Petra by day - 800 steps to heaven!!

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We planned to rise early today, head down to Petra as soon as it opens thus missing the crowds and the height of the midday sun. Petra opens its doors to visitors at 6am but as breakfast is not served until 6:30am in the Rocky Mountain Hotel, we pulled up outside the Petra visitors centre shortly before 8am.

Petra is one of the Modern Wonders of the Modern World along with the likes of the Taj Mahal and the Great Wall of China. In fact some archaeologists rank Petra as the eighth Wonder of the ancient World, a truly justifiable claim in many peoples' eyes if not only for the 'how on earth did they do that' factor!!

The fee for adults is 50JD. The pricing policy gets complicated depending if you are staying at least 1 night in Jordan or have come direct from one of the land borders with Israel. You are required to provide your passport to prove you have the tourist visa and qualify for the cheaper entrance fee. The ticket office only accept cash despite their web site stating the fee can be paid by MasterCard or Cash. A notice alongside the ticket booth stated that ‘Credit Cards accepted limitedly'. Today was obviously not one of those ‘limited' times!!

‘So this is what it looks like in the cold light of day', I said to Roisin as we found ourselves on a cinder path heading toward the Siq. The first indication of a previous civilisations are a number of huge blocks of stone known as djinn blocks and were carved to capture the spirits known a djinn. These spirits are famous throughout Arabian folklore, the most famous of these lived in a lamp. Yes that's right, from djinn we derive the word genie.

Our route down the Siq was, as we could now see, stunning in all its natural beauty. The colour of the stratum in the rock face changed from reds, to pinks to greens to browns. En route we came across some bizarre looking geographical formations shaped through millions of years of weather erosion.

Half way down Roisin noticed shapes on the rock face. A leg and a body that disappeared into the rock face. Then a few stumps of rock that seemed to have been shaped into pairs of cloven hooves. The legs of the beast had long since faded to dust. The belly of the animals, camels, can also be seen jutting out of the rock face. This is what is left of an example of carvings by the Nabataeans, a chisel happy bunch by all accounts!

The Nabataeans, one of the most gifted people in history, were an ancient Arab tribe who originally came from the Arabian Peninsula more than 2200 years ago. They were a clever and practical people and were open to outside influences absorbing them and adding them to their own native touch. As we wandered further in to Petra there is evidence of Greco-Roman, Egyptian and Mesopotamian styles.

We hung around the Treasury for a while. The camels, horses, donkeys and carriages were already lined up although there were a few tourists milling around, no one seemed to be overly pestered.

Next we were in unchartered territory. Heading down the Street of Façades we were soon at the Theatre, a Roman Style amphitheatre dug out of the rock and shaped as such for optimum acoustics. This was built to originally seat 3,000 people but was later extended to finally hold about 7,000

By now, we were being stopped at regular intervals asking if we wanted donkey or camel ride to the top of Al-Deir, where the city's Monastery lay, 800 steps and 1.2km cut in to the rocks. Every one of the locals seemed generally aghast when we told them we intend to walk the route. Some of them offered to wait for us to return where they can take us back to the entrance of the Siq. Depending on how things go, a bottle of Oxygen and an ambulance may be more appropriate. How hard can it be? I walk further than 1.2km from the car park to work every day… and I work on the 12^th floor!!!

We walked down the Colonnaded Street. This used to be the equivalent of their High Street as it was flanked by temples, public buildings and shops. Rising about 30m opposite the Colonnaded Street lie another masterful example of rock carving. A number of tombs have ornately been carved from the rock face. These are the Royal Tombs and although one can climb the 30 or so metres for a closer look, we were saving our legs for this ‘Big One'!!

We cut through a large seating area following the arrow directing us to the Monastery. It was now only 10am. We decided to tuck in to some of the packaged lunch that had been provided for us by the Hotel. Break finished, we rounded a bend and were confronted with the first 50 or so steps.

‘Oh, no, no, no, no', Roisin said facing steps that apart from being very uneven, dropped very steeply away on one side. She managed to gingerly climb 20 or so steps before announcing that she couldn't go any further. I was happy to stay with her but she insisted I should continue to the top. After all, I had come all this way, it would be a shame to miss out at the death (bad choice of words on reflection!!) Roisin was happy to sit at a refreshment stand that offered free wi-fi while I persevered in the name of photography for the blog!!! I promised to text her when I reached the summit to give her an idea how long I'd be…so off I went.

Now I had read that there are 800 steps to the top. However, a sign just before the steps mentioned 800 steps along the trail. Trail? Nobody mentioned a trail! Does that mean I have to climb steps AND walk up a series of hills? 15 minutes in to the walk and the answer was ‘yes'. There were an abundance of shady spots to rest whilst taking on plenty of water.

Every few hundred yards there were stalls of Bedouins selling the usual array of tat.

‘Come look Only 1 dinar'

‘Where you come from?'

‘Come you drink tea. Jordan hospitality'

‘Maybe on way down. My name is Katie. I wait for you'

Katie? That's a strange name for a Bedouin. Even the camel rider's name was Mohammed! Whilst I was inwardly flagging at an alarming rate, I held my head high when passing these vendors as if out for a Sunday stroll.

The steps and paths meandered up the side of the mountain occasionally giving way to breathtaking views, the climb seemed never ending. One trinket seller shouted ‘About half way now'. I tried mental arithmetic as to how long I'd been climbing, one week? Two? Hard to tell. So I pushed on.

Around yet another bend I heard several children chattering. As I peered around a rock, one had a stack of postcards and the other, silver bangles. This was a good time for a rest until they moved on. After several minutes the noise of children's laughter abated. They were gone so I carried on. However, they were waiting around the next bend.

‘Mr. You buy postcards, 1 dinar'

‘Mr. Silver bangle 1 dinar. No, two for… no four for 1 dinar!!' I had just been ambushed by a couple of 8 years old!

Taking regular breaks and ensuring I breathed through my mouth to warrant the maximum intake of oxygen, I persevered. The breathing through my mouth bit was easy as that's what one does when fighting for survival!!

‘Nearly there', another vendor shouted to me. He didn't even try to sell me anything seeing the state I was in. He probably didn't want anyone collapsing on his watch!!

Only 20 or so steps from the top I noticed spots of, what looked like blood. I checked my body to make sure I wasn't leaking!! Phew! It was someone else blood!! So someone actually sweated blood to get to the summit. That I can believe. And then there it was, the opening I had been yearning for. I could almost cry. The new slogan should read: ‘Blood, Sweat & Tears' Come to Petra and experience all!!

An awesome sight. This is Petra's second most famous building but in my view, more spectacular. Probably because of the effort to get here.

I immediately whipped my phone out and texted Roisin that I had made it. Within minutes I received a reply:

‘'How are you diddling? No wi-fi at the Crowne plaza rest stop so I'm going to walk back to the nearest place with wi-fi. Let me know if you receive this message then text me when you're coming back down"

She obviously hadn't received my original text yet. I checked my sent text and in red letters it said: ‘Not delivered'. I sent it again. The same message appeared: ‘Not delivered'. Then I did a stupid thing and sent the most ridiculous text…ever!!!

‘Yes, I got your message but I can‘t seem to send…!!' Why would I send that? I must be delirious!!

I stood for a few moments revelling in the majestic splendour of the Monastery. Something, I don't know what, made me turn around. There, a few hundred yards opposite and about 20 feet up a rock face was the entrance to a cave. I'm guessing it was someone's home back in the day. I then got thinking of an age old dilemma that has been baffling academics for centuries: Would you rather live in a hovel and look out of the window every day at a wondrous, picturesque backdrop OR would you rather live in a palace and look out the window at a ‘shit hole' every day??! Not too sure why this has been a big issue. The palace wins every time for me. If I had a palace I could probably afford to buy the ‘shit hole', knock it down and build another palace!!!

After that philosophical tussle with my conscience and several photos later I started the long walk back.

Katie was still there, ‘Ah! Mr. I wait for you. Everything 1 dinar. (first lie) You look'

I decided to counter her lie with a lie of my own: ‘Sorry, I bought something from another stall!!'

Now their vendors have probably heard every trick in the book. Katie had the audacity to call my bluff: ‘You show me!!'

‘Can't I'm in a rhythm. If I stop I won't be able to get my legs going again!!' Was all I could think of replying which was not so far off the truth!!

A couple of Europeans were stopped at a rest stop so I decided to take ‘five' as well

‘How far to the top?'

‘Well', I started, with a mischievous glint in my eye. ‘I don't want to give you false hope. If I tell you that you've still got the best part of a 2 day trek, when you reach the top in 30 minutes you'll be so relieved!!'

An awkward laugh then one of the Europeans continued: ‘Its stunning, isn't it?'

Yes', I replied. ‘The ruggedness, the coloured layers and the rock formations look a lot like the Grand Canyon'

‘So I've been told. But I've never been'

‘Well then', I said. ‘You've saved yourself a journey!!'

There are many locals and vendors swarming around Petra, all officially and legally there. We never once felt pressured or threatened the whole time we were in Petra. This may be due to the high presence of the tourist police, two of the Mountie variety were very accommodating in posing for a quick photo.

When I got back to the hotel after clocking 12km on my pedometer phone app, I looked down at my boots. It looks as if I'd spent the day working down a quarry!!

The last few days have been one of wonder and awe. I seem to have exhausted all forms of superlatives. If we had to cut the holiday short now, Roisin and I would have no arguments as we'll be buzzing from this experience for some time yet so I leave you with the closing lines of a poem by Dean John Burgon written in 1845:

‘…match me such a marvel save in Eastern Climb,

A rose-red city half as old as time'

(And that's by a bloke who never even visited Petra!!!)

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Comments

[Claire Bradshaw]

Amazing pics as always! I think Petra is now on my list!

[chris-roisin]

Thanks Claire. Glad you're enjoying it. More fun and games still to come!!! Keep reading!

[Claire Bradshaw]

I will do Chris, they're brilliant! I knew I'd missed one so I've just gone back and read the night curfew one! You two are brave & bonkers!! Haha

[Truce Grovellar]

I was looking forward to making more sarcastic blog comments, maybe referencing some obscure 70s bad-entertainer forced to scrape by on cruise earnings... But this is actually an informative travel blog post with good photos. I want to go t
here as well, now. Damn you Hodgson. T

[SnarkoPolo]

good work Chris - proud of ya!

[Anne & Philip]

Great stuff Chris - a trek worthy of the ancient Trojans. But tell us, did Roisin get a horse and cart ride back up the Siq or did you make her walk ?

[chris-roisin]

Philip & Ann, No Roisin didn't hitch a lift back. It was her who was happy to walk. I was the one who was knackered!!...sorry I missed that bit off! If we had have got a horse and carriage back I'm sure you would have read about it as i
t would have been another event to write about!!

[Ragnhild]

Wow!