20091227 – Petra

We left the hotel for a very short drive to Petra at 8:00. The weather was cool and sunny. Later in the day it was warm and sunny – shirt sleeves and shorts. We spent all day there, leaving at 4:00. It was an awesome visit. Iyad gave us very good explanations of the major sites. He lead us slowly down the King’s Highway increasing the anticipation of seeing the Treasury at each stop. The Treasury is the main attraction of Petra, although there are many other temples, tombs, caves, etc. to exclaim over. I can’t describe the physical layout or talk about its history. Go to this web site to learn more. Here’s what OAT has to say about it:

Nothing can prepare you for the splendor of this red-hued city of stone. Here the Nabataeans, Arabs who dominated the area prior to the Romans, carved elaborate temples and tombs out of the sandstone. There are only a few freestanding buildings here, with over 800 monuments carved into the stone.

You approach Petra astride a horse guided by a Bedouin (you can walk if you prefer). We leave our horse at the siq, a narrow passage between 600-foot-high overhanging sandstone cliffs, and enter on foot. Exiting the darkness of the siq, you stand agape before the towering brightness of El Kazneh (The Treasury), a 140-foot high edifice carved into a mountain. Then you see the hundreds of soaring temples, tombs, and houses, as well as a Roman theater, in the cliffs around you. The Victorian traveler and poet, Dean Burgon, gave Petra a description which holds to this day, “Match me such a marvel save in Eastern clime, a rose-red city half as old as time”.

I took a lot of photos which will be referenced on our web site later.

Dinner tonight was at our hotel.

It’s now closing in on 9:00. We have to be up early to go to Wadi Rum. Then it’s on to Amman and Cairo.