Our local Petra tour guide met us at our hotel and told us the history of Petra as we walked down the siq toward the city. The siq is like a narrow canyon with high walls of red rock on either side and opens up onto the Treasury, a Nabatean tomb named the Treasury by local Bedouin who thought that an Egyptian pharoah hid his treasures inside. The myth explains the rifle holes in the urn on top of the Treasury...Walking out of the siq and looking up at the Treasury is a completely different experience by daylight. The Treasury, like all of the Nabatean tombs, was carved directly into the red rocks of Petra. It’s tall and imposing with several columns and intricate carvings. Our guide explained that the Nabateans were influenced by the Greeks, Romans, and Egyptians – carvings depict the sons of Zeus (Greek), eagles (Roman), and the godess Isis (Egyptian). The size of the treasury, the detail in the carvings, and the fact that it was so well preserved after over 2000 years all took my breath away!
View from the siq as it opens up onto the Treasury.
The Treasury!
Paul is a tiny speck compared to the Treasury.
Detail in the carvings.
We continued our tour through the ancient city and then our guide left us to explore on our own. We headed straight for the Monastery. The Monastery is an 800+ stair climb up the mountains. And we’re talking ancient stairs carved into rocks. In the 110+ degree heat. It was worth every step. The Monastery looks like the Treasury (although the detail in the carvings is less well-preserved) but the Monastery is even taller and more imposing. It was incredible. We hiked up to an even higher peak above the Monastery and looked down on the massive Nabatean tomb. All the people in front looked like tiny little specks compared to the Monastery. I seriously cannot understand how the Nabateans were able to carve it into the mountainside.
The climb up to the Monsatery
Can you see me standing in front of the Monastery?
Look how far back into the rocks the Nabateans carved the massive tomb!
We saw amazing views of the mountainous landscape on our hike up to the Monastery!
We left the Monastery and decided to hike along a “secret path” to the High Place of Sacrifice. We blew right by the “Path Not Recommended Without Local Guide, DANGEROUS” sign with our trusty Lonely Planet map in hand. Well, Lonely Planet was not exactly trusty... After walking for an eternity uphill in the hot sunlight we realized we were nowhere near the High Place of Sacrifice. UGH. We were in the middle of the desert, my skin felt like an egg sizzling in a frying pan, and I was turning the same color as the “Rose Red City” of Petra. Luckily Paul was encouraging as I wheezed and sweated my way back toward the main path, complaining and cursing Lonely Planet most of the way...When we finally got back to the main part of the city, we collapsed under a Bedouin tent/shop and bought 2 big waters. After a while, we were revived and hiked up to the Royal Tombs. One tomb, called the Palace Tomb, was built to look like a Roman Palace. Another, the Urn Tomb, was later used as a Byzantine Church and had lots of archways and cavernous rooms. The Royal Tombs were beautiful.
Tomb that was later turned into a church.
Paul standing in front of the Roman Palace tomb.
Me standing in front of the Urn Tomb. We're hard to spot!
After we explored the Royal Tombs, we decided we HAD to make ourselves hike to the High Place of Sacrifice and see the alter on top of the mountain where the Nabateans priests sacrificed animals to the gods. It was my turn to give us encouraging words as we exhaustedly crawled to the top, by this time, covered in layers of “rose red” dust and sweat. Seeing the alter was so strange! I thought it was worth the climb at the time, and now, looking back (while sitting in my PJs) I know it was. And from the top of the mountain we happened to see the spot in the middle of the desert where we decided to turn back after our first attempt to find the High Place of Sacrifice...we definitely walked in the wrong direction. More curses for Lonely Planet.
The climb up to the High Place of Sacrifice.
View of Petra from the High Place of Sacrifice.
The sacrificial alter.
A lovely blood drainage system...
After 10 hours in the 110+ degree heat, we were finally ready to drag ourselves back to our hotel. I never realized the siq is on a downhill slope into Petra, but I definitely did not fail to notice the painful uphill slope on the way back. Ouch. It was not a short walk! I was so happy we had decided to stay at the Movenpick, which is directly across the street from the entrance to Petra. I have never felt so dirty, sweaty, or exhausted in my life. Paul and I drank over 8 liters of water during our 10 hour exploration of Petra and sweated out every drop. I will get a little (or a lot) personal and tell you I know we sweated 8 liters of water because we never once had to make a bathroom stop during the day.
The city of Petra was AMAZING – one of the most amazing sites I have ever seen in my life. However, I have to mention that the Bedouin of Petra often detracted from the experience. Everywhere Bedouin are attempting to sell postcards, jewelry, drinks, donkey rides, even rocks and a lot of the sellers follow visitors refusing to take a polite no for an answer. And the persistent begging is even worse than the attempts to sell overpriced junk. Paul and I managed to ignore the selling and begging tactics most of the time, but it was quite an annoyance. And climbing a mountain to discover the impressive Monastery is a little less triumphant when there are several tent shops at the top...although I guess it was nice to have the option to buy water.
Last thought on the Bedouin of Petra – I was extremely distrubed by the way the animals were treated. Donkeys were constantly beaten and I saw one obviously terrified Donkey whipped repeatedly in an attempt to force him to descend down a sheer cliff. And horses were forced to pull carriages full of lazy guests out of Petra at a full gallop in the insane heat, over bumpy uphill terrain with flat tires. The poor horses were drenched in sweat. On my way out I wasn’t too tired to feel enraged by the way the horses were treated. Mohammed later told us that each horse makes the Bedouin 70,000 JD during the 6 month high season, not to mention the profits from the expesive tickets to enter Petra and the high priced water. Ok, done.
Other interesting facts about Petra:
• Petra is a city of tombs. There are over 700 built into the rocks! The Nabatean homes were free standing and almost all were destroyed by earthquakes.
• Stairs are depicted above most of the tombs. The stairs symbolize the journey from earth to the after life.
• The city of Petra was a “caravan city” on a trading route, which not only gave Petra a lot of wealth but also brought outside cultural influences into the city.
• There are lots of sites in Petra I have not mentioned. It would take weeks to explore the whole city and pages and pages to describe all of the amazing sites I saw in 1 (10 hour) day.
We got back to our hotel at 5 and after a shower and a couple hours of napping, we ventured out into Wadi Musa (the tourist city outside Petra) to eat dinner. We ate at the Red Cave Room, which was one of the best dinners we had in Jordan. I got Kufta al Tahini and Paul got Mansaf, a “traditional Jordanian dish.” Both were lamb, and both were DELICIOUS (although I have to say Paul’s was a little better). It was our first meal that felt like a real Jordanian dinner. Yum. The perfect end to a long, tiring, and INCREDIBLE day.
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