A Treasury, Monastery and Lots of Donkeys

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First off, Happy Thanksgiving! No turkey for us, but we are so thankful for all we have, including our wonderful family and friends.

It seems like all roads lead to Petra, which is the biggest draw to Jordan. No matter that there are so many things to see and experience, it is always Petra. And today we get to find out why. I do feel that no matter what I write, it can't adequately describe the overall experience. There is just so much history and information, so anyone reading this will have to google to get the details.

We had gotten advice from some fellow travelers while at the Dead Sea, that we should plan to leave the hotel by 7a to beat the tour busses. So, that is what we did. Our taxi driver was also a ticket taker at the front gate, so took us to the best line for the ticket (included in the Jordan Pass) and then to get into the massive complex.

It was recommended to get a tour guide from the visitors center and for $55 it ended up being an excellent decision. We were assigned Mohamed, and soon we were learning about the history, unique parts of what used to be a massive city (estimated to be 30k inhabitants) and the meaning of the different carvings in the walls, caverns, and temples. With the rain the night before, there we had to dodge puddles and little streams along the way, which is certainly not the norm.

Soon we got to the Siq, the 1 mile walk through a narrow canyon, with ancient ceramic water pipes, caves where either the residents lived or were buried and remnants of temples. The history books say that Petra was created in 312BC and is considered one of the oldest cities in the world, it is approx. 102 sq miles and only 20% is excavated/discovered. Archaeologists were going to start working on a new section, but Covid stopped it, and it has yet to restart.

After the 30min walk through the Siq, we arrived at the Treasury, which is amazing and the most known and photographed. Even though it was early (about 815a) it was already crowded with camels, donkeys (you can get a ride on either) and vendors. We stopped for tea, which was long enough for Mohamed to explain that it was not a bank (as I thought), but it was thought to hold treasures and raiders through the years attempted to find the jewels and gold behind the façade. Of course, there wasn’t any, as it was just a burial place as well as a temple. Impressive none-the less.

From there we took various trails and walkways, until almost 3 hours had passed, and it was time to say goodbye to Mohamed our great guide. Now, the decision…do we want to climb the 850+ stairs to the Monastery, which is a clone of the Treasury…just bigger. And the answer is yes. So, we stopped, got some fuel (tea, freshly squeezed pomegranate juice and a snack) for the 1 hr each way hike up and down. We did have the chance to take donkey's up (they are everywhere and can be used to shorten the walk at any point) the steep path, but nope...gonna do it ourselves.

And up we went. I had a foreboding feeling on the way up that coming down was not going to be fun as there were sections that were sandstone that was slick due to the rain the night before. But I was determined to get to the top. And we did! Going up wasn’t bad and we were rewarded with the amazing visual of the Monastery, with benches to sit and gaze at the old temple. With the incredible façade, it is hard to imagine that there is nothing behind it, just an empty room.

Soon it was time to head down, and sure enough for me, it was more challenging than going up. Ken reminded me all the way down that I wore the “wrong” shoes, but I had no idea I would be doing this hike. On the sandstone portions I was definitely sliding, and the stairs were too high for my short legs. Luckily, I have an amazing husband who helped me every step of the way. Maybe should have done the donkey on the way back???

Once down safely (thank goodness) it was time to go back to the visitors center…which was a good 1 hour walk. By the time we got to there, we were both tired, hungry and ready for a break.

With a great recommendation of a local restaurant, we had a wonderful meal of lamb and chicken…before going back to the hotel for the evening. That night we hung in the bar and were treated to beautiful piano music from the only piano in Petra, in front of the nicely lit Christmas tree. The player was the Petra Marriott HR Manager who we found out was self-taught as the only piano in town is here at the hotel. It was a wonderful way to end our day.

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