it is really rare to see two wonders of the world in the same day! Let me explain.
When we got to the Petra visitor center we both went in to use the bathroom after the long bus ride. I was waiting for Danna and I saw someone I thought I recognized looking at the brochures. This person is not a friend of mine, in fact I have only saw him once and he was on a stage. You see this past June we went to The Mohegan Sun Resort & Casino with the Epsteins, Sobins and Haglers. We chose that weekend to go because my favorite comedian, Gabriel "Fluffy" Iglasias - a Wonder of the Comedic World, was performing and Steen was able to score us free tickets to the show. Fast forward to Petra.... and I could swear that I am looking at the MC from that night, another comedian who opened the show for Fluffy. So you can imagine the conversation in my head. "Noooo... is that?... Noooo... can't be.... But if it is... is Fluffy here too..??" As I am thinking this some huge guy blocks out the sun coming through the door (cue the patented Fluffy fat guy noise) and I see it is Fluffy! I yell out across the whole place "Fluffy, I cannot believe I am meeting you here!" He laughs and we do a bro hug thingy. He says give me one second and let me go to the bathroom then we can take some pictures.
Now Danna was in the girls bathroom for this whole thing. I cannot believe what just happened. This is my absolute favorite comedian in the world and he (not exactly someone you would picture to be a cultured world traveler) is at Petra the same day as me. I am so excited I walk over to the girls bathroom and scream "Danna! You will never guess who just walked in!" Danna confused from her stall answers "who?" and I say "Fluffy!" Danna, of course, does not believe me (thanks Steen you know for what) and says from the bathroom "No way" but Fluffy's girlfriend who is standing at the next sink confirms that it is true! We ended up hanging with Fluffy's crew and the MC guy (whose name is Martin) and Fluffy as we all wondered around the amazing Petra and I told them about our Round the World trip and some of the tricks of the trade of frequent flier point accumulation (they asked - I swear).
You see Petra is amazing, tucked away in this narrow canyon was bustling metropolis carved directly into rocks. But these were not just rudimentary caves, this was a wealthy society that carved truly masterful structures out of sheer cliff faces. The sites and colors of the reds, browns, yellows and pinks changed throughout the day as the sun and shadows reflected off their surfaces. Truly a beautiful place to walk around, admire and try to imagine what must have been an astounding city when fully occupied.
But even when surrounded with tremendous ancient history and beauty the highlight of the day may have been when Fluffy called out and said "Yo World Traveler!" calling us over for fist bumps before they left for the day.
