One of the things that annoys me about western society is the tendency to protect people from their own stupidity. Or at least to try to. It usually wastes everyone’s time, and doesn’t really have any effect on the people who probably need it. I’m thinking here of the warning signs you see, with deeply insightful messages like “hot beverages may be hot”. Duh.

This is something you are unlikely to see in Jordan, and I’m very happy about that. It means that you can experience things, and walk in among the ruins. It also means that you could, if you were so inclined, go places that you really shouldn’t go. I took this picture at Azraq, showing a very clever set of “stairs” built into the wall of a building. There was nothing to suggest that you really shouldn’t use these stairs. I like that.

Tomorrow we are off to Petra, where there are many equally interesting stairs, except in this case you are fully expected to use them. It makes for a fascinating day. I’ll try to provide a few photos of those tomorrow.