Petra: "A Rose-Red City Half as Old as Time"

I vividly remember Dr. Bedell's class in 9th grade where she described the wonder that is Petra. Her stories of when she visited, the accompanying photographs she took of the beautiful rose-stone city, and the history of this incredible UNESCO World Heritage Site all drew me in and I have been wanting to visit the archaeological park since then. Today, I finally got to see the wonder of Petra. 

We left Amman in a torrential downpour at 7:15am. Apparently, Petra wasn't supposed to be getting much rain today, but I was still disappointed that we would be going on a grey day. The point is to see the sun hitting the rocks and making them turn rosy-pink! I slept off most of my sadness in an uncomfortable position in the backseat for the 4 hour drive. When we were half an hour away from Petra, we drove straight into a low-hanging cloud. We couldn't see beyond 5 meters in front of us and had to take it very slowly. We were all worried that it would be the same in Petra and we had just driven 4 hours for nothing! The unease was palpable in the car...

However, we soon burst from the cloud and on the other side, we could see the city of Petra spread out across the valley below us. It was a cute city, with buildings the same as the ones in Amman. Ghamid drove us down the winding road and dropped us off at the gates of Petra. The visibility was clear!!

Even though I had learned a lot about the Nabataean city of Petra in class and seen it in pictures in Zaynee's blog and Facebook, I was shocked with how large it was. It was also amazing to see how many foreign and cultural influences were included in Petra. The Nabataeans were open to outside cultural influences, and accepted them as their own. Therefore, there are classical styles, Egyptian, Mesopotamian, and local styles of artwork around the city. We first came across this when we got to the As-Siq. This is the ancient main entrance of the city of Petra. It was incredible: it's a 1200 meter long, deep and narrow gorge in the rosy colored, 80 meter high rocks. The geological formations were beautiful, with smooth rounded rocks in multicolored strata and carvings such as camel caravans or elephant faces in the stone.

It took quite a while to pass through the Siq, and at times it became a ferocious wind tunnel, but as soon as we exited, we were directly in front of the Al-Khazneh (the Treasury). It is the most beautiful monument in the city. According to the guide we got: "The architectural style of it was quite unique in the ancient world. Main inspiration was Hellenistic, Alexandrian Hellenistic, plus that unique encompassing Nabataen artistic touch." It was literally breathtaking. It was carved in the 1st century BC as a tomb for an important Nabataen king. Lucky him!

Camel chilling in front of the Treasury!

Hanaa had a fit of excitement because lots of camels were wandering around in front of the Treasury. I took lots of photos of her with the camels, but she really wanted a selfie with one, for some reason...and ended up with this gem that I can't stop laughing over. We left the camels alone afterwards.

Either he's trying to imitate her typical "selfie" face or he's trying to bite her HAHA

Me in my traditional Jordanian head scarf and my unamused camel friend

We continued past the treasury, dodging Bedouins trying to put us on their camels and donkeys or sell us trinkets we didn't want, and walked past lots of little shops set up. Hanaa managed to find a sterling silver bracelet with lapis lazuli stones, and Dad managed to haggle it down for her. I was more interested in the views. They were all so stunning and such an incredible archaeological feat! We saw the Obelisk tomb and Triclinium (a chamber with three benches where sacred feasts to honor the dead took place annually for Nabataens), the High Place of Sacrifice and Urn Tomb, the Theater (similar to the amphitheater), the Palace Tomb, and the Colonnaded Street. It was literally so amazing that I can't put it into words; so here are a few of the hundreds of pictures we took today.

Pano of me climbing up to the Urn Tomb (in my headscarf! It kept me warm and kept the blowing sand out of my hair!)

View of the Palace Tomb

Urn Tomb up close

We had a buffet lunch at a restaurant near the base of a gigantic mountain, upon where a monastery sat. Zaynee said it was definitely worth hiking up to the top, but Mom and Dad decided to have some mint tea instead, since we had done a lot of walking and climbing. So Hanaa and I braved the 1.6 mile hike up ourselves. It was so difficult. We are both relatively fit (her more than me probably) but we still had to stop about 10 times to recover from the steep steps and sloping stone footholds. We finally made it to the top and saw the monastery...before seeing that there was a higher viewing point above us. 

Climbing up to the Monastery

Mountain Goat friends on the trek up

The cutest little Bedouin we met on the way up

Hanaa and I twinning in front of the Monastery

After coming all the way up, we didn't want to miss out on the topmost point. Hanaa and I hiked up and were rewarded with amazing views of the Wadi (valley), Petra city, the Monastery, and other valleys and gorges around us. It was almost like an older, bigger version of the Grand Canyon in Arizona, USA. The top was incredibly windy, even after sweating on the way up, and we nearly got blown off. We took that as our cue to get down and start the descent. 

Monastery from the Viewing point

Me at the very top overlooking the Wadi!

Hanaa's favourite part of the day was next. We met Mom and Dad half an hour later with a Bedouin holding onto two camels. For 25 JD (Dad was an expert haggler), Waheed and Sourjan (the camels) took us back to the Siq. I hadn't ridden a camel since I was 6 or 7 years old in Dubai, and Hanaa never had. She was too young in Dubai and was put on a donkey instead (lol). This was finally her chance to ride a camel! She chose the big one and we made our way back past the Nabataen carvings to the Siq on camelback. It was so much fun (and a nice rest for our legs after that strenuous hike)!

Me riding Waheed

Our new rides: Waheed and Sourjan

Riding off into Petra

Mom and Dad, who walked, caught up with us at the Siq and we tiredly plodded through the gorge. It took much longer on the way back, and when we finally came out the other side, we still had one more hill to conquer. Mom couldn't do it. All day, repeatedly, she had said she was not going to "ride on the back of a beast," be it donkey, horse, or camel (all of which were available), but now she changed her mind. Men with horses were waiting outside the Siq and she picked one named Casper and his owner, Ishmael, walked her up the hill while we took photos of her. Mom says she is very glad she didn't have to walk that last stretch. Poor Dad walked the entire way back and must be exhausted! He deserves a massage at the Dead Sea if we go again...

Mom riding Casper with the sunset over Petra behind her

It had been an incredible trip to Petra, and I'm literally so enchanted by the mythical multicolored sandstone and Nabataen carvings. The "rose-red city half as old as time" truly captured my heart and I know I won't be forgetting those breathtaking views anytime soon. And Hanaa will always remember her first camel ride!

Camels in front of the Treasury