Jordan



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.


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