We arrived to Petra around 1:00pm after our transfer from Wadi Rum. Truth be told, we didn’t know much about Petra aside from its iconic Treasury featured in the Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade movie :) For better or worse, moving at the pace we’re moving lately, means we don’t always have a chance to do full due diligence of reading in depth about our destinations in advance. So far that has meant we’ve been pleasantly surprised at all places :)
Yasser pulled over for a few photos at panoramic view spots. At one in particular, there were two versions of a Petra sign. One was clearly the original, in the style of the Petra red rocks and with Arabic lettering. The other, in stark contrast, was plain white block letters preceded by a heart. Doug remarked that it was the pre and post Instagram era signs :) We took pics in front of both, and had fun sending them to our Swedish friend named Petra, back in the States.
We arrived at our hotel, The Petra Guest House, dropped our stuff off in the room and headed straight to meet our guide, Basel, who would take us through Petra for about two hours. Basel didn’t leave us with the best first impression. He literally bounded off, 50 feet in front of us, not waiting for us while we did a quick sunscreen application. The same happened once we were inside Petra. He spoke a mile a minute with a well rehearsed script & thick accent (= we struggled to understand anything he said), and seemed ticked off any time we interrupted his spiel to ask a question. He continued his habit of sprinting off ahead of us to get to the next stop. He didn’t give off even the slightest care for ensuring we had a good, informative tour through Petra. Definitely our worst guide so far.
In spite of Basel, we had a wonderful day in the ancient city of Petra! Dating to around 300 BC, it’s known as the Rose City for its rose-red sandstone rock facades, tombs and temples. Interestingly enough, little is known definitively about Petra and the Nabataean civilization that inhabited it for so long. What they do know is that Petra the city began to prosper as the capital of the Nabataean Empire from the 1st century BC and prospered through the trade of largely spices. It was later annexed to the Romans and thrived until an earthquake destroyed much of it in 4th century AD. The earthquake, plus changes in trade routes, ultimately led Petra's downfall. It was ultimately abandoned, except by the local Bedouin people.
The Treasury
Its most famous structure is a 45-meter high temple with an ornate facade, known as the Treasury. Contrary to popular belief, it was not a bank; rather a tomb for their King. Its facade is also said to depict the world’s first calendar. It was teeming with people, all angling to get a picture, us included :)
Al Siq
Before arriving at the Treasury, you walk through a 1.2 km narrow canyon called Al Siq. We marveled at the tombs and temples that were carved into the sandstone cliffs of the Siq. We learned that the majority of the tombs were for families, and you could tell how many bodies were buried in the tomb based on the number of triangles etched on the outside. One even had 67! Interestingly, to this day, not a single body has been found in Petra, in spite of the hundreds of tombs.
So Much More to See!
We were surprised by how vast the Petra area was! There was a 4,000-seat theater carved into the mountain (the only theater in the world carved into rock!) that was used for celebrations & events, as well as a massive Temple complex. And of course, loads of additional tombs and cave dwellings. Until ~1980 Bedouins (a tribe of people that claimed to be descended from the Nabataeans) still lived in Petra; the King of Jordan then displaced them to a nearby village, and Petra received its UNESCO World Heritage status in 1985.
We happily parted ways with Basel just before lunch. Our plan was to make the trip up to the Monastery after a bite to eat. There was a young boy named Ali that had approached us several times throughout the morning asking if we wanted a donkey ride. There are men/boys all over Petra hustling to get some business. We repeatedly told him we weren’t interested, but that if we changed our minds, we’d find him.
Over lunch we strategized how to best see the Monastery, a 900-step ascent from where we were. We knew the girls were capable of doing it, but we were also cognizant of the fact that we’d still have the 1.2 km walk back through the Siq to reach our hotel. Doug & I wanted to hustle up on foot, but we ultimately decided a donkey ride was the best bet for the girls.That way we could experience the Monastery all together, but we’d ration the girls’ energy for the return trip back to the hotel.
Ali, Where Are You?
We searched high & low for Ali for almost 30 minutes after lunch, but weren’t having any luck finding him. We really wanted to give the “job” to Ali (his persistence earned him it), but we were also running against the clock. We were about to give up & go with one of the other MANY boys/men hustling their donkeys, but Paige insisted we check one more time. It’s funny because she felt very strongly that we go with Ali and not someone else, after all his hard work. Paige & I spotted another boy that recognized had been with Ali earlier in the morning. We stopped him & asked if he knew where Ali was. He started yelling around, and finally Ali popped up from near the restaurant! Ali said he had been looking for us :) Fair to say we were all happy to see each other.
So after a bit of negotiating, the girls were up on donkeys & we were ready to go. In the end, Ali didn’t actually come with us; turns out he’s just the front man, with his excellent English & sweet demeanor. His younger brother & cousin (Ziat & Amran) led the girls on the donkeys. They were both soft spoken, adept at guiding the donkeys & assuring us the girls would be safe and “don’t worry, be happy.” It’s funny to hear what American sayings get traction in other parts of the world.
Donkeys & Bohagirls
The girls did super well atop the donkeys, especially on the way back down some of the steep stair stretches. Doug did a mash-up of videos & still shots of them on the donkeys, which gives the best sense of how the donkey ride went:
The Monastery
We admired the Monastery & views, bought some water and then headed back down.
We saw Ali again at the end of our trip and learned that he & his family (including his cousin, etc.) are Bedouins whose families lived in Petra until they were displaced by the King of Jordan to a neighboring village. We love that the girls are meeting children with such distinctly different lives. Learning that these boys don’t go to school and earn a living this way, definitely made them stop, think and ask questions.
Great Temple
We bid adieu to Ali, Ziat & Amran and checked out our final Petra stop, the Great Temple. Two fun videos from this spot. One of Sadie "blah blah blah-ing" me while I read from our Petra brochure, and another of the girls doing some great beat reporting for their cousins :)
By this point we were ready to call it a day. But we had to muster up a last sprint of energy for the walk back through the Siq. That narrow walkway is really beautiful, so that helped keep us going strong.
Winding Down
We tumbled back into the hotel room & showered. None of us had any energy for a big dinner outing. Being on our feet all day in the baking sun meant we were pretty beat. We opted to have dinner at the Cave Bar in our hotel, finding a smoke-free nook outside. Dinner was nothing to write home about, but it was certainly nice to be able to walk back up to the room within minutes.
Doug had an extra burst of energy after dinner and went out to explore the little town a bit. The girls & I went back to the room, got our pajamas on, brushed teeth, and collapsed into a heap on the bed. I had randomly told the girls about Candid Camera earlier in the night, so I searched on YouTube and we watched a random 1960s episode (which I know can't for the life of me find to include the link, doh). We were all three in fits of laughter, especially on the first “woman with mice earrings” one :)
Lights Out
Doug returned (we apparently didn’t miss much of the town), we showed him the Candid Camera clips and it was lights out for all four of us at 8:30pm!! Glorious. Really glad we included Petra in our travels. It impressed us with its beauty, vastness and mystique of the unknown.
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