andrys

I was recently on a message thread about Petra, and I finally finished uploading
some pictures of the walk through Petra in early November '09.

(We did not go up to the monastery, as we had only one day and we
spent 7-8 hours walking slowly anyway, stopping for photos and to enjoy it all. But
I encourage people to take two days and to walk up to the scenic views and
gorgeous higher sites.)

This isn't a gallery of pictures as pure quality-photographs though.
(That will become obvious.)

It's a photo-log or travelog of what the walk to and through the old city
is like, for some who have wondered on some of the travel forums.
Both of us are older, so people can see that this is not an over-arduous
walk, though many take a horse&carriage back up.

So, when/if you'd like to see this without having to go through the
shots one by one or even have to choose 1 to 3 shots from so many
(since I replicated the entire walk !),

you can choose to see this Slideshow instead. But ...
* FIRST, PC users should press F11 * (it toggles on and off the
larger-size feature for pics... Press it again after you're finished.))

This gives the larger, non-distorted 800 x 600 pics.
It still downsizes the vertical pictures to fit the screen though.

Then go to
http://bit.ly/petraslideshow

And just sit numbly through my never-ending shots of that day.

( The 3 second-per-slide timing is not bad because it gives some
time to speed-read my sometimes explanatory captions for the pics.)

Normally, I'd ask people to go to
- http://bit.ly/petraphotos

That shows an introduction with links to more information about Petra if
the reader's interested.

But even I don't want people to have to choose from as many photos
as I show there for that day. The pictures don't work alone anyway, only as part
of a 'tour' of the old city sights.

Hope some of you enjoy this

- Andrys
http://www.pbase.com/andrys/egypt_jordan

Percy

Hey great pictures of Petra... Thanks a lot for posting and sharing .

Very nice.

andrys

Percy, thanks for visiting and the nice feedback.

Someone wrote to say the slideshow halted on them. Trying to track that down...

Percy

No I had not trouble withthe slide show.

I saved it and will look at it again.

I loved your pictures

DJCat

The slide show halted on me too, just before you were about to enter the treasury.

Ramara

Fantastic slideshow! Thank you for sharing

andrys

Ramara, thanks!

DJCat, I'll try to figure out what would make it halt just before the treasury. Will be back...

andrys

OK, I removed quotation and 'break' marks in case they were halting the slideshow for some. Many thanks for the feedback.

Leslie_S

Loved the slideshow!

andrys

Leslie, I guess the slideshow didn't halt for you. It should be better now after I made some changes. Thank you for the nice feedback.

If anyone wants to read the add'l captions that are informational from my reading, you can go to 'thumbnails' or go to http://bit.ly/petraphotos which is the gallery home page.

The slideshow doesn't include those or the informational links I have on the front page, so if interested in more background on Petra or the scenes, try the home page I just linked, when there's time.

- Andrys
http://www.pbase.com/andrys/petra

andrys

Lots of discussion elsewhere about the new Petra site pricing as of January 2010.
An article from The Jordan Times today's issue:

http://www.jordantimes.com/?news=22745

"The new tickets are in three categories: One for overnight and cruise tourists, another for one-day tourists, and a third for those who seek certain extra services regardless of the period of time they are planning to spend in the city..."

Someone writing at TripAdvisor said that a call to the Petra Visitor Center produced this information:
=======
" Travelers, who spend more than 1 day in Jordan have to pay 33 JD for a 1-day Pass, 38 JD for a 2-Day Pass and 43 JD for a 3-day Pass at the moment.

These prices will be increased to 50 JD, 57 JD and 60 JD respectively from Nov 1..

Visitors, who only spend only 1 day in Jordan (basically these are the cruise ship passengers and daily visitors from other neighboring countries) have to pay 40 JD at the moment, 60 JD from March 1, and 90 JD from Nov 1.

Children under 15 yrs can still visit the site for free and the discounted price for Jordanian citizens, Jordanian residents and students of Jordanian universities remains 1 JD."
=======

Essentially, if you are in Jordan for more than one day, the pricing is lower. If you are dropping in from cruises or as part of a multi-country tour with no stayover in Jordan, it's more because you're not spending money in the country (at hotels, restaurants, shopping centers).

- Andrys
http://www.pbase.com/andrys/petra

andrys

Am adding a 'Help' guide I found on the slideshow page, so people can avoid sitting there if they'd like to stop for awhile or get the next pic w/o waiting.

1. Use the spacebar to play/pause

2. Use the left and right keyboard arrow keys to skip
images, and up/down to adjust the delay.


Hope that helps!

- Andrys

andrys

I just added a videoclip of enjoying the plaza in front of the Petra "Treasury" building, sitting across from it and briefly talking to our guide, Sami Al-Nawafleh, who had helped lead the archeological project under the Treasury building. I also show a bit of this underground project, which I don't think is seen much, but it was fascinating to see something so solid, very intact down there.

Here's a website about that project:
http://bit.ly/nawafleh_proj

My short videoclip is at
http://bit.ly/petratreasury

The day I uploaded the video to youtube, I also uploaded, in case anyone here is interested in the hot-air balloon trip over Luxor/Thebes in Egypt, this videoclip. We went up in a basket that can hold, they say, something over 20 people.

Had a great time. We lifted off at about 6:30 in the morning.
That's at http://bit.ly/hotairballooning


- Andrys
http://www.pbase.com/andrys/petra

LEANNA

Once again I thank you!!!!

andrys

Leanna,
You are so upbeat!

When is it that you plan to be in Petra ?

LEANNA

Hey why not...this is our life!!!!

Ok I leave May 1st and will be in little Petra on....May 6th, then Petra the next day. You can see my itinerary on www.barakajourneys.com

Its gittin close now huh? OOOuuuu!!!!

andrys

LEANNA,
I went to look at the itinerary. That's a great trip. I went to most of those places as we were in Jordan a week. I really ought to get those pics up, but other things have taken over.
When you're there, maybe get a large paperback (part of a series) called "Art & History of Jordan" - really good book while traveling there. We used it a lot, sometimes to understand better what we'd just seen.

It's written by Francesca Casule and was newly updated in 2009, with great pictures, so is a good souvenir too. You'll see it in all stores, including the airport. I think it's about $20 U.S. or less.

- Andrys
http://www.pbase.com/andrys

LEANNA

OK I have copied and pasted your suggestion into my notes. That way I will be constantly reminded and when I see it I can grab it!!

I actually started packing today...can you imagine!! Excited? Nah!!!! I just have a busy month ahead and hate to be stressed at the last minute!

Thank you for the positive words about my tour.....I have traveled with this company before: Morocco and the Stans and really loved my tours.

andrys

LEANNA,
I've probably missed catching you, but here's wishing you a GREAT TRIP. I can't believe it's time already. I just happened to come here to show a friend something and saw that you're leaving in a few hours.

Will look fwd to hearing about your trip.