Petra

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Today we went into Petra. Arrived there about 8.30 am, those that wanted to ride horses to the beginning of the siq took off as we walked. Not too sure how my foot would have held up in the stirrups. Walking through the siq was an amazing feeling. Wondering what we were going to discover every time we turned a corner. Changing colours of the rock formations, carvings into the rock where temples had been made, and they had even built a gutter to carry water from the runoff from the high cliffs down and into a dam they had made to have water supply. Niches in the rock where there were lit torches placed to pave the way through. Because there were different civilisations Greek, Romans and Egyptians, there is evidence of their style of carvings or monuments attributed to their culture. When the romans came they laid a cobbled road some of which is evident throughout the site.
As we came through I caught my first glimpse of the Treasury Building which I photgraphed. The whole structure is amazing, but looking closely you can see the different styles. The whole of the area contains masses of tombs carved into the mountain which is sandstone and features various colours which are striking.
Walked further into the area, to find many more impressive tamples which were built for the dead, but also a place of worship. There are the Royal Tombs high up which can be reached by foot or camel. I chose camel!! my foot is not liking me very much at the moment.. Some of the group chose after lunch to walk up to the Monastery, but five of us elected not to go. We headed back up the site. On our way we approached a stall where a New Zealand woman Marguerite van Geldermeissen was sitting. She penned a booked " Married to a Bedouin". He died in 2002, but she married him and lived in a cave and his life for many years. As I was talking to her the others headed back. I told her I would like to ride a camel up to the Royal Tombs so she called out in Arabic and I got a guide and a Camel!! These Bedouin guys have the most amazing beautiful eyes and facial features!
This young guy stayed with me and let me photograph up close the tombes.
Headed back to the Treasury where I walked back through the Siq turning around and taking my last glimpse of one of the most beautiful pieces of architecture I have seen. As I approached the end of teh Siq, a dust storm was starting to erupt. I chose to ride a horse back to the gate as it is a kilometre and up hill. While on the horse we had thunder adn more dust storms so bad that the guide stopped to let it past. We had to drop our heads to avoid the sand in our eyes.
A fantastic day, a long day, a memorable day.... Now back at the hotel and a swim and maybe a Turkish bath!

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