Blog: The road to Petra

BySaleh Aldasouqi, MD, FACE, ECNU

The road to Petra was — believe it or not — snowy.

Here is the story.

It was the winter of 2005. My family and I were visiting Jordan for a winter vacation, hoping to escape Michigan’s snow.

I had always promised the kids to take them on a trip to the ancient city of Petra, where ornate building facades are carved into the canyon walls.

I grew up in Jordan, and I can assert with utmost confidence that I had visited all tourist attractions in Jordan, including the ancient Roman cities such as Jarash, the Red Sea, the Dead Sea, the upper and lower low lands of the Jordan Valley, etc. — except for Petra.

I had known that Petra is a very beautiful city, carved in the mountains.

Petra was recently added to a list of the New Seven Wonders of the World along with the Great Wall of China, the Taj Mahal, the Colosseum in Rome, the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Chichén Itzá and Machu Picchu.

During my school years through senior year of high school, I dared not go on the school trips to Petra. My parents would not allow me to go, as they were so scared of the “road to Petra.” The road was so dangerous at the time — a small, non-highway, swirling up and down mountains and hills. Many traffic accidents had occurred on the road.

During my medical school years, and while I went on college trips, as well as private trips with my classmates, to various tourist attractions inside and outside Jordan, I still would not dare go to Petra on university trips. In fact, when we were in the first or second year of medical school, one of the university busses slipped off the road into a deep ditch, and multiple fatalities occurred.

So, on that 2005 winter trip, I decided to fulfill my promise to the kids, and we planned the past-due trip to Petra. I asked my cousin, Yosef, to help arrange the trip. Yosef is a very close friend of mine, and we are about same age. He is in a family business of men’s clothes in downtown Amman. Whenever I visit Jordan, I stop by and sit with Yosef in the store, located in a busy business district. We eat falafel sandwiches and finish with kunafah as dessert. I enjoy those times, as I enjoy watching him and the rest of the employees talking with customers. Even with the widespread malls in Amman, these traditional clothing stores are still in business and thriving.

Yosef said he had the right person; his brother-in-law was a tour guide, as a weekend hobby job, and so his brother-in-law arranged a nice, comfortable minivan with a private driver for the trip. The minivan came to pick us up at around 7 a.m., and we head to Petra.

The road to Petra was so exciting for the first 2 and a half hours. Once we began descending down the mountains of Shobak, the road got tough. Petra was supposed to be about 20 minutes away, and we would be entering the city once we had descended all the way down the mountain where Petra is located in the desert.

That winter, a dangerous snow storm hit southern Jordan. The road to Petra (or what remained of the road) became so slippery — and so dangerous.

Initially, we were excited that Petra was just 20 minutes away, so we felt like we could keep going, if the driver just drives carefully; the minivan is almost brand new and in excellent condition.

But then we began noticing that tourists (local and foreign) had begun to turn back. Driving began to be a risky gamble. Cars began to slip off the road. The snow was getting heavier and heavier, and the road became rougher and rougher.

It was a painful decision, but we had to make it.

After discussion with my cousin’s brother-in-law and the driver, we decided to turn back. No Petra.

We later learned that the storm was a record winter snow for Jordan. Hundreds of Petra-goers were stranded in and around Petra. The Jordanian military was called to help evacuate stranded visitors.

I could not believe that as we had escaped Michigan’s snow on that winter vacation in Jordan, we were welcomed with the most severe snow storm to hit the region.

The kids were disappointed, and so was I.

But there was a treat for us on the way back home. As we got stuck on the highway, which was blocked due to the snow storm, the kids had a lot of fun. We literally stayed in one spot on the highway for at least 2 hours, not moving at all. We were surrounded by trucks and 18-wheelers. The freeway is the main trade artery between Amman and Aqaba (the only Jordanian sea port). It was about lunch time, and the truck drivers began preparing food and tea on the sides of their trucks. The kids enjoyed the scene and made friends with the drivers, who provided us with food and tea.

So, after all the planning, I could not see Petra. I was just 20 minutes away.

The good news is that I got to visit Petra — finally — a couple of years later. In the spring of 2007, the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) and the Jordanian Endocrine Society held a joint endocrine symposium in Amman. I was invited as a speaker. The guests took us to Petra. It was a wonderful trip, in the company of dear AACE friends, especially Dr. Daniel Duick and Dr. Hossein Gharib, and our host in Jordan, Dr. Omar Abu Hijleh.

The kids took a trip to Petra few years later on one of the family vacations to Jordan.

I hate to finish this story with a sad ending: I visited my cousin Yousef on a subsequent trip to Amman 1 year after the uncompleted trip to Petra. I wanted him to say hello to his brother-in-law, the tour guide.

“Cousin, my brother-in-law passed away a few months ago,” he said.

“What?” I responded. “He was too young!”

Unfortunately, he had a sudden heart attack, with no prior signs of illness. I felt so sad.

But that is life: We come, and we go.