Other Wadi
Musa Sites:
Little Petra
picture courtesy
http://www.jordanjubilee.com/
Wadi Musa offers a great number of other things to do than gawking at
the Al-Siq, including the free "Little Petra".
Ain Musa
- (Arabic= The well of Moses). This is the small collection of three
domed buildings as you head into Wadi Musa proper that is purportedly
the very place where Moses struck the ground with his staff, producing
water from the earth. There is also a place in Egypt claiming to be
the same place. Worth a picture or two, but visit Ain Musa as part of
a day where you go other places as well.
*****
Little Petra
- Little Petra, or Al-Bareed, or Siq Al-Bareed (Arabic "The cold"
or "The cold canyon" due to the chilly winds howling through),
offers a free version of its bigger sister Petra. You can see some beautiful
ruins, rock formations, and the remains of an ancient Neolithic village
(called Al-Beidha) where mankind supposedly first discovered gardening
some 7000 years ago.
There's a good academic website on
the entire Neolithic
Shkarat Msaied site here.
In the area you'll probably meet actual
Beduoins, because most of Petra's Bedu community were displaced when
Petra was turned into a national park.
You'll want to drive to Little Petra,
or take a taxi, and most probably go with a guide, unless you are willing
to wander around on your own, either way take some water, and consider
packing a lunch for a picnic.
*****
Amarin Bedouin Camp
- For an "authentic" bedouin experience, this one's pretty
good, though it is a tourist related experience. You camp with actual
Bedouins in the desert and have a great outdoor dinner with music and
dancing. They have bathrooms and showers as well (a concrete building
covered with a black Bedu tent). Check their website http://www.bedouincamp.net/enter.html
for additional info.
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