Aqaba and Petra, Jordan

Friday April 18

The ship docked early at the port of Aqaba, and by 7:30 we were in our allocated coach and heading for Petra, the Rose Red city of the Narabeans. It was an interesting 2 hour drive as we initially passed the Wadi Rum mountains in the distance and the smaller settlements outside of Aqaba before turning onto the Kings Way. This was named after the route that Moses led the Israelites through this part of the desert (we can see why they complained!) and as we climbed higher we had great panoramic views over the nearby mountains, the Rift Valley and the plain of Jordan. Our guide also pointed out the tomb of Aaron perched high on one of the peaks, so it's significant biblical countryside.

We continually passed lots of Bedouin tents, flocks of sheep and goats and could see patches of green where they grow maize for their flocks, and this is still done manually on each family's plot of land. As we neared the modern part Petra we were treated to our first view of how ancient Petra blends in with the surrounding mountains (see if you can find it!)

Approaching Petra.

Another interesting fact the guide told us was that the spring of Moses (where he struck the rock with his staff) still provides water for the people in the valley and of course the Nabateans relied on it, and you could see how the olive trees and other plants thrived along this water course.

We were on coach 12 (out of 23 from the ship) so we followed our guide into the site proper. It was very exciting as we commenced the first portion of the walk, which was 2 laned - one for pedestrians and one for horses, donkeys and horse drawn carts. As the gorge narrowed it became a shared path which meant you had to watch out in both directions as well as admiring the scenery around you.

The first major building we came to was the Obelisk Tomb which contained Egytian as well as Greco-Roman influences, and involved great skill to carve from the surrounding rock.

Obelisk Tomb and Bab As-Siq Triclinium.

As we ventured along the path admiring the skill of the Nabateans you could see where they had carved separate irrigation channels into the rocks for their water supply - one for animals and crops and the other for their drinking water, when we came upon this rock formation which definitely looked like an elephant!

Elephant rock.

The excitement was growing as we continued along the path, which narrowed while the cliffs either side of us soared to heights of 80 meters above us. Then through a narrow opening we caught our first site of the magnificent Al-Khazneh or Treasury. We walked into the open area in front of the Treasury, and the throng of tourists jostling to photograph it were dwarfed by the 43m height and 30m width, which was glowing in the morning sunlight. It was carved in the 1st century BC as a tomb for an important king and was later used as a temple, but showcases the engineering genius of the Nabateans. Being in front of this beautiful building was one of those breathtaking moments!

The Treasury.

Noelle and friends.

As we walked past the Treasury the gorge opened up to a valley with fascinating holes carved into the rocks for homes as well as tombs. At "street" level there was more 4 legged traffic with horses, donkeys and camels as well as the tourists but at least there was more space for everyone. Next major building was the Theatre, which originally sat about 3000 people but the Romans later expanded it to about 7000 people.

 

The Theatre.

With the extra space in this part of the city there was more room for facilities like cafés, toilets and of course the street vendors, both fixed sites and the 2 legged type of very young and old age groups. We found them to be friendly and nice, but if you showed too much interest they would follow you for a while, or until you bought something from them!

We then came across another string of Royal Tombs about 2000 years old, and the carving and colours on some of them was amazing. However erosion, alterations and damage had taken their toll on some more than others, and the Urn Tomb below was probably the best preserved of the lot.

 

The Urn Tomb.

Unfortunately we didn't have time to explore further as we had a lunch provided as part of our tour before we headed back to the ship, and to do Petra justice you really need a full day or two to explore the whole site. There was also the 3-4 km walk back to the entrance, and it was uphill and a lot hotter than when we started. However walking around the ship and taking the stairs instead of the lifts helped us make it back in time, but we could still tell we'd had a big day on our feet once we were back on the coach and heading for our home away from home. It was a big day but we wouldn't have missed it for the world, and can thoroughly recommend Petra and Jordan as places to visit.

 

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