Tuesday, April 11, 2023 - Aqaba, Jordan and Magnificent Petra

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Tuesday, April 11, 2023 – Aqaba, Jordan and Petra 

We arrived at our dock in Aqaba, Jordan just as it was getting light. The mountains are very close to the town and make for a dramatic backdrop. We are set for a 10 hour tour today to “Magnificent Petra”. It is one of the “new” 7 Wonders of the World. The bus ride is over 2 hours to get there, and the weather forecast is for cool temperatures and possibly rain. It can’t rain, Jordan only gets about 2” of rain annually. But the day before, it had really rained and there were flash floods and as happens with flash floods, there were people missing. We saw lots of evidence of recent flowing water.

 

 

 

As we ascended into the mountains, we drove into the clouds. The driver did an amazing job as you couldn’t see much of the road. About ½ way, we stopped for a “comfort stop”. Used the restrooms and got a cup of coffee. 

We were the first bus from the Neptune to arrive at Petra. There are over 500 people from the Neptune that will be visiting Petra today and the Cunard Queen Victoria pulled into Aqaba right behind us. She has the potential of almost 2,400 passengers. 

It is misting in Petra and cool. We are glad we changed from shorts to long pants for the day. Our guide had explained a great deal about Petra to us while we were on the bus. He’ll walk with us as far as the Treasury, but then he’ll give us free time to explore what interests us. (Think about Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade. The culmination was filmed at Petra) He also provided us with an excellent map. The hike downhill to the Treasury is about 2 kilometers. The road/trail is dirt, therefore today it is mud. About ½ way, you enter what is referred to as The Siq which is a natural crack in the rocks wide enough to walk through. You walk in the Siq for over 1 kilometer. (Indiana rode his horse through the Siq in the movie.)

 

Obelisk Tomb.

This is one of the larger ones.

The Nabateans lived in caves like this one.

Heading into the Siq.

This ditch runs along the Siq and transported rain water into cisterns.

 

Some areas widened out, other areas were pretty narrow. But it never felt claustrophobic.

The Nabataeans lived here and dug these tombs around the 4^th century BC. Peoples have lived in the area for at least 7,000 years. The fancier the tomb, the more important was the person buried there. The residents probably lived in unadorned caves that you see, but when they buried their dead, they did there best to beautify the tomb. Petra was on the Silk Road and became a very important player in the trade routes between Asia and Europe. However, once the sea routes for shipping spices were established, the inhabitants of Petra disappeared, and these tombs were forgotten about. 

The colors of the sandstone are beautiful. Petra is referred to as the Rose Red City because of the red sandstone, but there are so many other colors in the rock. The Nabataeans also knew how to harvest rainwater and had cisterns inside the mountains so they always had sufficient water. 

The Siq meanders through the rock and the walls tower over your head well over 100’. The floor has been paved in areas, and in areas there are the remains of an old Roman roadway. As you near the end of the Siq, you catch a glimpse of The Treasury. Then it is simply there in your face. The Treasury is at least 120’ tall. It has been labeled The Treasury as it was believed a king’s treasure was in a large urn high on the face of the building. The Bedouin’s took to shooting at the urn, thinking it would break open and the treasure would spill out.

Peek-a-boo.

A little bit more.

Wow! 

Nothing was added. This was carved out of solid rock.

It's about 130 feet tall.

The detail was amazing. How has it survived this long in this condition?

At one time you could enter. Now it is closed off. Our guide said it was very plain on the inside, just 3 rooms.

Just a few people here today to see this amazing spot.
 

 

 

After soaking in that façade, you turn to your right and wander down a very narrow valley that has tombs all along it. When the valley opens up a bit, you find the Theatre. An amphitheater that was carved out of the rock and could sit 8,500 people. That is as far as we got, as we knew we had a long hike back up the hill. To see it all, you would need several days. We made the hike in good time and then were served a nice buffet lunch.

Heading in the direction of the amphitheater.

Just a bit muddy.

The day before there had been a flash flood through here and you could see where they had brought tractors in to deal with the aftermath.

Tomb after tomb

All the beautiful colors in the rock.

In the cloudy weather the seats of the amphitheater don't show very well.

The columns are from the area of the stage.

Heading back into the Siq for the walk out.

The large stones Russ is walking on are the remains of a Roman road.

This is in the Siq. I felt it looked like someone emerging from the rock.

 

 

 

The Bedouins had camped in many of the caves in this area, but were relocated in the 1980s when Petra started to become a tourist attraction and UNESCO had an interest in it. All of the vendors working the site are Bedouin. They are quite aggressive, but took NO far better than any vendors we’ve dealt with so far. We also noticed that the horses they were trying to rent were in excellent condition and were beautiful Arabian horses. Their goats were grazing throughout the area.

 

 

 

The return bus ride was even longer as the clouds had not diminished and visibility was down to about zero. Many of the rock formations looked very interesting. That ride would have been very enjoyable if we hadn’t been in a cloud where we could see nothing. 

One of our more impressive excursions. The bus ride was long but it was certainly worth it.