I arrived in Amman, Jordan after having no sleep the night before. I’m coming back to Amman so I wasn’t too fussed about falling asleep shortly after checking in to my hotel. It was my birthday and I struggled to stay awake even for dinner which I ended up taking in my room. That night I slept like a baby…
To my surprise when I walked out of the hotel the next morning it was cold and rainy. The night before I had been told by hotel staff that it would cost JD120 (AUD$240) to take a taxi to Wadi Musa (Petra). This was out of the question as I only had $450 left ($210 left after the said taxi fare) and I still had to pay to get into Petra, to get to Wadi Rum, the Wadi Rum camp, to eat and to get back to Amman. I had asked about a bus to Wadi Musa but was told the JETT bus was only going on Friday (the day was Monday). I was told I should change my plans as the weather was going to be bad. I began to believe this as I had just read that Michelle Obama had cancelled her visit due to bad weather. Mmm, what to do?
I decided to sleep on it. In the morning I got up early as I had read that the JETT bus leaves at 6.30am. The new staff at the hotel desk had a different story informing me that the JETT bus office wasn’t too far away. The taxi driver on the way there tried to talk me out of it. By 6.40am I was sitting on the bus and the fare was only JD10 (AUD20). A bit of a difference so I am glad I persisted down the bus route (no pun intended)!
The outskirts of Amman were very foggy. After about 30 minutes the built up, green city gradually gave way to wide open desert-like spaces. Half way there we had a rest stop and then continued on our way arriving in Wadi Musa (Petra) in good time. The moral of the story is don’t always believe what you are told – always ask two or three sources.
When I got to Wadi Musa I discovered my hotel was only about 500 metres from the bus stop which is next to the entrance of Petra. Good choice Jade!
Anyway, mission accomplished!
