Journal day 8- Empty Petra.

---

I woke up early in my hotel 'The Silk Road' and had breakfast. Then straight back to Petra for a full day to explore the rest of The city by myself.
Gary's Jordanian friend Rana had convinced a security man yesterday that I lived in Jordan and made him write a note to that effect so that I would only have to pay 1JD instead of 50JD. Basically saving approximately £50 each day i was in Petra!

So after convincing (lying to) the security that I did live in Amman but had forgotten my Id I was back in the ancient city.
The weather today was perfect. Not too hot for my pasty Irish skin but sunnier than the height summers back home.
As I walked down the beaten path I had the feeling of a distinct lack of people. Maybe yesterday's crap weather had put off the tourists but all I could see were the bedouin people.
Today my intentions were to explore the places I hadn't yesterday which included primarily 'The High Place/sacrifice site, an ancient sacred mountaintop sacred area for Nabatean people, and the 'Monument,' the grandest of Petra's sites right at the deepest point before the mountains that form the city lead to the vast stretches of inhospitable desert.

Instantly approached by one of the bedouin horsemen I was asked (as expected) if I wanted to take a horse. As I had a lot to fit into the day I thought what the he'll, gimme a horse to get up to the High Place. After a bit of effort I was able to barter him down from 50JD to 30JD primarily because 'Egypt is now liberated' and as Petra is empty!

The route to the high place by horse turned put to be well of the beaten track, nowhere near the Siq that leads to the famous 'Treasury.' Up into the mountains we climbed, through areas full of cave tombs and dramatic viewpoints. My bedouin guide was good company and having worked at Petra for 20 years since he was 10 he gave me a good insight into their lives.

When we arrived at the high point I was done with the horse and walked up the last 5minutes by foot.
The place of sacrifice is identifiable by 2 elegant carved nefyrs or obelisks with a flat stone plateau between which was overlooked by a high priests altar. The views from here are ridiculously good and I spent a bit of time here exploring about before finding an alternative route down that would lead me to 'The Monument' without going through the centre of Petra which I had explored yesterday. This route was a succession of steep partially stepped pathways which continuously passed by beautifully carved rock-cut tombs, one more elaborate than the next. It was walking this route that I realised that I haven't seen a tourist since I set out. It felt like I had the whole flippin place to myself apart from the bedouin merchants I encountered every few hundred metres at their stalls.
Although always wanting to sell you something they are still undoubtably friendly people who learn english from years of dealing with tourists and are always up for a chat!

Amongst the sites on the route was a cave Temple which was weirdly full of playful little kittens that were happy to be photographed in from of their temple home.
I eventually made it back to the main route to the 'Monument' building which had a few more visitors. The climb to the monument is pretty challenging and takes about an 1 and a half hours up steep stone steps but is completely worth it.
The Monument is fittingly the most monumental of Petra's sites and was cut out of the rock to function as a symposium of the god Obodas. The chamber inside takes a bit of a clamber to get into to and is completely vast as is the door.
Not too far from the Monument is a viewpoint named aptly 'The End of the World.' from here you see the rocks below stretch out to nothing but the seemingly endless sands of the ..... Desert!

After taking in the Monument it was a 2 hour trek back down the mountain steps, back through the centre of Petra and back out of the ancient city and into the modern town for some food and then onto the bus bus bound for Amman where I'll meet Gary when he finishes work. I'm hoping he'll be up for a cold beer!

I found Petra to be a very special place that i doubt can be adequately described by words. I think it's somewhere you simply have to experience yourself. And I'm never forget my time here. Especially the overwhelming feeling of almost having the whole place to myself.

Got the 3 hour bus back to Amman and met up with Gary at his apartment. He was up for a couple of cold beers. Nice.

---

Comments

[Catherine]

I had never heard of Petra before...but as you were exploring it, I was learning all about it on a television show about another guy exploring it! It's now on my list of places to see one day.

[Nigel Kelso]

Petra
I should have read your blog before asking daft questions in Flickr about some of your photos! Makes interesting reading. What a great way to keep a record of your travels and experiences. Keep it up.