Petra

Hello all,

Wow - what a day! So far I’ve done 36,000 steps and we haven’t even done Petra by night yet. But today was magnificent. One of my best days ever!

I woke all through the night due to excitement. We started the day at 5am and were at Petra by 6. There were no other groups around and only a few couples/solo travellers.

Petra is one of the new seven wonders of the world. It’s a city that was constructed by the Nabatean people in about the 6th century BC, and eventually it became their capital. We don’t know too much about the Nabataeans because apart from some coins, bones and statues and the city itself, nothing has been found. No scrolls exist to tell us of their daily life. What we do know, however, is that they were Arabs who moved from Saudi Arabia, and that in the first century AD the Romans came and added their touch to the city (seriously - where weren’t the Romans?!). 

Two earthquakes in 363 and 551 brought ruin, and over time Petra became a forgotten city. However, contrary to popular belief, it was never lost. The local Bedouin people always knew where it was over the centuries but kept it a secret. 

In comes Swiss explorer Jean Louis Burckhardt. In 1812 he arrived, dressed himself as a Muslim man, spoke the local dialect, and managed to convince locals to show him the way. Once he found it, many archaeologists and explorers came to have a look. Today it’s Jordan’s most famous tourist attraction and due to everything being sandstone is often referred to as the ‘Rose City’. 

Petra has over 800 registered sites, including more than 500 tombs. We had a red hot crack at seeing all of them today in the one day we had. 

Our walk started through the Siq, a gorge with huge cliffs rising above you on both sides that have been pulled apart due to tectonic movements over time. I loved this walk. Many people rush through here just to see the famous Treasury, but there is plenty to see along the way. We saw the Djinn blocks, the obelisk tomb, dam walls and an elephant shaped rock. Apparently flash flooding can occur here, so the Nabatean people had built dam walls and water pipes to control the water. After bad floods in 2000-2002, more modern dam walls were also added. 

Then Hakam told us to get our cameras ready, and as we got to the end of the Siq we could see the Treasury. It might sound silly, but I started to cry when I saw the Treasury. Just a couple of overwhelmed, happy tears. I have wanted to come here for most of my life and seeing it in the flesh was incredible. It was sooooo beautiful! I felt overwhelmed due to being here, and proud too. I don’t buy make up, clothes etc at home and since we bought our house I have also sacrificed going to expensive events friends invite me to so that I can continue to travel. Moments and days like this make it all worthwhile. It was definitely a ‘remember forever’ kind of day. 

The Treasury is the best preserved and most famous monument in Petra, probably because it is the best preserved. The high cliffs surrounding it mean that unlike other carvings here, erosion hasn’t damaged it. It is called the Treasury because of a legend saying an Egyptian pharaoh left his treasure in the urn up the top middle. People must have believed this because there it is pockmarked with bullets shot by people trying to get his treasure. 

Like all monuments at Petra, the Treasury was carved from the top down. The tiny foot holes on either side didn’t fill me with confidence safety wise. The Nabateans must have been clever like the Egyptians and Romans. 

After some recent flash floods, it was discovered that there was a tomb complex underneath the Treasury belonging to a Nabatean king. If you’re thinking that the Treasury looks familiar, aside from seeing it online you might be also remembering it from ‘Indiana Jones: The Last Crusade’. However Hakam tells us the inside looks nothing like what it does in the movie. 

We continued on our walking tour with Hakam, and the wind was fierce! We walked through the street of facades, saw the living quarters of regular people. Then we ended at the Roman Theatre. We were given six hours of free time to explore, but most of us decided we would just wander and make our own way back so we weren’t tied to a particular time. 

We saw the Nymphaeum, once a public drinking fountain. Then a couple of temples which had some interesting hexagonal tile patterns. 

Next, myself, Peter, Lara, Keith, Kristine, Harrison and Brabbyn ecided to hike up to the monastery. Coming here in winter was absolutely fantastic for a few reasons:

1. Hardly anyone around 
2. The cold weather means it is easy to walk around a lot 
3. Cheaper prices because people just want to make a sale 

Online I had read this was a hard hike, but we smashed it and it wasn’t that bad. We ascended the walk to the Monastery which was a pilgrimage for the Nabateans. Along the way we saw many cave houses and tents belonging to the Bedouin people that still live here. 

At the top, the monastery was very impressive. I would say equally as impressive as the Treasury, but even less people (3, instead of the 5 outside the Treasury HAHA). The monastery is much wider, so we sheltered from the wind in a cave to eat our lunch while taking in the view. We had a good giggle at an Instagram couple, particularly the lady who was in a dress very inappropriate for today’s weather just for the sake of a photo. I’ll stick to my four layers, thanks!

We climbed a hill and enjoyed sweeping views of the surrounding gorgeous rocks. The colours of the rocks today were stunning. 

On the way down I bought a beautiful necklace and some earrings from a Bedouin family. Amazingly, atop this mountain, they accepted MasterCard! On the way down, another family approached us and a young girl took my arms asking me to buy something. I put on my best calm teacher voice and told her she had to let me go to pass please. It did the trick!

We saw the Lion Tomb on the way down as well which had carved lions either side that you could still make out. Then we checked out Petra Church and its mosaics. 

Next up were the royal tombs which were very impressive, particularly the inside with beautiful swirling colours on the ceiling. Stray dogs also thought so too because we saw lots of cute dogs and puppies here!

Against Hakam’s advice, the seven of us then trekked the Al Khutbah hike which I had found in my Lonely Planet guide and researched online. I’m not sure why he warned us against it, because aside from being a lot of stairs it was fine. Some of the stairs were ancient original ones but this just made it more fun. 

We were rewarded with amazing views of the whole city, which by the way was once home to 30,000 people. The best view came at the end - the Treasury. I had a drink with Lara and Keith at the little shop perched on the edge of the cliff. We sat with our legs dangling for 10 minutes or so, chatting and taking in the view. It was incredible!! I also took a photo of my duck for my Year 7s. 

On the way back down, a herd of goats followed us and ran past us. We then walked back via the Siq where a man said to me “little girl, you need a horse you can’t walk”. And I replied “I’m strong, I’ll be ‘right thanks!” I’m going to have calves of steel when I get home, because we then continued to walk the additional 40 minutes UPHILL back to the hotel instead of getting a taxi.

Kristine, Harrison and I had a quick break at a crepe shop on the way back and the man reminded me of Rowan Atkinson in the department store in ‘Love Actually’. Just when I thought he was finished decorating my crepe, he would add more!

So after an amazing ten hours at Petra today, we are heading back again to see the Treasury by candlelight. I’m tired and achy, but I can’t wait!

Tomorrow night we will be camping in the desert so I doubt I will have internet access. So as always, if no blog, you know why!

Love to all

Claire

Xoxox