Miller round the world Day 19

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We sleep well. Up at 7 am. Breakfast and then we prepare for our excursion to Petra, which we know is going to be somewhat arduous. We board our bus for the 2 1/2 hour bus ride. The terrain is amazing. Essentially we get to see at ground level the endless mountains we saw from the plane. The land is so arid and barren, you wonder how anything can survive. There are occasional clumps of buildings that constitute villages, and we also see Bedouin tents. On the way, Abraham talks about daily life in Jordan and outlines the history of Petra. Petra is an ancient settlement first discovered and settled by a nomadic tribe called the Nabateans around 200 BC, later conquered by the Romans. Around 800 AD it was mostly abandoned and essentially lost for a thousand years, rediscovered in 1812. 

We reach the current-day town of Petra, which basically services tourists. Our base of operations is the Crown Plaza hotel, where we disembark and get organized. Violet waits for a horse-pulled cart, which can take her to a part of ancient Petra called the Treasury, but I strike out with Abraham on foot. It is about a kilometer walk to the entrance, which is a huge gash in a sheer cliff. Millions of years ago, a long-disappeared river carved out a magnificent gorge through a mountain, and this gorge is the site of ancient Petra.
 
I walk through this gorge. The natural beauty alone is breathtaking beyond words. Sheer cliffs on either side composed of limestone of a thousands shades, including a distinctive pink. There are various shrines and alcoves along the way carved out of solid rock. About a 30 minute walk brings you to Petra's most famous spot, the so-called Treasury, which is actually a tomb. This is where the climax to the 3rd Indiana Jones movie was filmed. It is so magnificent that one is struck dumb, a magnificent building with massive Corinthian columns carved right out of a cliff. Violet also makes it to this point by cart. 

Robert and I negotiate a camel ride to the next area, which is a lot of fun, but which ends up back where we started. So we retrace our path on foot. In the next area, the gorge opens up considerably and there are many more temples and homes carved out of the rock. There is even an amplitheatre. We push on to the final area, which features, among many other things, a large temple high on a cliff wall that is accessible up a winding stone stairway. I should mention that the heat is tremendous, about 40 C, and we are pretty beat by the time we make it to the top. Everywhere you turn you want to take a photograph, the scenery is so stunning.
Robert and I head back. We realize that we are actually the last in our group. Going back is much harder than coming in because it is all uphill and the heat now that it's about 2 pm is a killer. But we make it back to the entrance of ancient Petra and then take a horse ride back the final 1 kilometer to the Crown Plaza. 
We meet up with our group in the dining room. Violet, bless her heart, has beer waiting. We quickly gobble down some lunch (as you would expect, another great buffet) before we board the buses just after 3 pm.
A long ride back. We stop twice, once for a photo op and once for a pit stop. The second stop has a gift store and we buy a few things. We arrive back at our hotel just before 6 pm.
 
Violet and I shower and do laundry on our room and treat ourselves to some wine  We eat supper about 8:30, after which I complete this entry and we collapse into bed after a strenuous but perfectly wonderful day.

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Comments

[rita veel]

travel guild trip
Ben and I have travelled with this company twice. this was not up to the standard of the past 2. we missed 3 , to us important destinations. Travel Guild knew before we left that we would not be going to china,xian and kathmandu. we are dissapointed and admire your upbeat take on this expensive badly organized trip. hope all is well with Vi. Happy New Year Rita