Whenever you see Petra in the media you see a picture of the Treasury. I just did a web search and the top three links with pictures all used such an image, often with a camel sat in front.

Let’s not beat around the bush here: Al Khazneh, the “proper” name of the Treasury, is spectacular. It’s a two thousand year old, forty metre high carving straight into the sandstone rock face.

I just read Daniel Eran Dilger’s “Winter 2007 Buyer?s Guide: Microsoft Zune 8 vs iPod Nano” but I felt that it was missing something very important for readers outside the United States.

So to fill that void here is my attempt. I have not actually used any of the new Zunes or iPods but I don’t necessarily feel that this has any material impact on the final result¹.

Leaving Jerash around lunchtime, I head south towards Kerak, known variously as Karak and Al Karak, stopping briefly for a float in the Dead Sea and a distant view of Israel.

It’s already dark when I arrive making it difficult to see much of anything. I am assured that the building in front of me is the castle but it just looks like another hotel at this time of evening. I take dinner in a restaurant right next to the (alleged) castle. They are filming for something and there are eerie bright lights shining through the windows — slightly disconcerting when you know it’s dark out.

This weeks PhotoFriday theme is “Dead of Night.” Here is my entry.

This was taken using my old film SLR, on black and white film, in Vigland Park, Oslo. I’m not sure it was actually dead of night, but the place was empty and the specks in the sky are stars rather than dust.

Please also vote for my entry in last weeks challenge, “Two.” I’m entry number 291.

I remember when I was at school doing history I loved the Romans. They were so advanced and yet had these brutal elements, a combination that I found fascinating. Even now I continue to be amazed by Roman ruins. Nothing we build now seems to last more than a few decades yet this massive, two thousand year old empire still has buildings standing.

[](http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephendarlington/10817487986/ ““No Camels & Horses” sign, Dahab, Egypt by stephendarlington, on Flickr”)

I always have immense difficulty choosing my next travel destination. The bottom line is that I’d happily visit almost anywhere I’ve not been before. And even then, many of the places I have been to I’d happily go back to. With around two hundred countries in the world this presents a problem. Then you need to combine this with the fact that I love reading about travel — books, brochures, back issues of Wanderlust — and you can easily believe that it can take me months to decide where to travel to next.

This weeks PhotoFriday theme is “Two.” Here is my entry.

This image was taken in?Kandy, Sri Lanka. One of the first pictures I ever took on an SLR, it’s still one of my?favourites.

Last weeks PhotoFriday theme was “Travel.” If you’re observant you’ll notice that I didn’t make an entry despite most photography on my site being travel related and that’s because… I was travelling at the time!

In the next few days (maybe weeks depending on how busy I am!) you’ll be seeing some of my experiences in Jordan and Egypt. Keep your RSS reader primed…

This weeks PhotoFriday theme is “Dangerous.” This is my entry.

This picture is for my wife. In fact, I’ve no idea what kind of snake this is, or whether it’s dangerous or not, but people are often scared of them. This image was taken in Vietnam.

Please also vote for my entry in last weeks competition, “Strength.” I’m entry 122.

This weeks PhotoFriday theme is “Strength.” Here is my entry. A bunch of Tibetan prayer-wheels may seem like an odd choice, but they give the faithful strength in the face of adversity

Please also vote for my entry in last weeks challenge, “Silence.” I am entry number 300.