We arrived in Petra on thursday Sept 9th. Petra is located in southern Jordan , about a 3 hour drive from Amman. This area was first settled in the 6th century BC by the Nabataean tribe.
Luckily for us there was a candle light tour of Petra that evening! So we joined about another 200 tourists at 8:15pm and began the leisurely stroll towards the entrance. We were instructed not to take photos, not to use flashlights, walk in no more than 2’s, and to refrain from speaking if possible – just to enjoy the ambiance! What an evening – the sky was clear and sprinkled with thousands of stars – no planetarium could duplicate this! After a few minutes we entered the Siq – the long gorge that leads into the center of Petra. It is approximately 3/4 mile long and it’s walls reach heights of over 650 ft. (You can see photos below from when we visited during the daylight hours!). Candles in brown bags lined the Siq and it was magical as we walked through these formations. At times the walls were far apart and then at times I felt I could touch both sides if I reached out far enough! At one point the formations above curved over us and we couldn’t even see the sky!! Most people obeyed the no talking rule and that did add much peacefulness to the event!
After about 30 minutes I began to see a large opening ahead covered by hundreds of candles. The anticipation mounts! We then enter the large area and are met by the massive Treasury building – over 140ft high and 100 ft wide! (photo below). This building is carved out of sandstone and was to serve as a tomb for the Nabataean King Aretas III built somewhere around 100 BC to 200 AD. But the name Treasury comes from the story that an Egyptian pharaoh hid his treasure there while pursuing the Israelites!
We were instructed to sit outside the candle lit area on mats and were then served the traditional arabic mint tea! Still not being allowed to take photographs. It then took quite a while for all 200 of us to be seated. When it finally became truly silent again, we were serenaded by a gentleman playing a traditional string instrument, followed by a gentleman who strolled through the candles playing arabic music on a flute. It was all quite beautiful! We then were given permission to walk around. We tried taking photos but it was so dark, and the pictures didn’t really capture the moment! We strolled back to the hotel on our own-it was a great evening.
The next morning we started off to repeat our walk from the night before and to continue on into the city center! The formations were spectacular-we had missed that the night before! This time upon reaching the Treasury again we were met by camels! “Please Daddy..” the girls cried! Ok you have to do this at least once! So we bargained with the handler and mounted up!! They would lead us along the almost 2 mile long road through the city. What a picture! I will tell you that it was a lot of fun, but not comfortable at all!! We stopped along the way to take photos of ruins and tombs. At the end of that ride we were met again by local Bedouin tribe men who offered us donkey rides up the over 800 steps to the Monastery. OK why not, so we saddled up again – a bit closer to the ground this time! This didn’t seem so bad until the steps became really steep, the terrain fairly rugged, and the path a bit narrow!! The girls seemed to be fine but I was a bit nervous! The handlers that we guiding us were great – they sensed my nervousness and said, “These donkeys take this trip 4 times a day and can carry up to 250 lbs!” At the top I was glad to get off and then was told we had to walk the last few steps on our own! It was now mid day and the temperature was reaching 100* But again we were greeted with a spectacular sight! Impressive views of the city and the Monastery. (Those of you who saw the movie “Transformers 2” will recognize this building and other parts of Petra!) It looks quite similar to the Treasury but is 150 ft high and over 160 ft wide. It was built in the 3rd century BC as a tomb, but is believed to have also been used as a church during in Byzantine times.
We were thankful for the small drink stall across from the Monastery. It was quite peaceful sitting under the tent while we caught our breath and rehydrated ourselves! But then it was time to go back down! Our donkeys were waiting for us but Sara and I decided the path at the top was a bit too steep on top of a donkey so we decided to walk along side the donkey until the path leveled off! Leon & Elise were troopers and rode all the way down. Our group of handlers had grown to 5 as some of the leader’s friends tagged along. Our leader – Salem – was only 23 years old and was a Bedouin who lived in a tent nearby and owned the donkyes we were riding. This is how many of them make a living. His friends were young boys who looked about 12 & 14. The younger boy took a liking to Elise and wanted to know how many camels we would take for her! We had fun negotiating with him! But Elise told us later she was getting a bit nervous thinking we were serious! It was sad to think this was the life these boys would follow. They probably didn’t go to school, and were happy to receive a small portion of what the leader gave them when we paid at the end of our journey.
Back at the Treasury we dismounted and found ourselves quite sore!!!! (Some of us are still walking funny!!) We walked back to the hotel and arrived exhausted and extremely thirsty, but having had a wonderful experience! Something I will remember forever!
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