5 Jan - Petra
We woke up after a bad night's sleep due to the cold: the room
temperature was a mere10 degrees (we're not
joking, we
measured with
François'
watch).
That
decided it, we were
not
going to
stay
a
second
night
!
We were on the site of Petra at 8:00. We purchased a 2 day pass
and set off excitedly on the approach walk
towards the As-Siq, the
ancient main entrance
to
the city; an
impressive and beautiful 1200m
long, deep and narrow
gorge. It was stunning
with it's
multi-coloured
rocks, water
channels,
sculptures and
niches
carved into
the
rock.
Emerging
from the
gorge,
we came
face to
face
with
Al-Khazneh
(Treasury)
the
most
famous
monument of
Petra. Amazing
! We
walked
around
the
site all day,
climbing 600 steps
cut in the rock to
the
High Place
of
Sacrifice,
from
where we
had an
awesome
view of
the
ancient
city,
descending
back
down to
visit
many
more
beautiful
tombs
and
then climbing
another
550 steps
the
opposite
side of the
gorge,
from
where
we had a super
view down
over Al-Khazneh.
Finally we
ended
with a
look
at the
theatre
before
retracing
our
steps
through
the
As-Siq. What
is so
impressive
about Petra
is that
the
Nabataeans
carved
everything out of
the
sandstone
rocks; all
the tombs, temple facades,
steps,
obelisks,
statues,
water channels,
etc. What
a
n outstanding
feat
of
patience and
perseverance.
Throughout
the day the
girls
walked
like real
champions, 8
1/2 hours without
complaining:
Bravo
Gaelle and
Sophie
!
Mum
and
Dad
were proud
of
you
!
We found another hotel in Petra, Al Ambat, for the night
and booked there half board. The
price wasn't
much more
than the
previous
night and the
extra Euros spent
were
definitely worth it
!
We
had a
good
meal,
have
a
large
clean
room
and the
heating
actually
works ! The
girls
watched a
brief
extract of Indiana
Jones
III
(which
includes
scenes
shot in
Petra),
before
crashing
out for
the
night,
absolutely
exhausted.
6 Jan - Petra
We treated ourselves to a bit of a lie in this morning before
heading back to Petra. We started the day as
yesterday by walking
down the approach walk
before forking at the
main entrance to a 80m
tunnel that the
Nabataeans dug out of
the rock
to divert flood
waters from their
ancient city
gorge, the
As-Siq. The walk
through
the tunnel
continued for
about an hour and
a half down a
beautiful
gorge before emerging
near the colonnaded
street. We ate our
picnic
on the theatre
steps in the
Great
Petra Temple with
a
spectacular view
of
the
site.
In the afternoon we walked up to the Ad-Deir (monastery) via the
800 steps carved in the rocks. The girls were
beginning to tire but
the promise to pay for a
horse or donkey ride at the end of the
day
if
there were no
tantrums spurred
them on ! The monastery
is
isolated up in the
mountain and when we
arrived the
sunlight was
lighting up
the
whole facade
making
it a
magical
vision.
The
view
over the
desert
and across to
Israel from
the
summit
is
awesome.
The girls were thrilled with the donkey ride through the As-Siq
and as they'd walked so well over both days we
treated
them to
a
horse
ride along
the
approach
road too.
They had
smiles from ears to
ears
!
Petra will leave us magical memories. It's a beautiful place and
we'll surely be back one day.
 |
 |
 |
| Al-Khazneh
(Treasury) |
Exploring
tombs |
Climbing steps
carved
into the
rock |
 |
 |
 |
| On the hilltop
of
the
High
Place of
Sacrifice |
View from the
Garden Temple |
View
overlooking Al-Khazneh |
 |
 |
 |
| Ad-Deir
(Monastery) at the top of 800 steps |
Donkey ride
through the As-Siq |
Horse ride
along approach road in front of the
Obelisk Tomb. |
BACK
| 