MAR-22: Petra

Having transited the Red Sea, ROTTERDAM took the right fork, entering the Gulf of Aqaba.

In Aqaba, Jordan we boarded a bus for Petra.

TOUR DESCRIPTION:  Petra, the Rose Red City

Experience Petra, the amazing lost Rose Red City of the Nabataeans. Petra is a two-hour drive from Aqaba and lies isolated in a valley that was long forbidden to visitors. It is so cleverly concealed by the craggy encircling mountains that it was once "lost" for a thousand years. From this natural fortress, the Nabataeans commanded trade from Arabia and the East, growing richer and more powerful year by year until they were finally conquered by the Romans in AD 106. Your tour of Petra begins with a walk into the city through a narrow gorge call the Siq. This stunning natural canyon winds through the towering rock towards the city. As your guide takes you through the Siq you will see remains of water channels, carvings, and representations of Nabataean gods. The narrow passage is an adventure in itself, for the towering walls create an artificial gloom until you suddenly merge into the blinding light, and there before you is the Treasury, your first glimpse of the Rose Red City. The Treasury is the most famous and outstanding of all monuments. Local legend held that treasure was hidden in the urn at the top of the portal—the bullet marks you can see are evidence of treasure seekers attempts at finding it. Your guide will lead you down the outer Siq, passing the street of the façades before the fine Greek Theater comes into to view. It is now believed that this theater was in fact carved out by the Nabataeans in the 2^nd century BC. It seats around 3,000 spectators. As you approach the main colonnade, you’ll pass a series of fascinating tombs. The Royal Tombs are carved into the face of Jebel Khubtha and consist of the Urn Tomb, the Corinthian Tomb and the three-story Palace Tomb. Leading west is the main street of Petra, which once boasted numerous stately columns along its route. At the end of the street to the left of the path is the partly restored Qasr Al Bint. It is the only freestanding structure in Petra and is thought to have been the main place of worship in the Nabataean city. Mountains surround this extraordinary place, and Bedouin families still inhabit the surrounding areas. Petra is a unique and stunning place—this is a day you will never forget.

TOUR EXPERIENCE

Seventeen full-size buses departed Aqaba for Petra.  We had been coached to let the stampede to the buses pass before queuing up for our bus assignment.  This proved to be good advice.  The last bus was not completely full, giving everyone a bit more space during the two hour trip each way and fewer people huddling around our guide at Petra. 

Quite quickly after we left Aqaba the road started climbing into the mountains.  The roads were good and the climb not nearly as pronounced as the ascents on our inland tour in Oman, but it was continuous.  The terrain was arid with only occasional patches of green.  Rainfall is less that 2.5” per year.  Some basic crops are planted at times of year when rain may occur.  If the rains come the seeds germinate; if not the seeds die.  When crops do grow, they do so quickly and are used mostly to feed goats and camels.

Petra is the lost Rose Red City of the Nabataeans.  The city that hosts Petra is Wadi Musa. Wadi Musa is where we disembarked the buses to enter the Petra Park.   After running a gauntlet of gift shops and showing our ticket at the visitors’ center, we walked along a loose stone road seeing the Djinn Blocks, Obelisk Tomb and other antiquities.  (I am not going to try to explain everything the significance of the things we saw as that would require writing a book.)

We arrived at The Siq; the narrow canyon leading into Petra.

It was amazing to enter Petra through this canyon, coming out at The Treasury.  (If it looks familiar but you can’t quite place it, think Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.)  This entire building was carved into the mountain and from the top of the building downward. 

Before going further into Petra, let me return to The Siq for a moment.  The walls of the canyon rise more than 80 feet.  The canyon is a kilometer long.  It is a descending walk into Petra.  The Nabataeans took advantage of the downward slope to transport water into Petra.  They carved not one but two aqueducts into the walls of the canyon.  One was for potable water and the other for livestock and irrigation.

In The Siq, it was a good idea to keep your eyes and ears open because pedestrians were not the only transients.  Horse-drawn carts passed by at a rapid clip and with a certain disregard for anyone in their path.  We quickly learned to hug the walls whenever a cart approached.

Okay, back to ‘downtown’ Petra.

Leaving The Treasury, we walked down further into the city. 

Only a small part of the Petra has been excavated.  For the foreseeable future the remainder of the city will be left buried to preserve it.  

Petra is build out of sandstone.  Mineral deposits give the sandstone its color.  In some places the leeching of the minerals out of the sandstone create striations of surprisingly vivid color.

Eventually the time came to turn around and retrace our steps.

By the time we hiked back uphill on loose dirt and stones through Petra, The Siq and the road leading to entrance to the park, we felt like this camel. (The camel was just resting. Soon after I took the picture was up and moving.)

We had a pleasant lunch after which we stepped outside to a surprise.  Walking back from Petra there had been some gusts of wind blowing up clouds of sand. 

While we were eating the gusts had become a constant wind that had created a sandstorm.  Though not a severe one, the sandstorm certainly compromised picture taking on the bus ride back to Aqaba.

We arrived back at ROTTERDAM to find the wind had kicked up waves that where causing the ship to tug at its docking lines.  Visibility had reduced to the point that we could no longer see Israel across the harbor.  It had been plainly visible when we left for Petra.  Soon after the ship pulled away from the dock, we lost sight of both shores.

We were fortunate in the timing of our visit for two reasons. 

1. Had the sandstorm arrived a few hours earlier it would have seriously diminished our enjoyment of Petra.

2. We learned that the following day Petra would be closed to the public much of the day to accommodate a special tourist – the President of the United States.

Acknowledging that there are all sorts of “Seven Wonders of the World” lists, the “New Seven Wonders of the World” published in 2008 lists Petra as one.  We have previously been to the other six, so if seeing all seven was a bucket list item we could put a check beside it.  As it happens, we don’t have a bucket list and don’t agree with the New Seven Wonders of the World list.  We both believe the temples of Angkor Archeological Park should be on it, but not replacing Petra.