The Ancient City of Petra

Upon descent into Aqaba, Jordan’s only port city, the flight path got incredibly complicated. With so many countries so close together (Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia), our plane had to overshoot Jordan’s runway and circle back to stay in the pre-approved air territory. Jordan is in a tough neighborhood, to say the least, but after spending time there I can tell you with confidence that I felt totally safe. The Jordanians are very welcoming people, too!

Flying into Aqaba

When we finally disembarked the plane, we were informed that you could take a ferry 45 minutes to Egypt, drive 30 minutes to Saudi Arabia, or drive 30 minutes to Eilat (Israel). We loaded onto the buses and headed off on our two hour drive from Aqaba to Petra along winding roads. By the time we finally arrived after climbing up to over 5,000 feet and then descending on the other side of the mountains via Kings Highway, it was time for a quick dinner before heading off to bed. The following morning, I decided to rise early. For years, I had dreamt of seeing the Treasury with no people in my photos (one of my biggest pet peeves as a photographer is having people in my photos!). To get these shots, I'm often up at 4am to head to any given location. Thankfully, I didn't have to wake up that early (5:45am), but I was out of the hotel by 6:45am to begin the long walk down to the Treasury. We stayed at the most convenient hotel in the area, the Mövenpick Resort, which is located directly across the street from the entrance to Petra.

Still, it's almost a 2 mile walk from the hotel, through the entrance, down a wide pathway, and through the narrow Siq to actually arrive at the Treasury. 

The pathway before the Siq

Petra is known as the “Pink City” because of the red-hued sandstone used by ancient Nabataeans to create its palaces, tombs and treasury. As we walked down in the early morning, the light began hitting the tips of rocks, starting to illuminate the ancient city in brilliant hues.

Entering the Siq

Bundled up in a few layers of clothing (it was about 36°F when we left the hotel), I sped walk down the pathway, through the Siq. Once you arrive at the entrance to the Siq, you follow the narrow, mile-long gorge to the end of the passageway. This gorge is the only way in and out of the city and at times, the Siq is barely 10 feet wide... flanked on either side by towering rock faces up to four stories high. At the end of the passageway, you reach the iconic Khaznah, known as the Treasury (even though it may have been used as a temple or a tomb). I was at the Treasury by 7:20am (having arrived at the entrance at 7am), determined to photograph Petra with no other people in my shots.

The siq is narrow at times, twisting and turning until you finally reach the Treasury.

The first glimpse of the Treasury.

My early departure and speed walking paid off. As I turned the last corner, I caught a glimpse of the Treasury. It sounds dramatic, but nothing prepared me for that moment. To think that this huge monument, among many others at Petra, was carved directly into the rock in the middle of nowhere? And to have it be so symmetrical, so detailed, so precise? I was overwhelmed. Even now, I get teary eyed thinking about the moment I first laid eyes on the Treasury at Petra. To sum it up, it was magical in every sense of the word.  I took my time standing at the edge of the Siq, suddenly exposed to another world... a large, open, space. I shot the Treasury from various angles, admiring the peacefulness of the early morning. It was just me, two Spaniards, and a Jordanian with his two camels.

Father and son camel at the Treasury

Of course I had to take advantage of the fact that there were no other people at the Treasury... I hopped up on one of the camels and took a few touristy pics!! This symmetrically columned Greek-style building is hewn from the face of a 130 foot cliff that dates back to 56BC. It is Petra's best-preserved monument since it's sheltered from windblown sand and you might recognize the monument from the 1989 Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade film. 

Much-needed touristy photo!

Mom was stuck holding all my camera gear!!

South of Amman on the edge of the Wadi Araba desert, Petra is surrounded by towering sandstone hills giving the city some natural protection against invaders. For centuries, this ancient city was the meeting point of the main routes used by camel caravans transporting spices between the Mediterranean and the Near East, Africa, and India. For hundreds of years, Petra was lost to the western world, carved in sandstone and partially buried in sand. Although it dates back to 1200 BC and was built in an area first inhabited nearly 6 millennia earlier, Petra has only been known to the western world since 1812 when it was "discovered" by Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt. Today, Petra is one of the world's most famous and spectacular archaeological sites where ancient Eastern traditions blend with Hellenistic architecture. It has been declared one of the New Seven Wonders among the Great Wall of China, Rio de Janeiro's Christ the Redeemer Statue, Peru's Machu Picchu, Mexico's Chichen Itza, Rome's Colosseum, and India's Taj Mahal.

After walking around the Treasury, we sat on a bench across the way, staring in awe as the light began to drop down the monstrous cliffs. We talked with local tour guides and tourists, at one point even going off on a mini-photoshoot with someone else from California.

Mini-photoshoot at the Treasury

The Treasury from another angle

By 8:20am, the crowds starting rolling in and the mood totally changed. The peacefulness turned to chaos, as vendors tried to convince tourists to ride donkeys and camels, as people tried to take photos, and as the large tour groups started their lectures. The Treasury's façade is more than 130 feet high and consists of two stories. The lower story resembles a temple façade with six columns, but the columns are unevenly spaced and the pediment is only wide enough to cover the four central columns. On the upper level, a temple within a temple sits atop the lower temple. The façade and roof split in half to make room for a central tholoslike cylinder. The Treasury is the only rock-cut building in Petra with no Nabataean element and links exclusively with the Alexandrian world and Hellenistic artistic traditions... An extreme example of what many have called Roman Baroque architecture due to its parallels with 17th century Italian buildings. According to legend, the stone urn in the Khaznah sheltered the treasure of a pharaoh from the times of Moses. The present urn is sandstone, but whether or not it is the same can't be confirmed. Apparently back in the day, people even tried to shoot at the Treasury in hopes of obtaining the treasure. Today, you can see the bullet holes if you look closely (along with footing marks along the right hand side that were used during the construction and scaffolding phase).

Crowds rolling in

By 8:45am, we started walking towards the Basin Restaurant (where our group would be meeting for lunch) and towards the Monastery. 

Looking back towards the Treasury

While many vendors at Petra can be pushy, others are very respectful if you don't want their services or products. As we were walking, we met a Jordanian nicknamed "Friday" who asked if we wanted to ride donkeys. We said thanks but no thanks (in Arab cultures, you can easily say this by placing your right hand over your heart and saying "thank you"). We continued walking, and walking, and walking. We decided that by this point, we'd have plenty of time to go to the Monastery before lunch as we didn't even see our group at the Treasury. I had originally planned to walk up the 850+ steps but since we were so early, my mom wanted to go too. We turned around, and started talking to Friday again. After some bargaining, we hopped on his two donkeys and headed up the Monastery. Many people had warned me that the donkeys are not well taken care of. Along the way, we saw many donkeys that looked like they could use more food, rest, and care. If you know my mom and I, you'd know we would never condone such treatment. But when we saw how well taken care of Friday's donkeys were, we decided to hitch a ride with him up to the Monastery. To get there, we continued at least another mile or two downhill, stopping to admire various other sites including the Royal Tombs (known as the King's Wall). These tombs consist of the Urn Tomb, the Corinthian Tomb, and the Palace Tomb named for the chromatic effect of the rock.

Royal Tombs as seen from the back of a donkey.

Panorama of the Royal Tombs.

We passed though the Colonnaded Street, which would have been one of the principal shopping streets.

On the left of the street, there is a set of stairs that leads to the market courtyard. This is believed to have been the heart of the city and the center for various commercial activities/transactions during the third century BC.

At the end of the road, you'll find the triple gate which leads to the Temple of Qasr Al-Bint.

We continued down the Colonnaded Street, through the gates, and further downhill past the Basin Restaurant.

Then, it was time for our ascent to the Monastery. Riding a donkey is much like riding a horse... You lean forward when you go uphill, and you lean back when you go downhill. There is even a horn on the saddle for you to hold on to. Now, I know what you're thinking... 850+ steps? How does a donkey do that? Friday told us that the donkeys are only allowed to go to the Monastery twice a day. Once they reach the twice a day limit, the donkeys rest and essentially retire for the day. After the fact, many people had said that riding donkeys up to the Monastery was dangerous because the stairs are extremely uneven and very steep. 

Some of the many stairs up to the Monastery

Maybe it was just our donkeys, but the two donkeys were extremely surefooted and Friday was walking alongside my mom the entire way up... leaving my donkey to do its own thing (luckily, the donkey listened to Friday's verbal commands). After about 30 minutes of a steep uphill climb, we arrived at the Monastery.

The Monastery, known as Ad Dayr, is almost 165 feet tall and about 147 feet wide making it one of the largest monuments in Petra. This building is so huge that the doorway is several stories tall! It was built on the model of the Khaznah (Treasury) but here the bas-reliefs are replaced by niches to house sculptures. Crosses were carved into the rear wall of the interior, thus the name "Monastery" or Dayr in Arabic. Its name, like most of Petra's structures, doesn't reflect its function... this building was most likely a Nabatean temple dedicated to the deified Nabatean king Obodas I. After admiring the structure, sitting in the shade of the tea shop, we decided to head back down to the lunch spot. My legs were already sore from riding the donkey and I didn't particularly enjoy the ride as I couldn't take any photos, so I decided to walk down... I don't know which option was worse. The way down was incredibly steep, slippery with sand, and by now many people (and donkeys) were starting to make their way up. As my mom rode her donkey down with Friday, I often stopped to give my knees a break and to take some photos of the gorgeous valley beneath us.

Taking a breather to admire the landscape

My donkey following mom and Friday down the pathway

Views of the valley from the halfway point

After lunch, we headed back to the hotel. To be able to look around more, we rode Friday's donkeys once more. In Petra, the donkeys and camels are only allowed to take you to the Treasury (instead of the entrance to Petra)... they are not allowed to go through the Siq. So to get back without walking, you have to take either a donkey or a camel up until the Treasury and then transfer to a horse-cart which takes you to the entrance gates of Petra from the Treasury. 

Entrance/exit to Petra

Even without walking back, we definitely got our steps in for the day...

Tonight, we had some evening entertainment along with dinner. The entertainment definitely woke me up after a long day's hike as I had a man dancing with a sword right at my head...

This is a very traditionally Arabic dance known as the Dabke. This Arabic folk dance started in the mountainous regions above the Mediterranean coastline. When it was first created, it was mainly danced by the people of the villages and towns of Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Jordan, Iraq, and some quasi-bedouin tribes that were living in nearby territories. The dance usually starts with a musician playing a solo (we had a man playing bag pipes) and then the dancers start to move together in a synchronized manner. The men step with the left foot and right foot, then cross the left foot over the right and vice versa. 

Each step has a little hop to it, similar to a Greek dance. While dancing the Dabke, there is one main leader (usually called the Lawweeh). In this case, the man with the sword is the leader. He is the one who directs the dancers to slow down or speed up and he'll often sing out in song or break of out line to improvise by himself, even getting audience members to join in. I was exhausted just looking at these dancers!! After their dance performance, it was time for a traditionally Arab dessert... knafeh. Knafeh is made with fine semolina dough soaked in sweet syrup and layered with cheese and pistachios. 

Layering the cheese on

Post-flip, it's time to put the pistachios on!

The following morning, we headed out early to Wadi Rum. Recently gaining UNESCO World Heritage status, Wadi Rum is a desert moonscape and the largest valley in Jordan. The gorgeous desert consists of canyons, rock formations, granite ridges, and sandstone mountains that reach 2,625 feet above the desert floor as well as villages of semi-nomadic Bedouin. We drove almost two hours to Wadi Rum where we transferred to pickup trucks.We off-roaded into the desert, stopping to venture into one of the canyons.

Panorama of the surrounding area

We entered where the person is in the bottom right!

We made our way down the one-way ledge, gripping the wall to sturdy ourselves against the slippery sandstone.

People walking along the ledge on the righthand side

Walking single file into the canyon

Wadi Rum is also famous for its unique collection of petroglyphs and inscriptions. Since prehistoric times, many humans have inhabited the Wadi Rum desert. With over 25,000 petroglyphs and 20,000 inscriptions, we have been able to gain a better insight into the human occupation in Wadi Rum desert. Experts have analyzed petroglyphs of humans and animals and human figures holding bows and arrows. These petroglyphs are believed to be instructions and messages left by the people for one another, possibly even showing hidden spring and updating each other on who visited the area last. These show a pattern of pastoral, agricultural, and urban human activity in the area. The numerous inscriptions around Wadi Rum are made in four different North-Arabian scripts: Thamudic, Nabatean, Islamic and Arabic. These inscriptions show the early development of alphabetical writing among the societies in the peninsula. 

Inscriptions on the left, petroglyphs on the right.

Petroglyph

After exploring the petroglyphs and inscriptions, we headed off to another area for a tea break before heading to the airport for our flight to Marrakech. Here, we hiked up a pretty vertical sand dune for views of the entire valley beneath us. I took my sandals off, walking in the cool, soft, orange-hued sand of Wadi Rum.

Walking up the sand dune

Views from near the top of the sand dune

Panoramic views from the top, and people hiking down for scale at the righthand corner

After our brief but wonderful visit to Wadi Rum, it was time to drive back out of the desert and to the airport for our 7 hour flight to Marrakech.

Driving in Wadi Rum in our pickup trucks

Thanks for reading about my adventures… Stay tuned for what’s to come and be sure to hit the subscribe button to be notified of new posts! As always, follow my Instagram @elissatitle for more pics.