twenty ten chelle & ben: Jordan Day 5&6: Petra

Finally the day I most looked forward to had come. We arrived at the visitor centre just after 7pm and as luck would have it, were assigned the “best english guide” according to our Petra travel agent. He was actually a fantastic guide and I think this was the 1^st time I really appreciated having a guide. I had come to Petra knowing it was an ancient city carved into the rock and not much else.

I cannot begin to describe Petra. It is just one of those places you have to experience for yourself. Past the visitor centre, we walked down a wide gorge containing a few Nabataean tombs. Ahead there is a split in the mountain and we enter the Siq – a narrow gorge about 1km long, leading the way into the ancient city. It was very narrow at times and had beautifully coloured rock. There were parts of the original paving on the floor, carvings and also water channels carved into either side of the rock. Through a glimpse in the rock walls, we see our first sights of the well know Treasury ahead. The gorge opens out and it’s revealed completely.

1st gorge

the siq

the treasury

the treasury

Next we walk the Street of Facades with Nabataean tombs carved into the left hand side of the gorge and we see the theatre. A little further along are the impressive but very damaged Royal Tombs.

Street of Facades

Theatre

The gorge flattens out and we walk down the Colonnaded Street, with remains of shops and temples on either side and a gate at the end. Our guide leaves us at the end of the street in front of the only remaining freestanding building in Petra, a temple.

colonnaded street

gate

temple

We then walk the 800 steps carved into the mountain that lead up to the Monastery. A tiresome but beautiful walk, definitely worth the effort as we finally reach the Monastery – I’d say just as impressive as the Treasury, if not more. A little past the Monastery were some amazing view points of the surrounding area.

Monastery

View

Monastery

After walking back down the 800 steps we walked up another mountain to the remains of a crusader temple, had lunch there with great views of the Colonnaded Street and Royal Tombs in the distance.

View of colonnaded street etc

Being quite tired by this stage, we then explored the Great Temple and The Church (with mosaic floor) and lastly the Royal Tombs.

Royal Tombs

We finally make our way back to the hotel (with one last look at the Treasury) around 4:30pm ... a massive 9hr day and it’s not over yet. We have a fantastic dinner at Cleopatra Restaurant (no idea where we found the energy to walk up into town for that meal) then head back down to the visitor centre for “Petra by Night”. The path leading to the Treasury was lit only by candlelight and once we reached the Treasury we were served tea while we enjoyed some traditional music and a story.

Treasury

the siq

The following morning we headed out at 6am and made our way for the Treasury. When we got there there was only one other couple there. They soon moved on and we had the entire place to our selves. Next we headed up to the High Place of Sacrifice where we enjoyed breakfast with fantastic views. The walk down the other side of the mountains was quite interesting, with different Tombs and ruins along the way. We then headed back to our hotel, with yet another last look at the Treasury and packed up for our trip to Wadi Rum.