FYI, my blog has gone mental, after I unassumingly updated to the latest version, the formatting and pictures are not how I would like them. Anyone familiar with blogger, I would love the help :)
We woke up early for our continental breakfast, grabbed our packed lunches and a quick cab ride down to Petra. The red-rose city as it is often referred to; was established by the Nabataeans over 2000 years ago and is synonymous with Jordan, not to mention its largest attraction and source of income. Being such, we paid the exorbitant entrance fee that has more than doubled since I was here three years ago. Allegedly the fee now includes a free map and a horse ride down through the Siq (although we had read online that the Bedouins still demand a tip post the 5 min ride, so we declined) and we had to ask for the map. The 1km walk through the siq is your first and most memorable impression of Petra. The winding 80 meter cliffs lined in red and orange ribbons enhance the excitement for what is to come. As you near the entrance, you are suddenly bombarded with your first glimpse of the Al-Kahzneh (the Treasury) and the most well known monument in Petra. The treasury, cut deep into the walls of the rock became famous worldwide for its appearance in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
We took a moment to admire its beauty before beginning our day long trek in the overwhelming and beautiful Petra. I noticed, having been here three years earlier (in the off season) that there were a lot less tourists visiting now, during its on-season. I would hazard to guess that this may be due to the huge jump in price or more likely the unrest in the Arab world at this time. The Bedouins who live in Petra also were much less annoying on this visit. The children followed us, but they were few and far between and much less pushy. Unfortunately the smell of urine inside the monuments was still very much there as many people seem to think of Petra as their personal toilet. Thankfully, the inside of the rock is not nearly as spectacular as the outside and it didn’t really affect our enjoyment.
We chose an alternate route to the last time we were here and made it up to the high place of sacrifice that had view of the whole city. We were confident when this 30 minute hike breezed by that we were professionals and no one could stop us from conquering this city. By the time we made it back down the mountain (close to two hours later) we stopped for a bathroom break and got Omi a donkey to take her up to the most breathtaking monument in Petra: Ad-Deir (the Monastary). After Omi was settled and moving up the mountain, the three of us began the 40 minute, 900 steps to climb to the top. Once there, we enjoyed drinks at the cafe and spectacular views. We were joined by the local cats roaming petra that were hungry and looking for some love. We fed them the packaged cake from our to-go lunches from Saba’a and I filled the clean ash trays with water as they also seemed thirsty. Our waiter remarked that they were lucky cats, but I felt like we were lucky to enjoy their company and cuteness! While Omi rested, Ariana and Joe and I hiked to the end of the world, as it is called, and took in the spectacular view of the whole valley. We then began to descend from Ad-Deir and head back to the entrance. We slowly made our way down the mountain and back to the entrance (a two hour journey).
The entire trip back we stopped at every monument marvelling at the detail and skill that went into every carving. The natural red stone lined with white expression, dramatises this wonder of the world and Unesco World Heritage site. Ten hours from start to finish, we literally crawled out of Petra and into a taxi. We ate dinner quickly and without a lot of enthusiasm and went to bed around 9:30pm to rest our tired bodies.
No comments:
Post a Comment