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Published: June 11th 2017
We were up early for breakfast around 6:30, and we left our hotel at 7:30, ready for our big day at Petra. Our hotel is only a few minutes walk from the gate to Petra. We got our tickets and walked through the gates, eager to explore Petra. We walked about 15 minutes until we entered the Siq, the famous narrow canyon which you walk through before emerging at the Treasury. It was downhill through this area, and through the Siq, a fact I didn't notice until I was walking up many hours later!
Settlement in Petra goes back to Neolithic times, circa 7000 BCE, but it was the Nabateans who built the monuments you see today. The Nabateans arrived in the area in the 6th C BCE, established trade routes and for the next 500 years Petra flourished. In its heyday around 30,000 people lived at Petra. The Nabateans established their own script (a forerunner to Arabic), and their engineers built dams, cisterns, and water channels. The Romans took over the Nabatean empire around 100 CE, and added their own features to the ancient city (colonnaded streets and baths). Earthquakes in the fourth and sixth C CE ruined much
of the city and Petra became a "lost city" until it was rediscovered in 1812 by a Swiss explorer.
You can take horse carriages through the Siq from the gates but Peregrine doesn't recommend this because of concerns the horses are not treated humanely. There are many donkeys which carry people to the different sites within Petra, but there was no way we were riding a donkey here. The Bedouin boys do not treat the donkeys well and they are not rested properly, the poor animals are constantly ferrying tourists too lazy to walk up and down very steep paths. There are signs at the entrance about not getting on a donkey that is clearly too small to carry you, but we saw one fat male tourist on a small donkey that was clearly having difficulty carrying him up the hill. Susan told him he should not be riding the donkey and to get off and walk. He was a young man too, clearly capable of walking. We saw lots of young men riding the donkeys and I think they are just too pathetic for words. If you are capable of walking but too lazy to walk then you
shouldn't even bother going at all.
There were horses and horse carriages taking people from the entrance through the Siq to the Treasury, even though it was very narrow in places and there were also camels at the Treasury, and as I said, lots of donkeys. I am proud to say that Susan and I walked the entire site. I have 29,622 steps on my fitbit today.
So, as I said we walked from the gate to the Siq, then entered the Siq. The Siq is a narrow canyon, with high walls on either side, The colours of the rock walls are really beautiful. Petra is called the rose city because of the pinkish colour of the rocks, but they are also yellows and oranges. Amazing colours but the camera doesn't do them justice.
We stopped several times in the Siq for Mohammed to explain about the history and to point out sites (including the Djinn blocks). I was getting slightly anxious during some of these stops as people were passing us and I wanted to get to the Treasury before them. But there were not that many people around at that time, so it was a
Susan
On our way to the Siq. Tombs in the background. good time to start. Plus it was slightly cool at that time of the morning. Not for long though, it certainly was hot later in the day.
At one point, Mohammed said we were halfway through the Siq (though it seemed longer than that to me), and that we didn't seem all that impressed so far (that was met with loud denials "what, no, it's amazing"), and he said he would have a cigarette and let us walk for a bit ahead of him. We walked around a corner, and there it was, the Treasury appearing before us through the narrow walls of the Siq! Mohammed had wanted us to be surprised, and to experience it on our own. It worked, because it really was unexpected to suddenly see the Treasury. It was a great way to see it for the first time.
Mohammed described the Treasury, then gave us time for photos. The Treasury is not a treasury at all, it is a tomb, for the Nabatean King Aretas III (circa 100 BCE - 200 CE). The facade is carved out of sandstone (the Nabateans carved it from the top to the bottom using scaffolding for support).
Djinn Blocks
Circa 50 BCE - 50 CE. Not that many years ago they discovered the Treasury extended farther below than previously realized and I think there is still excavation going on below street level. The Treasury is very beautiful. I wanted a photo of the Treasury with a camel in front of it and I'm happy that I managed to get one.
We then walked the Street of Facades, which is an area of tombs and houses. We stopped a small shop where they made Bedouin sand bottles (we bought a small one), and at a stall for a break and a drink. There are lots of stalls throughout Petra, but the vendors are not annoying. Nothing like in Egypt. We walked to the Theatre (it was not built by the Romans, but by the Nabateans over 2000 years ago, and later enlarged by the Romans).
It was getting fairly hot at this point and this area is out in the open, unlike the Siq. Earlier I had thought I didn't really need my wide-brimmed hat, but from this point on I was certainly glad I had it. It turned out to be quite hot at Petra, and it was a very sunny day.
Tombs
On the way to the Siq. See the stairway on either side of the one the right - it represents a stairway to heaven. We then walked to a viewpoint where Mohammed pointed out the way to get to various sites, and we then had time to explore Petra on our own. We set off along the colonnaded street and the Temenos Gateway, followed by the Great Temple. After that it was time for the climb up to the Monastery. It was over 800 rock hewn steps to reach the Monastery, and it was quite a difficult climb. Stall owners were quite encouraging along the way (you're almost there, keep going). It was quite a relief finally reach the Monastery (it took around 35-40 minutes in the hot sun). There was a tea shop across from the Monastery where I had a pomegranate-orange juice while I sat and waited for the others to arrive (after me came Andy, then Susan, and then Graham and Meredith, followed by some of the others later).
There were several viewpoints around the Monastery (they both had signs saying they had the best view). Of course I wasn't content with reaching the Monastery so I ended up climbing up to BOTH viewpoints. At the first viewpoint I had to go down one section on my butt and keep
Obelisk Tomb
On the way to the Siq. repeating to myself "don't look down". As I was nearing the second viewpoint (this time with Andy) my camera battery died. This was the "best view in Jordan" according to the sign, and my camera battery died! I had the spare in my knapsack, which I had left with Susan at the tea shop. I couldn't believe it. Are you kidding me, the best view in Jordan and I couldn't take photos??!! It was a really amazing view from that viewpoint. We could see Wadi Araba, and Israel. It was a beautiful panoramic view. I actually couldn't stay very long at the viewpoint because of the height. It just felt weird, even when I was clutching onto one of the supporting posts of the little building at the top.
The Monastery is actually larger than the Treasury and was built in the 3rd C BCE, as a tomb. There was a good view of the Monastery from the first viewpoint.
I rejoined Susan and we headed back down the over 800 steps back down. On the way down I bought a pair of camel print pants from one of the stalls (elephant print pants in Bangkok, camel print
pants in Jordan!). We met up with Andy, then headed to the Petra Church, which has exquisite floor mosaics. It was originally built by the Nabateans, then expanded by the Byzantines around 530 CE.
We then found the path leading to a bridge which crosses a canyon (a young Bedouin boy called Akhmed was at the bridge and distracted me from the height by engaging us in conversation). Akhmed showed us the path to the Royal Tombs, which we visited next. Susan and Andy kept going, but I walked up yet more steps to go inside the Tombs, one of which was quite lovely inside, due to the beautiful colour of the rock.
I then rejoined Susan and Andy who were waiting for me at the tea shop we stopped at on the way in, and we began the walk all the way back to the gates. It was quite a long walk just to get to the Treasury, and we were pretty tired at this point. I snapped a few more photos of the Treasury, and we then walked back through the Siq. It was uphill all the way and my feet were starting to get sore.
Once through the Siq we had more walking to do till we finally got to the gates (uphill all the way). The only thing that kept us going was the thought of a beer at the Cave Bar, which is located very close to the gates.
The Cave Bar is in a 2000 year old Natabean tomb, and is very cool inside (literally and figuratively). We had a large draft beer each (Amsell which is very common beer in Jordan as it is brewed here). Then we had a small draft beer each, and smoked a nargile. It was apple flavoured and had a very nice taste. Susan wanted to smoke a nargile in Turkey but never did so it was something we wanted to make sure we did this trip.
We then walked back to our hotel (yes, uphill) and arrived at 5 pm. Susan and I were going to go for a Turkish bath, but at that point we just wanted to go to the room and rest. We ordered a Turkish coffee from room service and flopped on the bed. I later scrubbed the red dust of Petra off in the shower, and we met
the group for dinner at 7:30. The dinner buffet is very good at the hotel, with soup, lots of salads and dips, various mains (I had fish which was really good), roasted veggies, etc, plus several desserts. The bread pudding is particularly good.
After dinner I sorted my suitcase for tomorrow, and worked on the blog. It sure was an amazing day today! Tomorrow we leave at 8 am for our drive back to Amman, stopping at Shobak crusader castle, Madaba, and Dana.
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Don
non-member comment
Lori, that is funny!- You will have to tell me about this way to smoking.Dad