At 8am, we hopped on a microbus (the photo to the left is not an actual Jordanian microbus - it's just a photo taken off of Google) to take the 3 hour ride to Petra in the south. Jordan is such a compact country, it only takes about 4 hours to traverse the length - it has borders with many interesting countries so that we had the odd sight of seeing a road sign that said "Turn left for Iraq, Saudi Arabia." We figured we would be in Petra by early afternoon. Of course, we hadn't counted on the fact that come hell or high water, a microbus ("grand taxi" in Moroccan phraseology) will not leave until it's full of passengers. When we got on, we were the 5th and 6th passengers - a full microbus takes 16 people. We ended up waiting another 2 hours before the driver could be persuaded to leave. And, to top it all off, we had to pay the driver the fare for two additional people to make up for the fact that only 14 people were on the bus and there were no signs of anybody else wanting to go to Petra. Off we went, then, on the Desert Highway.
We had especially been looking forward to this part of the journey- Petra had been one of the top destinations on this trip for us. And it definitely lived up to our expectations- it was simply amazing. The Nabateans were the builders and occupants of Petra in the 1st Century AD - they controlled part of the trade route between southern Arabia and Europe, trading in frankincense mainly. The architecture and style of Petra reflects the waning influence of the Greeks and the newly ascendant influence of Rome.
If you go to Petra, set aside at least 1.5 days for the place. There are plenty of places to go to and lots of walks. And take plenty of water and sunblock lotion! Also, Petra isn't that far away from Amman (4 hours) or Aqaba (1.5 hours) so definitely go there if you are in Jordan.
The entrance to Petra is through a narrow gorge called the Siq (1.2 km long). Water channels are cut into the mountainside all along the gorge. Horses, horse-drawn carts and donkeys race through this gorge, ferrying tourists to and from Petra. We chose to walk throughout our stay in Petra, as opposed to taking this transport. Of course, this meant avoiding the donkey dung along the way. Very tricky. The photo to the left shows the end of the gorge - you can just see the Treasury building of Petra at the end of the gorge.
Before entering the gorge, one can see huge Djinn Blocks, large wierdly shaped boulders and rocks with tombs carved around them into the mountainside. Nobody knows what the Djinn Blocks were actually used for.
We walked along the main throughway in Petra, seeing a number of buildings carved straight into the mountainside.
Here are some of the tomb entrances on the side of one of the mountains.
Here is a Greek-style amphitheater, again carved out of solid rock.
The Tomb of Urns, built like a palace into the side of the mountain.
Here's a beautiful shot of birds flying around the inside of Petra...
The Monastery. A 1-hour climb from the main city up into the mountains. Beautiful views of the sorrounding mountain range from nearby hills. There was a Spanish woman who had set-up shop here, selling jewellry - she was doing a considerable amount of business, compared to varoius Bedouin shops along the way. Her strategy: enable tourists to pay with Mastercard and no bargaining or negotiating!
In the evenings, we went to restaurants in Petra - all of them serving "Authentic Bedouin food" which turned out to be mostly meat and potatoes. We also went for coffee to the Moevenpick Hotel next door - if you go there, try to get a place on the roof to watch the sunset! Also, try to do the "Petra by Night" tour where visitors are taken at night through the gorge to the Treasury - the gorge is lit by thousands of candles and the guides tell stories about Petra. We did not get to do this but we heard about it from people we met there.
After a tiring and awestruck couple of days in Petra, we got together with another traveller (a British schoolteacher), hired a taxi and set-off for the haunts of Lawrence of Arabia...
-Dev
Comments