Comments on: Premium-priced Petra

By: Matthew Teller

Matthew Teller — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 09:06:22 +0000

Thank you, everyone, for comments. I think @Alexander hit the nail on the head with ‘old man wasta’…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wasta

I’ll keep everyone posted about developments; from the opinions I’m picking up, it’s possible that this policy may not last…

By: Hal

Hal — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 22:48:11 +0000

I read this with interest since visiting Petra and Jordan has always been a dream of mine, however after reading your account I think I’ll confine myself to watching re-runs of the original “Indiana Jones” and enjoying it by armchair. But seriously, I think this gouge-fest of the visiting public masquerading as “reform” for visitor facilities is probably another example of national landmarks being ill-maintained during good times (long before 2008 too, when they could have actually been using the much higher visitor numbers to improve facilities, etc.) resulting in an even worse decision now during world-wide slumps in travel thanks to global recession to cover their shortfall in visitor numbers by doing exactly the wrong thing. You can’t get blood out of a stone…not even a Petra stone, sadly.

By: ynotoman

ynotoman — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 17:33:28 +0000

Jordan has a lot of competition just over the border in Egypt & Syria (Syria I found far more interesting than Jordan from Busra onwards) and, apart from that – what a time to hike charges – being ripped of is irritating even in boom times – but in a slump a rip-off often means a walk away.

By: thelocalguide

thelocalguide — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 11:15:48 +0000

I also wonder what they do with the money.

By: uberVU - social comments

uberVU - social comments — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 10:31:27 +0000

Social comments and analytics for this post…

This post was mentioned on Twitter by matthewteller: New blog: astronomical price rises at Petra #Jordan. Is it a gamble too far? http://bit.ly/6YaOoI...

By: alexander

alexander — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 10:21:34 +0000

I love Petra, hate the touts. Best visit ever was as the USA was invading Iraq – we had the entire place entirely to ourselves.

It is a gamble, isn’t it? I can’t really see it paying off either – I do hope this isn’t part of a wider reform of tourist sites that will see prices hiked in the Citadel, Jerash, Umm Qeis etc.

I agree totally about the infrastructure, too. It’s also something I think the chaps here in the UAE could work on to protect the many little-known and often unprotected heritage sites around the country.

But in Jordan, particularly in rural areas like Petra, you’ve got old man wasta to contend with. And we all know how very pernicious he can be…