Petra

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The ancient city of Petra is set in a grand canyon and the rock formations and gorges are impressive enough, even without seeing the buildings carved into the rock faces. To get to the city you have to walk down a narrow, snaking, high walled canyon; and the anticipation of seeing The Treasury building for the first time felt electric. The Treasury, of Indiana Jones' fame, is everything we'd hoped it would be - imposing, beautiful, breathtaking and a gorgeous rose pink colour. The only other thing we've seen that has had such a profound impression on us are the Angkor temples.
The whole Petra site is vast, and it took us two days to explore the many tombs, temples and ruins. It was boiling hot with no shade and we did heaps of walking and climbing and consumed copious amounts of water and coke. The fascinating thing about the site is that it was originally built by the Nabateans but then overtaken by the Romans, so there's colonnaded streets and bathhouses and mosaics as their legacy. The site is looked after by the Bedouin and there's grazing goats on many of the hills and donkeys roaming freely, as well as the obligatory camel rides on offer. We had a funny experience where a donkey stole away from his master and hid himself in the middle of our group as we walked from The Treasury down the hill. I'm not sure whether he realised that he wasn't as camouflaged as he thought among people! However it did take quite a long time for his master, a small boy, to come and find him.
The most impressive part of Petra, aside from The Treasury, is The Monastery carved into the rock high on a mountain. It was a steep walk up uneven stone steps and took us about an hour. Many people were using donkeys as taxis to get up and down the mountain, but the poor animals looked as exhausted as the tourists they carried! The view from The Monastery was spectacular, looking out across The Rift Valley.
After all our walking we rewarded ourselves with a Turkish Bath, a hamman. It was a memorable experience . . . first we were put in a steam room, then scrubbed down with foamy soap and a rough sponge (much like sandpaper), then unceremoniously hosed off with bowls of water poured over our heads. Following all this was a vigorous massage. We all felt invogorated afterwards, but I think we all lost our tans as it felt like layers of skin came off! For me, being in the hamman was a great insight into the local women's lives. The hammans are separate, male and female, and within the hamman the veils come off and the women are without inhibition, laughing and joking with us and showing quite a bit of flesh!
We were relaxed and refreshed after our hammans, but lifted our weary feet and ventured into Petra one last time to see The Treasury at night. The Petra by night experience involves 1500 candles that light the siq and The Treasury. The crowd walked in silence down the siq, and when we got to The Treasury we all sat on rugs and drank mint tea while two Bedouin men played musical instruments. The first sat among the candles in front of The Treasury and played a traditional instrument made from wood and goatskin and sung hauntingly. The second walked among the candles playing a flute. Seeing The Treasury dimly lit by candles, with the dark cliff face behind and a clear, starry sky above, was magical. Despite the crowd of maybe 150 people, there was a tangible romance and moving atmosphere to the whole experience.
After seeing Petra by night we sat on the Movenpick Hotel's rooftop terrace and ate the most delicious ice cream sundaes. Mine was strawberry and mango with real mango pieces in the ice cream. Dan's had five different types of chocolate ice cream. Mmmmm!

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