Petra, Jordan, may have been a trip afterthought, but now we were like two little school kids on a field trip, excited, filled with anticipation and ready to explore, its mystique looming large. Our guide, Faris, met us in the Mövenpick lobby and we walked across the road toward Petra's V/C, stopping for a prerequisite photo, below. The morning was sweet, cool and sunny, but the temp would inch toward 90 in the afternoon.
BTW, Mövenpick puts out a great breakfast buffet. I'm waffling here (no pun intended) because I truly didn't know what to expect regarding Petra. I was thinking there was more to see than the building everybody knows as "Petra." Jimmy agrees.
Faris and Jimmy approaching the entry gate.
Hoy! This is probably easier reading if you're on a computer, but even then, you'll need to enlarge the pic. We're starting at the far right, where it says Mövenpick, and it appears we'll be doing A LOT of walking!
From the Visitor Center, we walked along a dusty road, though we could've ridden a horse, but I wanted to walk with Faris and hear him talk about the ancient people -- the Nabateans -- who lived here, who made this city.
Petra's heyday occurred during the 1st century BCE, when it served as the capital of the Nabataean Kingdom. The city flourished due to its strategic location along trade routes, making it a significant center for trade in frankincense, myrrh, and spices.
After the dusty road, we approached the iconic Siq. The Siq is a natural 3/4-mile-long sandstone gorge that gently winds toward the ancient city, until it opens on to the magnificent Treasury. A triumphal arch once spanned the Siq entrance (above), but it collapsed in 1895. I saw an old photo of the arch, and it was perfect, like icing on a cake.
Water channels ran along each side of the Siq and held clay pipes that carried fresh water to the city from springs. We could see some parts of the water channel even after all these years. One side was for people, the other side for animals. Some sections of the old road were still visible, too.
Dramatic.
Consider this: The Siq's narrow, winding path also served a strategic purpose—restricting entry and shielding Petra from potential threats.
I could've spent the entire day in the Siq, with the interplay of light on the rocks, in the often narrow, other times widening gorge which allowed sunlight to enter. Occasionally we walked without others close, but too often we ran into a French-speaking tour group and had to walk away as they were loud (not those above). I love this picture.
I swear, the Nabateans were wizards. They knew what happens to narrow gorges when flash floods occur, so they built dams (far left) in prone areas. They controlled the water. Niches and "god blocks" (middle, left) were carved throughout the Siq to protect those entering and leaving the city. Two large carvings of camels with drovers (middle right), a testament to Nabatean trade, were weathered, but recognizable. There's always something to capture your attention in the Siq.
Walking through the Siq was so cool.
Faris became animated as we approached the end of the Siq, above left. Then, suddenly, we burst out into bright sunlight and in front of us was: Petra. It's called The Treasury, carved into the cliff face. It left us breathless. This is what I thought constituted Petra. Lots of people were milling around in this wide-open space, everyone vying for the best photo. No, you can't go inside, it's off limits these days, but it's empty anyway.
Petra was a city, but essentially what we're seeing here are tombs. We continued walking, along the "Street of Facades" lined with more tomb fronts. Look up at the top right and you'll see a guy standing next to the flag! We didn't join him.
Next came the Roman-style theater, but Nabatean made -- carved out of solid rock! It could seat approx 8500 people. All the other ancient theaters we've seen on this trip have been made with blocks stacked upon blocks. This theater, above, is all carved.
The colors! Oh, the beauty of these rocks.
Continuing along the path, we reached the Royal Tombs, a series of grand burial places including the Urn Tomb, the Silk Tomb, and the Corinthian Tomb. We climbed up here, but they're also empty so we didn't go in. People are atop the tombs (but not us).
Look wayyyy down there, beyond the lone horse, and you'll see tiny people and more Petra! We'll eventually walk to those buildings.
All carved in solid rock.
North of the Colonnaded Street lies the ruins of the Byzantine Church, with its wonderful mosaics. Wiki tells us: Archaeologists concluded that the Church was originally built in the second half of the fifth century CE. It continued to be used as a religious structure until about the early seventh century CE, when it was destroyed by fire. These mosaics retained color and clarity!
Above are the remains of Colonnaded Street, the city’s main shopping street two thousand years ago. On either side of the street are the ruins of the once-grand city center, including the Great Temple, one of the largest Nabatean public buildings. You can see groups of people in the clearing. We'd walk down there after our lunch at the Basin Restaurant, near the trees at right.
I usually don't wear a ball cap, but with my sun visor gone, the cap worked. Here I stand on the Colonnaded Street.
"The pavement marks the emplacement of the main colonnaded street that ran through Petra's city center. Built by the Romans in the second century AD, it replaced an earlier Nabataean street – a spacious dirt-and-gravel road, which may have been lined with houses that followed the winding course of the Wadi Musa, Petra's main riverbed."
But still very rugged.
We skipped hiking up to the Monastery (800 rock-hewn uneven steps) and rejected the offer of a donkey ride up to it. That building very much resembles The Treasury, and we were already on fumes. We're fine with our choice.
More folks were coming in as we were walking out. Jordan is a 97% Muslim country. Today being Friday, Jordanians have the day off for religious reasons (their workweek is Sun-Thurs). On Fridays, Petra offers locals a one-dinar entry fee, so native Jordanians were taking advantage of this.
Jimmy's encounter with Bob: Top -- Bob's head is painted orange, and he has orange spots, don't ask me why. Jimmy says howdy. Bottom left: Jimmy moves in and Bob sticks his neck out to give Jimmy a sniff. Bob then turns his head toward me and the camera and laughs! Honest. I about died laughing. Enlarge the pic and you'll see. Too funny!
Dead on our feet by this time and back at The Treasury, we were willing to spend the 30 Jordanian Dinar each for a shuttle ride back to the VC, but woe on us when we saw the line! Hey, no woe, it was lucky us to share the line with these folks. The lady with the little girl was from Palestine, and she was with relatives from Jordan, Dubai and maybe Lebanon. They all spoke broken English, but they were so happy to talk with people from California, from America. They took our picture. She'd shaved the little girl's head because she thought her hair was too coming in too thin, believing it would now come in thick. I smiled. Special times.
One last pic of us in front of The Treasury. To think I thought this one "building" was Petra. I'm glad I discovered how much more Petra is. This is the Best of the Best.
We treated ourselves to a delish dinner at the hotel restaurant and then crashed. We had 5-6-7 miles on the ol' fitbit (I forget exactly), but a ton o' steps. Tomorrow, we move on to a tent in Wadi Rum! That'll warrant one last post.
