3/7 Friday. I arrived at Eilat airport around 3pm, most business was already closed. Wasn't able to get cash (ATMs don't work for my card, no bank was open). Took a taxi to the Jordanian border crossing (NIS 35 - metered). It was hot. Exit fee is NIS 102 + 5 fee. (Good that they take credit card, as I was running out of cash). Jordanian visa is free. But exit is 10 Dinar (~$14). If you drive, it would be JD 25. To enter Jordan with a car, it's NIS 16 translation fee + JD 50-66 temporary license fee + JD 37-90 3rd party insurance in Jordan. In my experience, the poorer the country, the more expensive it is to visit. The process took awhile due to # of people: there's me, a few Jordanians, and two tour groups, one German one Korean both going to Aqaba for the night. No one else is traveling independently. Since it's now too late to catch a bus from Aqaba to Petra, I paid JD 55 (~$77) for the 1.5 hour taxi ride to Petra. The prices are inflated, but all listed on the big blue board, so no other options. The guy in charge told me which taxi to get on, and I did. He took JD 5 from my driver, and we were off. Gasoline price is JD 0.835 per litre. The rode was somewhat boring. Desert and low mountains, bleak. My driver tried to talk to me, but his English is not very good, so he asked me to talk to "his brother" on the phone twice. He stopped to get some water and snack and offered some to me. He also stopped at a souvenir shop hoping that I would buy something. But I was anxious to get to my unfamiliar destination before it gets too dark. He took me to a nice hotel up on the hill, even though I asked to be dropped off close to the gate. Finally he did, before hooking me up with another driver to take me back to Aqaba. The town of Wadi Musa where Petra is, sits on a slope. Quite busy. The locals are more up on the hill, and the tourists are mostly down closer to the gate. The bus terminal is on the hill, about 2km, or JD 1 taxi ride. While I was eating supper, Hamed, a tour guide, tried to get me on his tour tomorrow to Wadi Rum. In a neighborhood bakery I found this machine dropping hot pita bread down from above. They are ~1 foot in diameter. 10 for 1 Dinar. Bought 2 to try. Tastes very good. Went back to buy more for tomorrow.
3/8 Petra is truely remarkable. JD 50 (if you spend a night in Jordan, otherwise 90!) for one day, or 55 for 2 days. (1 Dinar for Jordanians who don't live in the area.) Palatial buildings or tombs are carved into beautiful reddish rocks. Capital of Nabataeans, a Semitic tribe speaking Aramaic, from the 3rd century BC until Roman's conquest in AD 106. Although Nabataeans cease to be an identifiable group, Petra continued to thrive. Christians arrived in the 4th century, Muslims in the 7th and the Crusaders briefly in the 12th. It was a metropolis capable to support 20-30k people, on a spice trading route between Mediterranean and Arabia/Asia. After sea trade took over, two devastating earthquakes in 4th and 8th centuries AD brought the city to its demise. In 1812, J. L. Burckhardt rediscovered Petra, after its oblivian of over 500 years.
To get to the main site, you walk the narrow gorge of ~900m. It's called Siq, quite beautiful. A water channel on each side, once a while a small opening with a shrine, or a tree, or a tomb. At 7am (the door opens at 6:30), it is quiet, dim, and lovely. Just ignore the little boys who try to sell you postcards. At the end, Treasury stands in a big opening in its glory. Sit and admire.
Now turn slight right, and continue to the "city", more palatial buildings, a Roman amphitheatre, lots of tombs. 
You can walk up to them. Walk around the plateau, now with vegetation. It rained! I hid in a tomb. Now turn left, passing the colonnades, big buildings in ruin to your left, some local dressed like crusaders for tourists to take photos, shops and restaurants. 
Continue all the way up, about 40 minutes up the trail sometimes outfit with steps, and you would reach the Monestery from its back. Another grand building (not allowed to enter) with a big flat space in front. Sit and admire. Not a bad view here down to the valley. As I retraced my track to the entrance, more and more tourists arrived, so are camels outfitted with riding gear and colorful decoration, horse carriages, lines in front of toilets. I exited the gate at 11am. It's probably good to come back when they all leave. 
I was late to meet Hamed for ~15 minutes. He and his 2 Japanese clients were sipping tea in the restaurant we met last night. We got on his jeep and off to Wadi Rum, ~30 minutes south. First stop is road side so we can have a birds eye view of Petra. 2nd stop is a fancy souvenir shop next to one of King's residence (the shop clerks immediately started wrapping headscarf on our head), big window for a view of the Wadi Arabi desert - now too foggy to see anything. Hamed released some air of his tires before we dove onto the sand. Wadi Rum is a large area of desert of gravel with sand on it. Right now, with the rain this morning (and maybe previous days), there are patches of tiny purple and white flowers. Some nice rock formations (three bridges, pillars, a nice mushroom), but not as dramatic as say Death Valley in California. Some sand has a different hue (pink vs beige). At the base of the "mushroom", the rocks are reddish purple. You can use it to write. And yes, there're petroglyphs on the rocks not too far away. We drove by small Benouin camps (for one family at each place) with garbage, tent, cloth hanger, and big jugs for water. 
At almost 2pm, we headed to a big rock which provides enough shade for a basketball game. There were two jeeps there already. A group of Israeli tourists. Their two guides were cooking. Hamed joined them. We all ate together. I avoided salad, because I saw that the knife cutting the salad is the same that cut the chickens, after one rinse of water. Good hummus, roasted onion and tomato, chicken cooked in different sauces. Quite a feast. 
After lunch, we visited one sand dune. Two other jeeps went down on the dune after letting all the passengers out. We sat on a side outcrop and watch the "show". 
Last is Lawrence of Arabia's camp. Rocks piled on the side, open top, only big enough for one person. I dropped my phone out of the passenger window at one point. The car stopped immediately, but the phone was no where to be seen. Four of us kicked the sand along our track. I was terribly worried before Hamed located it. 
At ~4:20, we reached a big camping establishment, all in black (why?). Had to call to get the worker, just one boy, out. He said he was tired, because there were 400 guests last night. The two Japanese picked their tents, and we rested in the big social tent (open on one side) with divans that can sit ~50 people, sipping (very) sweet tea. They went wash up a bit.
Hamed drove me to Aqaba, on the way telling me stories how he helped other tourists. Since it was still early, 6pm now, the border closes at 8pm, we stopped briefly at its waterfront, where the flag of Arab Revolt (against Ottoman) in 1916 is flying on a 165m pole. Right next door is Aqaba Fort, now closed, and most in ruin. We reached the border ~6:30. I gave Hamed JD 50 (higher than what we agreed upon @35, since he found my phone and was being courteous all the way). I didn't have enough left for the exit fee, so had to go to the exchange to buy some JD. Border crossing was slow at the Israeli side, because of a big group of different nationalities. Jordanian water and food were not allowed. Once past the border, there were only a tourist bus and prearranged taxis. I had to ask a few, and one driver agreed to take me after asking someone to let him go. He asked for 45 Shekels, and I had no choice but to pay. I stayed at the Red Sea hotel right next to the airport (since my flight tomorrow is at 7:10am). Walked 10 minutes to the Red Sea. Bustling here. Aqaba is busy, but didn't have as much light and color as the more opulent Eilat. I sat quietly on the beach (not much sand), reflecting my hectic day in glistening reflection. Warm and pleasant. Finally I could relax, ... until tomorrow at least.Total cost of my 1-day in Jordan: ~$540 + 2 days = airfare $150 (price vary a lot) + taxi ~$175 + admission ~$70 + border fees ~$45 + hotel ~$100.
