Sitting at home after a days work as Safety Manager for the George Michael Concert bump-in at the Sydney Football Stadium, I received an email, then a call from my dear friend Ian Hamilton, who wanted to know if I was interested in getting over to Qatar, quickly, for a couple of weeks work as the Construction Manager for the Opening Ceremony of the World Indoor Athletics Championships. An e-Ticket arrived in my In-box & 24hrs later I was on a plane to Dubai, then on to Doha, Qatar. The Swiss Belhotel, where we were housed, had just opened, however there were limited facilities; no bar, just a restaurant where we ate breakfast & dinner.
The venue for the Championships, the Aspire Academy, was a drive out of town some 30-60 minutes, depending on the traffic, which was manic at times. This 'sporting precinct' had everything; football stadiums, athletic tracks and a vast shopping centre, the Villagio Mall, complete with indoor gondola rides through the canals.
We had 2 weeks to build a number of pieces for the Ceremony including the ramp pictured, it's 24m long and 4m high and the flag bearers of all the countries walked down it onto the arena floor. It was a bit of a nightmare to get it built, different language, construction methods etc. but in the end it was all good. The 'precinct' was quite amazing however some interesting sights were seen, and heard. Due to the climate, astroturf (fake grass) was used throughout & birds chirping throughout the car park left us guessing; no birds anywhere but the car park sound system featured birds throughout the day, stopping at night naturally. It was a bit surreal.
The Opening Ceremony was stunning and then it was time to dismantle the sets. We all celebrated the next night with a wonderful dinner at the Sheraton, fun was had by all.
The next day I awoke feeling absolutely terrible, not hangover-wise, just terrible. I went to work and ended up back in the hotel not long after, sleeping and sweating for the next 16 hours. I arose and took a walk, not too far, to the nearby Souq (market) and perused the wares, buying a temple alarm clock and some prayer rug mouse pads.
Though feeling not much better the next day, I boarding my plane for Amman, Jordan, via Bahrain for a very quick stopover.
I was met by my driver/guide at the airport and we immediately hit the road south in his new Mercedes people-carrier, styling as I was his only client for this trip. The terrain was harsh on the plateau as we made out way south.
An hour or so later we pulled off the main road and made our way to Kerak Castle, located in al-Karak. Kerak is a large wedge-shaped castle, built on a ridge & protected on the east & west side by steep valleys. Built over a period of time, the main building phases are Crusader (1142-1188 A.D.) and Mamluk (1263-1517 A.D.), Crusader masonry characterised by the use of large, roughly cut blocks of hard, dark limestone while the Mamluk builders used a soft limestone, neatly cut into rectangular blocks, but with a rough or rusticated outer face.
We continued our journey south and eventually wound our way down to the town of Petra & my cheap hotel, cheap as there wasn't a hope in hell that my wife would've stayed there had she been with me. After the heat of Doha, the cool of Petra really bit to the core. Feeling still unwell, I decided to venture out and made my way to the Movenpick Resort for some alcoholic elixir, to see if that made me feel any better. After a few drinks I decided that I was batting out of my crease, and wallet, and made my way back to my lodgings to try again to sleep the virus off.
Up early the next morning, I made my way to the gates of Petra & upon entering, found a young man to guide me through and educate me further about this amazing place. We meandered our way through the narrow sandstone canyon entry, known as Al Siq, wondering about the aqua-cultural features etched onto the walls through the canyon, feeding water to the city. An incredible piece of plumbing from over 2000 years ago.
The expectation heightens the further you make your way down the tapering walls and sloping floor of the Siq until confronted by, questionably one of, the most outstanding sights I've ever seen; Al Khazneh (the Treasury). Complete with fully staged camels, the vista truly takes your breath away while the mind boggles; HOW??
It's like you have walked into another World, lost but still there, hidden in plain sight. Al Khazneh bears down on visitors while giving them neck-pains and a sense of dumbfoundedness. Excavated by hand out of the sandstone rock face, it's 39m high by 25 width, takes up more than half of the vertical cliff in which it's carved.
It's hard to put into words the effect that this sight inflicts on you; it's a truly self-pinching moment. I was lucky to be one of the first people into Petra that day and I'd recommend it to anyone wanting an as uninterrupted view as possible, get there early as the gates open, it's so worth it.
Moving to the right, I made my way along the open road, agog at what lay before me. Dozens and dozens of excavated dwellings, temples, structures, amphitheatres; whatever you’d like to call them.
Continue passed the Nabatean Theatre and the right hand side is covered by carved structures such as the Royal Tombs, Palace Tomb before veering to you left and strolling down the main strip (so to speak) and the Roman Gate & the Columbarium.
There I was handed over to, apparently, a fantastic guide who would take me to the top of the mountain on his donkey. Not my ideal choice of transport but astride I went and some 20 minutes later, up stairs, around bends, passed the Lion Triclinium we end up at a, slightly, flat area overlooking the Jordan and Israel border down below.
However the real gem on the mountaintop is the Monastery.
The Monastery
The Monastery
The Garden Temple
After perusing the mountain area we made our way back to more sea level heights. My guide asked if I'd seen enough, of course I hadn't, so he decided to take me on a route ending above the Treasury. It was on and off the donkey, stairs only wide enough to accommodate the beast, and some steep tracks for me to follow. Once at altitude again, the scenery was amazing, and also not so much fun for sufferers of vertigo!!
And the trip down was no better. Once at the bottom we decided to exit via my guides village, on a ridge in the distance overlooking the main part of Petra. We got to his house, only for me to mistake his wife for his daughter; they must age differently in the rugged terrain. Enough said. We jumped in his car to go back to my hotel however we pulled up 100m short of it. To-wit, he pulled out an 8inch curved scabbard! It was a beautiful implement, had it not been pointing straight at me while me asked for a slightly extortionate fee for the day. Thankfully I only had $80, which I handed over and jumped out of his car, quickly. I managed to walk back to the hotel without incident and told my host and driver about the events of the day.
Long story short; I was sick for the next 3 weeks, doctors couldn't find anything that they could put their finger on to blame my illness, however I did live to tell the tale.
Hindsight: I wish I had more time to plan, it was all very spur of the moment. And I wish that I had access to warmer clothing.
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