We finally reached the monestary. It is a very famous place in Petra. It is another facade carved out of limestone. It is called 'The Monestary' because when the early Christians were persecuted in Jerusalem in the first and second centuries, they fled here where they were able to live in relative peace.
The Monastery After looking at the Monestary for a little bit Terek led me further up to a high point in the mountain. I looked over to a mountain top directly across from where we were and saw Aaron's Tomb. Moses' brother. He was a priest in the newly founded Hebrew religion at the time. It is a white mosque-like structure. We had seen it from the road the day before when we first came into the area, Mohammed pointed it out to us. He often takes tourists there on hikes when people request it. At this level it was a very good view.
Terek was taking me to his uncle's tent. He invited me to come up and rest and have something to eat with him. I've heard this is typical of Bedouins. They are hospitable people. They will ask you to come into their tent and share food with you. I came up and sat down. They were already cooking up some kind of meat and had some water in a teapot boiling on a flame. This meal consisted of this meat with sour cream on flat bread. After that was eaten they poured some tea. While we were enjoying this rest Terek told me that he lives in a cave near Petra. He made me quess his age. I thought he was about 20, and he agreed. He may have been about 23. I asked Terek if Bedouin people were Muslim. It never occurred to me if they had their own religion or not. He said they were Muslim.
After we had rested and shared a little bit of conversation he took me a little farther up the mountain and showed me one of hundreds of high places in Petra where the ancient people of the area used to sacrafice animals routinely as a ritual part of their religion in appeasement to their gods. Many of these high places still have evidence of an altar in them.

Aaron's Tomb Then it was time to go and we started down the mountain again. In the very steep areas I got off the donkey so Jack wouldn't slip and fall and I wouldn't get killed. At other times Terek rode his donkey and I would walk. Then he let me ride it again the rest of the way down.

Once we were off the mountain on level ground we went passed the old ruins of a Greek temple dedicated to Zeus. It is a Parthian type temple. It used to have two staircases that led up to the flat roof. Now it looks pretty ruined.

Temple of DusharesWe walked along passed the Roman columns again and came to the resting area near the amphitheater. At this point I heard Peter's voice yelling over to me. This was the place I was supposed to meet them. I looked at my watch. It was about 12:30. I got off the donkey and gave Terek all the Jordanian money I had on me. It was more then 20$ Jordanian that he had asked for.

I walked over to the building where the Canadian couple were sitting. We sat and talked for a few minutes. I told them of the great experience I had of being invited into a Bedouin's tent and and eating with them. They had gone and explored somewhere else and hadn't gone to the Monastery yet. I tried to convince them that a donkey was the best way to go if they could get someone to give them a good price. They said they would give it a try. After a little more visiting we parted. They were nice enough to share a nature bar with me and some potato chips. They started out toward the place I had just come, and I started heading toward the Treasury and the entrance of Petra.

I made my way passed all the souvenir tables and the camels and the flocks of tourists and made it to the Treasury. I took a long look at it one last time and then went into the gorge. I dismissed every offer of a ride. I had no money. I gave it all to Terek. I stopped and rested a few times while in the gorge. Finally I came out the other side and rested again on a flat rock. Some young men came over. They wanted me to take their horse and ride it back to the hotel. I told them that I didn't have any money. They all wanted to know where I was from. I had the usual conversation about that. They all left, and then another young man came. He said he was finished for the day and he would give me a free ride back to the hotel. I went with him and got on his horse. He also rode on the horse with me part of the way. When we got close to the hotel I told him I would change some money and pay him. So I did and he was happy. I was also happy.