Petra, Jordan

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The first day of our "Gateways to Antiquities" cruise happened to be one of the most interesting days of the entire vacation! We left the port of Safaga, Egypt the night before and we docked in Aqaba, Jordan early in the morning. After breakfast, we leisurely got onto buses for a scenic drive up to Petra (a UNESCO World Heritage Site). The port of Aqaba was interesting as the country of Jordan was to the northeast, the country of Saudi Arabia was due east, the country of Israel with it's tiny resort town of Elat was to the Northwest, and the country of Egypt, (The Sinai Peninsula) was due west. We could see them all at the same time cruising into port. Nothing had prepared us for this amazing place of Petra! We had seen pictures but none of them did it justice. What a treasure! Hidden in the rugged Jordanian mountains, we waited patiently to see Petra (which means rock).



When we got off the bus, we saw vendors everywhere...but no Petra! To reach it, we had to travel on foot through the narrow Siq Gorge about 1 kilometer. The Siq was a winding passage which at times was no wider than six feet with rock faces on either side as tall as four story buildings. These steeply rising rock faces provided a dramatic contrast with what we were about to see. The colors and the formations of the rocks were beautiful! The vendors we had seen at the top of the gorge were racing in horse drawn carriages to bring the tourists down to see Petra. Sometimes there wasn't much room for them to go by. You could also ride a horse halfway down if the walk was too strenuous. As we reached the end of the Siq, we caught our first glimple of Al-Khazneh (The Treasury). It's intricately carved façade glowed in the hot sun! The Treasury had been carved out of dusty rose colored rock and it dwarfs everything around it. Vendors were tempting tourists to take camel rides and have their pictures taken in front of the Treasury.



The Treasury was just the first of many wonders that make up Petra. The overwhelming natural beauty of this place was enhanced by the architectural achievements. Petra was a fortress city and thriving trade center whose inhabitants carved houses, temples, and tombs...sometimes with elaborate columns and facades. There is a massive Nabataean-built Roman style theatre which seated over 3,000 people. It was still in pretty good shape. Petra was built around 6 century B.C. by Nabataean Arabs. They were a nomadic tribe who settled the area and established the beginnings of a commercial empire that extended into Syria. The Romans took over in 100 A.D. In the 12th century, The Crusaders constructed a fort there but soon left. Petra was left to only the local people until it was rediscovered in 1812 by Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt. As we left to make the climb back up out of the Siq, we realized we had just seen something that was full of mysterious charm. It has been said, "Perhaps there is nothing in the world that resembles it". It is no wonder that Petra is now considered to be one of the "New Seven Wonders of the World".



Now on to Wadi-Rum...

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Photos

Elat
The Israeli Flag on the coast of Elat in the Gulf of Aqaba