The wonder(ful) Petra!
How could I have visited Jordan and not write about Petra? A lot has been written and said about Petra but nothing prepares you. To believe, it really has to be seen.
Petra is one of the Seven Wonders of the World and definitely Jordan’s most valuable asset. It’s a vast, unique ancient city that was cut and carved into sheer rock face by the industrious Arab tribe Nabateans more than 2000 years ago!
The city is spread over a huge area and is cordoned off to preserve its integrity. Even as you enter through the large visitor’s centre and swipe your tickets to enter, you see and feel how big and significant the place is from the sheer volume of tourists, guides and shops flocking the place in comparison to any other site in the Jordan.
Walking from the entrance to the Siq takes 20 minutes with a few buildings and ruins on either side of the pathway. In 1.2km long stretch of 9-3m width (in certain places), with clearly carved out sculptures, temples, water channels and breathtaking views from the gorge, the Siq at Petra is one of the most unique. And like a pot of gold at the end of a captivating rainbow, the beautiful Treasury stands at the end of the Siq.
The treasury – the name doesn’t mean much, it was a temple & tomb of the ruler who made it and is one of the most exquisite displays of the ancient Nabetean prowess in architecture and culture.
Despite walking for 2 hours, I was still awestruck by its sheer magnificence and stood silently for 5 minutes in front of the treasury. Yes, the same spot where they filmed the last scenes of Indiana Jones and the last Crusade so!
The Nabateans were indeed a very clever group, for having planned to showcase their best work in a well-guarded, self-sufficient space at the end of the long narrow passage (gorge) that also stood as a heavy guard of the entire city. Today, the space in front has tons of camels available for rides, shops selling souvenirs and so on.
As I said, Petra is huge and the site only just begins from the treasury. There are several guided tours, treks and trails that tourists can avail to visit the vast multitude of tombs, temples and monuments inside.
Excavated sites lay lined up on either side of the main path, like the dilapidated roman amphitheater, several tombs and temples, a large market place are on the main passage that leads up to the monastery, located on the north side of the city centre.
936 rough, narrow, slippery steps cut out of sandstone lead to the second largest facade in the site. Though most people say the climb takes about 45 minutes, its a whole lot more strenuous and can take 1-2 hours, but its still fun and quite the experience.
Adding to the nature of the brittle, narrow sandstone steps often winding around the mountains, plenty of donkeys and horses ride up and down the path carrying tourists to and from the monastery.
Reaching to the top you get rewarded with the amazing facade of the monastery and a small shop serving drinks and eatables with plenty of seatings, so that you can relax as long as you want while taking in the gorgeous views. If you are still thirsty for some trails and climbs, you can climb up some view points in and around the highest point of Petra, which is a 50m high with rough rocks and boulders.
But it offers a spectacular view of the monastery with entire city of Petra on one side and the green valley with a distant view of Israel on the other.
Walking back you need to take the exact same route, down those steps walking through the main pathway, reaching the treasury, through the Siq and back to the visitors centre.
The entire length may cover somewhere around 13-14 km and to aid tourists, the local Bedouins have set up shops selling drinks & snacks to refresh yourselves, souvenirs or maps for taking with you and an array or horse carriage rides, camels and donkeys in each stretch of the city.
Attractions besides visiting the ancient city would include: ‘Petra By Night’ a mesmerizing event held thrice a week in front of the treasury where candles are lit & tribal songs are sung; Turkish baths in the surrounding area of Wadi Musa; Seeing the beautiful sunset through the rocks of Petra from Wadi Musa.
(Shreya Vaidyanathan is an ex-Bahrain resident and an alumnus of the Indian School Bahrain. She is eager to explore new cities, towns and villages, to see how others love or laugh or live on this planet, to experience different cultural traditions, taste new food and buy new clothes in different cities. You can read more of her travelogues at https://traveltreasurer.wordpress.com/about/)
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