On Thursday we finally did our first full day of filming inside Petra. It was worth the wait… but man it was a long wait.
Here’s a summary of the path we travelled to Petra:
- February – Got filming permissions from the Royal Jordanian Film Commission
- Mon April 19th – Petra Ticket Office said it’s cool for us to film, but we have to pay full price of entrance for each visit (33 JDs), which is too much for our broke selves. So, off to…
- Tourist Development Board. They send us to…
- Tourism Authority where we speak to the Head of Film who refers us to the Commissioner who offers us a deal which, unfortunately, is still beyond our means. So we go to…
- The Police Station to see if we can get National status. They say yes, but first we have to go to…
- Tue April 20th – The city of Ma’an, where we give blood for a ‘health’ test. Results are due on Saturday 24th.
- Sat April 24th – Off to Ma’an, health is good, back to Petra Police Station, get passports stamped and signed, then off to Petra Ticket Office… but no dice. Apparently we don’t have visas for a long enough period. But we’re told of an NGO who can help, so…
- Sun April 25th – We go to Beit Al Anbat, the NGO, and meet the especially kind Mohammed Hasanat who says he’ll put in a few calls.
- Mon April 26th - We do some volunteer work for Beit Al Anbat, designing a poster against child labour in Petra. Mr Hasanat says we should speak to the Commissioner again.
- Wed April 28th – We meet with the Commissioner, Dr Emad Hijazeen, and finally… SUCCESS! We’re allowed entrance for 1 JD and get reduced rates for a park ranger to follow us around in the site. Carl spends the afternoon as a tourist climbing over tombs and almost dies of heatstroke, but all is good.
So what of Petra? Well, it’s an incredible place, beautiful and strangely peaceful despite the columns of tourists that march through the Siq every few minutes. The whole place has the relaxed vibe so redolent of the Bedouin way of life. You definitely won’t find the stress and sales aggression of Egypt or Morocco here.
We’re off to film in Petra in an hour or so will sign off for now. But first, big thanks to Dr Emad Hijazeen for smoothing the path, Dr Basim Twissi and Mohammed Hasanat of Beit Al Anbat for their support, and to all the locals for their continued hospitality despite our camera’s constant and undoubtedly annoying presence. Oh, and extra thanks to Touf’s tea-stained teeth for giving us a little local credibility!
Pics clockwise from the left:
The impressive Treasury that has provided us tonnes of shots of tourists oohing and aahing
Tomb with a view
German Tourist Carl and one of the locals – Abu Bilal
Ahmed – Petra’s answer to Johnny Depp
