The unexpected

Once on the road with cool desert wind blowing through the windows, I realized somewhere in the movement that i felt better.The headache seemed to be taking a break after 8 straight hours . But mellowed, I began to make idle chitchat with Khalid,my taxi driver.''Yes, i lived in the states for a while, yes, i know Maryland, yes, i know Baltimore, NO! the wife of your shiftless nephew's cousin has a brother that lives there?!'.We immediately recognized the unshakable bond this connection forged between two previous strangers in a dark and starless desert.
Once we established that I was family, then came the offers to provide additional transportation during my visit. I only really had today free and wanted to go to Petra, but dear god my losing battle with the headache left me weepy, it was already midnight, i had yet to read a report for Sunday's working session.
Khalid refused to take no and gave me his phone number.''You change mind? you call!''.Once in my room, i had the forceful realization that the odds of anyone paying my way to Jordan in future are slim to nil and i needed to soldier up. Five minutes later the deal was made and i went off to spend the rest of the night unable to sleep.Bleary with exhaustion, but flush with my resolve to make memories, I met up with Khalid at 7:30 prompt.
With only a brief stop at a roadside travel stand, we were armed with falafel and strange cheese things that I mentally swore I was not going to touch. Petra is about a three hour drive from Amman.Khalid's English is creative but we made ourselves understood.
The landscape is rock desert. Blue sky, puffy clouds, and as the altitude got higher and the land more yellow and featureless, the clouds hung so low that i felt we were actually on a lower layer of clouds and playing with the frothy topsides. Or the lack of sleep was making me delirious.Got to Petra,the treasury building of Indiana Jones fame is whopping.You start out winding down a steady decline desert scrub and the canyon walls slowly start to build up on either side.Once you have been distracted by some darn awesome cave houses, you glance ahead and have your first "huh" moment.The 1200 m long entry into Petra.I don't know how i ended up going through a long narrow gorge with no other tourists the length of it and 5 fat horse riders lounging about and watching me approach with my bleeding feet.eventually out and agreeing with Khalid's earlier and mournful assessment, "flip flops no good for Petra''.