I desperately wanted to bring one of these lovely old creatures home with me.
I had to backtrack up the King's Highway to Petra to take this picture, a panorama of the city, entirely obscured by geology. Directly below me is the Siq, with the city in the valley beyond. Up on the horizon line, but barely visible is a white speck which is Aaron's tomb.
I pulled over at this overlook to take pictures, and a Jordanian family having a picnic beckoned me over. They spoke no english, but through insistent motions they bade me join their feast. I rummaged in my backpack and came up with a bag of cashews and some well travelled dark chocolate. Their three small children shyly took a piece each, and their eyes all lit up simultaneously at the taste.
I left Petra and Wadi Musa and veered east, to the Desert Highway, the quick way back up to Madaba. It was a beautiful spring day, and my little silver camel was feeling perky. I cranked up the arabic pop station and raced past the truck traffic.Turn up your speakers and take a little ride.
I stopped at one point to sit by the side of the road and stretch my legs. It seemed like a quiet spot, but about halfway through my beer two dogs ambled up from the south, right as two donkeys ambled up form the north. I happened to be right at the spot that the two parties met. So much for peace and quiet. Negotiations, were long and loud and consisted of a lot of "Bark, Bark" and "Hee, Haw, Hee Haw." Back and forth, back and forth. It was fantastically loud. I flang (Flang, I say) a handful of gravel at the lot of them and continued north. I still laugh when I think about that.
I have travelled through areas influenced by Roman, Nabatean, Byzantine, Frankish, Islamic and Greek civilizations. All of these have had some sort of voice in my recent travels. It is all a web of interrelations. I think about how Palmyra came into flourish at the expense of Petra, due to the increased sea borne trade routes, as well as the decline in the frankincense trade that brought so many riches to the Petrans. This decline in frankincense was due in part to the onset of Christianity after Constantine consolidated the protean Christian practices. (Constantine, who moved the capital of Rome to a new city called Constantinople, which we now call Istanbul)
Or maybe it's not a web, maybe more like a Calder mobile. Some parts are disconnected but the whole thing revolves around a central axis. Which begs the question, what is this axis. The human condition I guess.
