Eilat for real

We went for a three day trip to Eilat. The first day was very busy. We watched "The West Wing" on the way down. We got to our hotel and decided to spend the first day sitting by the pool, going in and reading in our chairs. We had dinner at a place called Ginger an Asian Indonesian fusion restaurant. Very tasty food. We went to sleep early because we had a big day ahead of us.

Day 2:

We woke up at 6:00 to have breakfast in order to be ready for the 6:30 AM pickup. Off to Petra. Petra is located in Jordan. While Israel and Jordan signed a peace treaty, we were still a little bit nervous. They take you through passport control and have you walk through a no man's land to get to Jordan. 1 Jordanian Dinar = $1.5 USD. Nonsense. We took a 2 hour ride to Petra. Along the way our guide told us that there were 6 million people in Jordan, 2 million in Aman. UNREAL!! Petra is hidden among the mountains. We got to Petra and took a 1 Kilometer walk to the main attraction the Hizna. Along the walk, you see idols carved into the walls, and a water system that allowed the Nabateans, a Pagan civilization which became powerful by controlling trade routes through the middle east, to have water throughout the dry season (all year long basically). The ceramic pipes and dams the Nabateans built were sensitive to water pressure which had the propensity to break the ceramic pipes. They also built their treasury (Hizna) away from the wind. The Hizna is carved from the sandstone, right into the mountain. It was later found to be the burial site for rich Nabateans. Their are other caves and tombs, but the Hizna is the biggest and most well preserved. It was amazing.

Day 3:
We got up and went to the underwater observatory to see the sharks get fed and to watch them feed the anacondas. 1) Sharks in the wild eat once a week. Sharks there get fed 2x a day, so they are not usually hungry. We missed that. 2) They have 1 snake. We did not stay to see that. 3) some things are more interesting as a kid. This is one of them. But we spent the rest of the day by and in the pool and went home later that night.

Conclusion: Eilat is relatively boring. It is nofesh (vacation for the soul) Petra was amazing. One of the most beautiful things I have ever witnessed.

That's all for now.