It’s hard to imagine a better time to see Petra than on an early winter’s morning, as I did recently.  Getting up in Amman at 4am may not be much fun, but seeing the magnificent “red-rose city half as old as time” (and a UNESCO World Heritage site) without summer’s intense heat and suffocating crowds more than compensated for the early start.  I had the site to myself for more than an hour and that made the experience all the more special and memorable.

I eventually met someone who I assumed – wrongly – was a visitor and asked for her advice on which of the many paths to take.  In an unmistakable Australian accent, the woman informed me she was walking to work, had married a Bedouin tribesman, and had lived in a small village near the site for 37 years.  She suggested that I sit and enjoy the silence.  It proved to be great advice.  Later, browsing the bookshop in Amman airport, I found her autobiography.  A strange encounter and even stranger coincidence.