Simply Amazing!

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Geo: 30.1451, 35.3979

Today, we checked off a long-time bucket list item and enjoyed one of our most anticipated days of the trip. We planned a shore excursion to see the ancient city of Petra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It seems like most of our fellow passengers were eager to go there, too, as there were twelve buses ready for us. Fortunately, they loaded the buses at about half capacity again so we had lots of room to spread out, and we did not have to keep up with a large group. There were only twenty passengers and one Seabourn crew member on our bus.

Khalid led our tour showing us everything of interest on the two-hour drive to Petra, then guiding us through about half of the ancient city. We then had an hour and a half to explore on our own and make our way back out of the site to the restaurant across the street from the entrance for lunch.

On the way, Khalid pointed out a number of Bedouin villages and explained that mostly only the older generations still live the nomadic lifestyle. He kept saying that Grandmother or Grandfather did all the work for themselves of taking care of the animals and growing food since the younger ones had moved into settlements of permanent housing provided by the government. We saw a couple of roadside stands where Bedouins were selling tomatoes. Khalid would say to watch for something black moving in the distance out the bus window. That would be Grandmother minding her goats or picking tomatoes. They live for a long time eating mostly fresh vegetables, walking everywhere they go, and avoiding modern medicine.

When we arrived at Petra, Khalid gave us our tickets, and we started on the 3/4-mile-long walk through the Siq, the narrow slot canyon formed by a river long ago in the Wadi Musa, to get to the ancient city. The canyon walls are 300 - 600 feet high, and it is about ten feet wide at the narrowest point. All along the way, Khalid pointed out monuments carved into the stone, the patterns of minerals in the rock and even a place where bones were embedded in the stone. There are layers of granite, limestone, sandstone, and flint rock. Petra has over 600 identified monuments within the area, and new ones are still being discovered. While still in the Siq, we saw a statue of the legs of a human figure that was found about 15 years ago. It had been hidden by sediment while people walked past it daily for years.

First sight of the Treasury is as breathtaking as expected. Just amazing and beautiful! Past the Treasury are many more monuments, large and small, carved in the stone walls of the cliffs. We walked through about half of the city down to the Royal Tombs past the Street of Facades, the High Place of Sacrifice, and the Theatre with our guide. Between the Royal Tombs and the Theatre is a set of modern toilets that are also built into a manmade cave in the rock where the colors of the stone undulate across the walls in a beautiful pattern in shades or red, purple, gold and white. Khalid said the toilets were a "must-see" on our trek. Petra prospered as the capital of the Nabataean Empire and as a trade stop between East and West during the first centuries BC and AD, but was abandoned by the 7th century AD. It was rediscovered by a Swiss explorer about 200 years ago. Archaeologists have uncovered evidence of human settlement in the area for over 10,000 years.

Walking to and through Petra is all downhill. We allowed an hour to walk back out on our own to meet the guide and group at the Movenpick hotel across from the entrance to Petra for lunch. The Seabourn guests filled the dining area for a buffet lunch of all kinds of dishes—some familiar, but most not. I think most of the cruise passengers and a fair number of staff members were on this excursion.

We returned from the trip exhausted so we opted for dinner in the suite. It took about 45 minutes for it to be delivered, but well worth the convenience of staying in and resting. Going to bed early tonight. Tomorrow we head for the Red Sea and have five days at sea before landing in the first port in Oman at Salalah.

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