Petra, Jordan
November 19-21, 2019
We have eaten at a restaurant in Pacific Grove called Petra for close to 30 years. Seeing the pictures on the wall I envisioned another place that I was as likely to visit as the moon.
Throughout the trip Bill had been reminding us to visualize the places we visit as they were at the time they were in their prime. Petra today is just some ruins. A temple here. A tomb there. Something named the "Treasury" by later explorers. Yet at the time of Christ this was one of the most active commercial centers in the Middle East. Caravans took six months to travel here from Cairo. It was a place where people of different groups mixed. For more information consult the Wikipedia article that closely aligns with what our Nat Geo guides told us.
Carrie and I visited in different tours. Thus our schedule and places visited overlap. Instead of presenting a time sequence I will instead gather the pictures of the major visits together.
Again if you want to crawl through the full set of images.
Entering Petra
Our hotel was across the street so we were at the ticket gates almost immediately. I was on the early tour and was glad for my 300 weight fleece. The trail I took looped above the central road past the Royal Tombs and over toward the Church. Carrie took a later tour. Her group stayed on the main road to the lunch site at the Basin.
Petra is in a valley. When you follow the trail down you appreciate how much lower the city is than Wadi Musa (where our hotel was). As I discovered on the way back that climb can be a long one.
Google Map of Petra
As Siq
One of first remarkable things about Petra is the entrance through the narrow As Siq. The only thing similar I have ever seen to this canyon is Antelope Canyon in Arizona. The layers of colored rock are quite striking. Since these photos are a mix of my early morning visit, Carrie's later morning visit, and my late afternoon departure the sun will vary quite a bit. I have not attempted to order the pictures except tp place pictures of the Treasury (which at the end of As Siq) last.
Again back to Bill's point. Imagine you have travelled to Petra for six months in a caravan. As Siq is not full of tourists dodging the carts, but instead merchants and other travelers. Think of the awe such an entrance provides. The canyon also kept the city safe until the Romans came.
The Treasury
At the end of As Siq one comes to the iconic building of Petra - the Treasury. This is far from most of the city. Also it was not a treasury. It was actually a tomb as evacuations shown in the uncurated pages reveal.
The Treasury is revealed as you get near the end of the As Siq. View the movie to appreciate this.
Tombs and upper Petra
Continuing down the hill from the Treasury the valley opens up to the main area of Petra. At this point my group left the main road and went into the hills on the north side. Carrie's group continued on the main road to the south side and the lunch area. The pictures below are mostly mine so we will be looking down on the main city.
It is a name given to the row of monumental Nabataean tombs carved in the southern cliff face. When the city was operating this would have the beginning of the main commercial area.
here is an annotated version of this picture.
Carrie return
The group met for lunch at the Basin restaurant at the far side of Petra. After lunch we split again. Carrie returned to the hotel. First she rode a camel from the Basin back to the Treasury. She then switched to a cart for the remainder of the trip
Monastery
I decided to climb the 220m up to the Monastery. I was again thanking good fortune as the day was still cool. The hike is long, but not hard. There are some stretches where you have to walk over rock faces, but it is mostly just steps - a lot of them.
Google Map of Trail to Monastery
The Monastery
(Ad-Dayr or Ad-Deir in Arabic) Location
The plane crew also decided to climb. We ran into them coming down.
Beyond the Monastery were a couple of overlooks that offered limited views to the Jordan valley.
Having done the Monastery now it was just a matter of getting back. Gravity helped getting back to the Basin, but remember all that downhill from this morning? I cheated and took a donkey back to the Treasury (the camels were all busy). From there another guest and I decided to walk. That helped us to remember how much altitude we lost.
Evening Program
In the evening we had a recap briefing, dinner, and a show
Wadi Rum
Our plane was set to leave Aqaba at 12:30 which left us time for a morning visit. The Wadi Rum area was on the way. It is a desert valley which they have left without roads. One portion that we visited contains petroglyphs.
Wadi Rum is also a popular Hollywood set with one of the most recent features being "The Martian".
Departure
In the air again. We headed north of Cairo where we could briefly see the pyramids as little triangles at the edge of the clouds. Then over the Mediterranean and on to Marrakech. Surprisingly we arrived to rain despite this being an otherwise dry area. Our flight to Morocco was 5hr 10min.
On to Morocco